Friday, December 17, 2010

End of Finals

There's a lot of things people say "tell a lot about who you are." Examples: 1. how you handle adversity, 2. what you do when no one's watching, 3. what you do in the bathroom when you know it's gonna be awhile, etc., etc.

Add another thing to that list: How you deal with ending a stressful situation. Trust me on this, going through 1L year of law school is a very, VERY stressful situation. 2L and 3L years are marginally better, but still difficult: you usually find yourself in a room with no one but yourself, busily fumbling through notes and computer files trying to find the answer to questions that the professor has hid so well, trying to cram all the information you can into neat, tidy compilations called outlines that are thrown away almost instantly after the test, all the while counting down the hours that you have still to spend slaving away at the material, hoping that you were ANYWHERE but the library AGAIN on a friday night. Shudder.

But when you're finally done with all exams, when you can finally breathe again, when you can not only see the end of the tunnel but you cross through the end of the tunnel, the feeling is HEAVENLY. Nothing feels better. A huge load comes off your shoulders; there's a bit of a bounce in your step; HUGE chunks of time in your schedule are freed up. Sowhat do you do?

Option A: Drink. Drink more. Drink massive amounts of alcohol almost instantly after the exam. (usually consumed in conjunction with cigarettes, or harder drugs). Guru's take: Not recommended, especially the use of harder drugs. Consuming alcohol is good in a social environment where everyone's also in on it, and it becomes more of a congenial atmosphere, but by no means should you do it to TOO much excess, or else heavy puking and/or disastrous hangover might ensue.

Option B: Watch some really bad TV..... also good for numbing your brain, making you forget. Suggested titles: Real Housewives of Orange County, I Love New York 2, Jersey Shore 2, you name it on MTV = yes. Also, old comedy shows, although not "bad TV," are good at making you feel some joy again (i.e. Everybody Loves Raymond, Seinfeld, The Office, etc.)

Option C: Go to dinner with friends. Talk about the stresses of final (nothing substantive, or else it might freak out fellow test-takers who missed substantive things), but just make fun of it.... make fun of the class, make fun of the professors, make fun of the other students (especially quirky ones who stood out), celebrate the fact that you're done with the class forever. Put some closure to it. It works well to fill your stomach in the meantime.

Option D: Sports!! A little exercise/competition never hurt anyone, especially if you've been cooped up taking a final all that time, your limbs need some movement. The Guru recommends basketball, tennis, or hiking in the outdoors: basically anything that requires concentration and for you to forget about other things in your life.

Option E: Sleep..... I heard is also good, although personally I like to feel ALIVE after a period of pretty much death, especially socially and physically. However, if you took great quantities of time during finals cramming and forgoing sleep, this might (medically) be the best option.

Option F: getting a head start on other students by reading material for next semester's courses. Do NOT do this.....omg, you might as well kill yourself because you have NO LIFE!

Option G: Go home for the holidays. Getting on an airplane, subjecting yourself to a stricter body search nowadays, flying to a cold destination and having to pay through the nose is probably not the idea of fun for a lot of people, but it's a ritual that must be followed: there's really no choice. Also, the feeling of returning home, to the place where all your childhood memories are, your childhood friends are, and where family is, still is pretty sweet and makes up for it.

Personally, now that I live in Cali, a mix of Option C, D, G, and a little bit of A (don't wanna go berserk and lose my mind) is ideal.

Fantasize on,

Robert Yan.

Btw, anyone check out that Chargers-Niners drubbing last night?? WWWWWWWOOOOOOOOOO..........Not only that, but Vincent Jackson might have single-handedly moved fantasy owners a round further in their fantasy playoffs. All hail V-Jax!!!

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