According to research referenced by columnist Elizabeth Bernstein, vulnerability can be a great thing. Although being vulnerable is often seen as a sign of weakness, something to be avoided at all costs, it can actually operate to produce wonderful things in our lives. As case in point, Ms. Bernstein paraphrases Dr. Hal Shorey, a psychologist, as stating:"Vulnerability can also humanize you, facilitate learning, and enable optimal problem solving." In short, real learning requires us to be vulnerable. But, what is vulnerability? "Psychologists and social scientists define vulnerability as the courage to show up and be seen and heard when you can’t control the outcome." http://www.wsj.com/articles/you-took-an-emotional-risk-now-what-1478536377
Ouch! That's how I felt throughout most of law school…out of control…but not at all courageous. And, as I'll explain below, that's because I spent most of my time preparing for exams by creating giant study tools rather than practicing exam scenarios. But, I'm getting ahead of myself here…
Stepping back, how does the courage to be vulnerable relate to law school learning?
Let me give a suggestion. The "safe" thing to do to prepare for law school exams is to do what everyone else is doing: grab your lecture notes, get hold of your case briefs, and create massive gargantuan outlines of all of your subjects…and…if you still have any time left before exams, read through a few old final exams to get a sense of the subject. But, if you are like me, when I read through exams (or even just outline a few old exams), I sort of convince myself that I understand it, that I could write it, that I actually know what I am doing. And, here's the rub. That's not learning but rather just presuming that I know how to answer final exam questions. So, here's the key.
Rather than spending the bulk of your time over the course of the next several weeks or so creating massive outlines, reorient your time so that most of your final exam preparation efforts are focused on what you are actually going to be tested on in your final exams, namely, solving legal problems. That means that you should be reading, conversing, debating, outlining, writing, re-thinking, and re-writing old practice exams. It will be hard. It will not feel good. It will not feel safe. In fact, you'll probably feel like you don't know enough to start practicing exam problems. But, if you wait until you think that you know enough to start practicing for your final exams, you will run out of time to practice final exams. And, because you are not tested on creating great study tools but rather solving final exam problems, it will be both too little and too late to do much good if you just create study tools. So, be brave by being vulnerability. Grab hold of some old final exams from your professor. Take a stab at them. Try writing out answers. Input what you learn into a study tool. Then go see your professor for feedback. It will be hard to ask for help, to show your work to your professor. That's because it requires you to accept that learning requires vulnerability. But, you'll be might glad that you did.
Finally, in case your professor or your law school doesn't have old final exams readily available, do not give up…at all. Instead, there are lots of free resources through your Academic Support Professionals, your Dean of Students, and even on the internet. As a suggestion, here's a website that consolidates old bar exam essays, point sheets, and answer guides for a whole host of subjects to include Criminal Law, Torts, Contracts & Sales, Property Law, Constitutional Law, Evidence, Criminal Procedure, all arranged by date of the exam and…here's some great news…by subject matter too! Old Bar Exam Essays By Subject Matter So have at it by opening yourself up to focusing your final exam preparations on practicing lots of exam problems intermixed with creating your study tools. (Scott Johns).
