Getting Through Law School Exams with Elon Musk
Every exam season, I find myself looking for motivational quotes, and I am sure you’ve done the same at one point. This exam season, my inspiration for an unwavering work ethic was Elon Musk.
Whether you like Elon Musk or not, we can all agree he is incredibly successful, and he makes every dream of his a reality. I decided to share with you some of the quotes that motivated me this exam season and how they can apply to your law school experience!
- “I think it is very important to have a feedback loop, where you’re constantly thinking about what you’ve done and how you could be doing it better.”
AND
“You shouldn’t do things differently just because they’re different. They need to be… better.”
Anyone who has taken a law school exam understands when I say there is never enough time to finish. After every exam, I reflect on how to improve on maximizing my efficiency during the allotted time. Upon the completion of your exam, reflect on your performance. Should you study differently? Have canned answers prepped?
2. “Brand is just a perception, and perception will match reality over time. Sometimes it will be ahead, other times, it will be behind. But brand is simply a collective impression some have about a product.”
It is without question that you are your brand. How you act and what you say can impact your brand. When talking about exams with a classmate and telling them you are not feeling ready, without hesitation, you are met with the questionably genuine response, “but you’re so smart, you will kill the exam.” We are then left with this perception that others view us as smart, and we want to maintain that by doing well, and as a consequence, we are hard on ourselves when we do not fully understand a concept. You need to remember when you study, you are going to accept that you will not always understand everything right away, and extra review is required. You are smart, and you will do well, but we have our ups and downs.
3. “People work better when they know what the goal is and why. It is important that people look forward to coming to work in the morning and enjoy working.”
We need to be able to visualize our goals to become a reality. For this exam season, anytime I was struggling to maintain my motivation, I had a tab open that showed an image of my next goal in life. It was a reminder that if I did not put my time in now, I would jeopardize my dream.
4. “If you’re the co-founder or CEO, you have to do all kinds of tasks you might not want to do…If you don’t do your chores, the company won’t succeed…No task is too menial.”
When I read this quote, I immediately thought of outlining and the tedious task of putting all my notes together from lectures and readings into one document and condensing it. It’s annoying to do at the moment because you wish you did it earlier, or you wish you could take someone else’s outline. But making an effort to review the content, put it in an outline, and condense is a form of studying, and when you are making the outline, you are increasing your chances of success on your exam because you put in the time.
5. “I say something, and then it usually happens. Maybe not on schedule, but it usually happens.”
This one is the most relatable. I frequently find myself setting an ambitious goal for the day, particularly around exam time, as I attempt to cram a semester’s worth of information in a few days. You are not always going to meet your daily goals, but in the end, it always gets done.
6. “I don’t spend my time pontificating about high-concept things; I spend my time-solving engineering and manufacturing problems.”
This reminded me of how you have a couple of people in your class who throw out this novel idea of a case that is so left field and then ask the professor if it’s an exam question. When studying, it’s essential to focus on the mechanics of the law, the rules, and how they can be applied in common scenarios. Do not waste your time thinking of exam questions that are so sui generis and waste time trying to answer them. Prep for the most probable exam questions and learn how to apply the rules and precedent to them.
7. “I always invest my own money in the companies that I create. I don’t believe in the whole thing of just using other people’s money. I don’t think that’s right. I’m not going to ask other people to invest in something if I’m not prepared to do so myself.”
If you aren’t willing to invest in yourself by committing yourself to study, you should expect future employers to do the same. When studying for exams worth most of your grade, it is vital to take them seriously and understand that grades matter for your summer employment opportunities, so use it as a motivating factor.
8. “If you get up in the morning and think the future is going to be better, it is a bright day. Otherwise, it’s not.”
Mindset is the key to motivation and personal success. If you wake up dreading studying Civ Pro, you will have a more challenging time getting through the material. Wake up every morning telling yourself you will tackle this material and you are ready to ace your exam. Your mindset can be one of your biggest obstacles, and for such a time-sensitive high stressful period, you do not have time to drag your feet.
9. “When something is important enough, you do it even if the odds are not in your favour.”
If you want to be a lawyer, then do it. It is so easy to make excuses to not study by saying things like, “well, the professor doesn’t give the 80s anyways. No, change that mindset and say, “he hasn’t given an 80 yet”. If it really is your dream to be a Bay Street lawyer or work at a top firm, stop with the excuses, and prove yourself by putting in the time and effort.
