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Perspective

harrismeganharrismegan Member
edited October 2014 in General 2074 karma
okay. I posted yesterday. I had a huge meltdown mid-Prep test 39, stopped the test, cried for a bit, went out and bought a ridiculously expensive car starter, came home and napped, tackled a few questions, and gave up.

Today. I wrote a prep-test and only scored 1 mark higher than previous scores.
To say the least, I had another mini-meltdown. I'm not sure if any of you have gone through this and, if you have, then you know how hard it is to just be OK and move on from it. And it seems that every single piece of advise people try to tell me, I just want to punch them. I just feel like people who aren't studying for the LSAT don't understand.

Anyways. So. I gave up (again) tonight. Had a mini melt down, cried, and then. I just cleaned everything. Cleaned the room I studied in, cleaned my bedroom, cleaned my closet, cleaned my car - everything. Because tomorrow is not today. And tomorrow is not yesterday. And I refuse to let tomorrow be like today or be like yesterday.

So I am mostly writing this, so that you 7Sagers can keep me in perspective.

The test is just a test.
If I do not pass it in December, I can try again.
A year will not have been wasted.
The test is just a test.

And it certainly shouldn't be done at the expense of my mental health/happiness.
So. Tomorrow is a new day. And everything from here on out may not be easy, but I will not give up. :)
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Comments

  • LSATislandLSATisland Free Trial Inactive Sage
    1878 karma
    That's the spirit. Keep up the good work.
  • turnercmturnercm Alum Member ⏰ 🍌
    770 karma
    super proud rn :D you got this!
  • marleybabymarleybaby Alum Member
    194 karma
    Hey we're all here for each other! Don't worry about those who aren't studying for the LSAT. This community here is and we all have gone through prep test downfalls. But you said it. A test is just a test.

    Just never forget that there is NO way that properly guided efforts and studying will not pay off. So don't let any short-term happenings let you forget the end goal and stop you from painting a picture in your head of how beautiful it will be when you get your score. You will!
  • inactiveinactive Alum Member
    12637 karma
    You guys are so inspiring! Thanks for sharing your insight, @harrismegan :)

    Here's a cat gif to calm you down.
    image
  • harrismeganharrismegan Member
    2074 karma
    hhaha the cat gif. Love it!!

    Good luck to all of you :) we CAN do this!!!!
  • 2BASplitter2BASplitter Free Trial Member
    21 karma
    Happened to me too. my advice: take a break from doing PTs. focus on sections, and re-do those LG that ate your time, explain to yourself why you got certain LRs wrong, and don't forget to analyze/break down RC sentence by sentence. It's gonna be ok at the end, everything does pay off. Cheer up!
  • ccj0321ccj0321 Alum Member
    edited October 2014 66 karma
    I think you are one of the lucky ones. I have moments like these too. We deeply care about the test and we stake our personal pride on our performance, which causes these emotional breakdowns.

    I remember one time after I scored a prep test in the library, I went to my car and didn't want to come home, and I felt like an abandoned child because of my poor performance. When you want something so bad, you have breakdowns when you don't feel you are close to it.

    This makes you special because it shows that you are incredibly driven. Even if you aren't scoring in the 99th percentile on the LSAT, you are in the 99th percentile in terms of motivation.

    I recommend stop taking so many prep tests and start drilling more on specific question types. Simply taking more tests won't improve your score if your fundamentals aren't solid, and it will cripple your confidence seeing the same scores over and over without seeing improvement (that's what happened to me).

    Also, try to detach your emotions away from the score. It's a number. I would concentrate on improving LSAT skill-sets, and I believe the improvement in scores will follow. We ought to be calm in this entire process. When we allow emotions to overwhelm us, we lose our rationality and lose perspective.

    Stay calm and focus on learning the skill set.
  • harrismeganharrismegan Member
    2074 karma
    Thank you :)
    I took the whole day today reviewing my prep-test that I had just completed. My blind review went wonderfully, so I had regained my confidence. I will definitely heed your advise. I won't be writing another prep test until the weekend. I'm going to take time time to work on my RC, LG, reading Art History passages (I'm worst at these), and taking a look back at concepts.

    I appreciate your advice :)
  • edgaredgar Free Trial Member
    edited October 2014 44 karma
    Thanks for sharing! I'm happy to hear I'm not the only one freaking out. Non test takers just look at me like I'm crazy about this stuff
  • DrackedaryDrackedary Member
    239 karma
    It takes courage to share this experience and insight with others. Thank-you.
  • cmb_1992cmb_1992 Alum Member
    48 karma
    I sometimes feel this way, but maybe not that extent. Especially when trying and working hard to get down a certain part of the test: LG, certain LR types, etc. Most of the time, it's later in the night that this happens. I worry that I won't be able to improve, etc. etc. I call it a night. Take a break from the test a little. Time away from the test is JUST AS IMPORTANT as studying effectively and efficiently. I find that when I take a break, I come back feeling ready to tackle what ever it is that I need to. Good luck to you all! We can do this!
  • GraceloverGracelover Alum Member
    440 karma
    Wow...apparently I am not the only one who has broken down emotionally after the test...you can do it! I have improved since my last break down!
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