Post exam b(l)ooze
The compulsories are now officially over (yes, I know that I've written this before) but now they are REALLY over-that's it;
There, I've said it-all ended, finished, done and dusted (where's that thesaurus, I'm running out of synonyms)....
...that is unless I failed one.
I have an interesting record though, I have never failed an important written exam. Even if I've been complete pants at the subject I've still managed to put in a good enough performance to get through. My 'A' level mocks were an 'F' and two 'E's but come the real things I bettered the passes I needed. My 'O' level mocks were pretty abysmal too but I recorded a mass of solid 'C's or better. Similarly my degrees were barely average for coursework but my exam scores bailed me out.
This course is different however, for the first time ever I've throroughly enjoyed it and put the necessary work in (and more besides) but I still have those nagging doubts about the results. I have to say that my work load did fall dramatically in the exam week. I had great hopes that I would sit the exam in the morning then come home and hit the books and study until the usual time when I could sit back and bask in my own smugness.
But it didn't happen-at least for me, some of my friends from my now deconstructed tutor group (sob) could get back and work and not only that but 'hit the books' till the wee hours then get up and do it all again.
Just not me, a week or so back I made a gentle analogy relating exams with sex-that seems far more pertinent at the moment. After each exam I felt, well, spent I suppose. The motivation to get interested again when I got home wasn't there. (Ah, if I was 20 years younger-I could do exams and be studying within half an hour...)
Was that too much information?
It gets worse I'm afraid. The build up to the exam is getting too much for me. The whole 'arriving early at college, trying to keep cool, doing a simple test (or crossword) before the exam proper to stop myself peaking too soon' business has worn me out. Likewise the intensity of the exam itself-for between 2 to 3 1/2 hours I am in the 'zone'-there could be a fire break out or the stunning young lady in front of me could disrobe and I would be oblivious. The only thing that matters is that clock and the 30 minutes/10 minutes to go warnings.
Obviously I don't want to finish too soon...
You've got to pace yourself-but that intensity is wearing (again, I think it's an age thing-my OU exams were in one day-study/revise/exam/over but with these, they take 5 days in a row). Granted they are all open-note so there is no pressure to learn it off by heart but you must understand not only the practical application but also the background material.
Most of this is given in the exam itself (and it is not easy to read through a case history when you are under time pressure-friends of mine have lost marks this week for not reading the questions or not having analysed the case material properly) but we were lucky to have been given prereading for business and property.
The business one was a fairly simple family owned company and the property one was a leasehold in (of all places) Exeter. I have a very strange feeling that I used to walk past the very property that was being discussed when I was going for my daily exercise when I first started writing this blog...
The exams themselves;
Monday-Business, I was guessing that we would be tested on (a specific) tax, (a specific aspect of) insolvency and A N other business topic (I actually guessed partnership/EU but was wrong) as well as the 15 multiple choice questions.
I won't state what subjects were chosen but was 100% correct on my first two guesses. The other business subject was one that I had good notes on so I was pretty content with the paper.
Tuesday-Business part 2. I assumed we would have no further tax or insolvency questions and all the problems would be based on company law. Again I was spot on. We had a huge board room sandwich to digest as well as questions on ethics and meeting protocol. But again I had that smug, contented feeling that you associate with excellent sex (or so I vaguely remember)
Wednesday-litigation part 1 (Civil). This was always going to be my worst exam-I had crawled through the mock with an exact pass and even though I had dismantled my notes and rewritten them from scratch over Christmas/exam break I was not overly keen on them.
It was a toughy-no doubt about it.
In fact it was so unmemorable that I can't remember what a single question was (never a good sign-I can remember all of my last OU exam questions). I wrote plenty and didn't finish ahead of time-never a bad sign but hmm, I'm not sure
Sometimes the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. (you guys will know what I mean)
Thursday-litigation part 2 (Criminal). This was always going to be my best exam-luckily litigation is the combined civil and criminal scores-so I had a chance to make up anything I dropped yesterday.
But, it was a toughie-I have a suspicion that a few people might struggle with this one. The questions were harder than any we had experienced before (luckily at least two of them were more difficult copies of ones we had done in class).
By about this stage of the week I felt that I was just going through the motions, that exams and I no longer had the same attraction and I was doing them as a sort of duty. (some of you guys will know what I mean-it was good just not great...)
Friday-property (as a treat the college have saved the longest exam to the end). This had been my best exam in the mock and with hindsight I may have done less work on this than I ought to. I guess that I lulled myself into a state of complacency. This exam was hard-very hard. The multiple choice questions were (at best) a pure guess. The questions concerning a buyer of business property were a struggle but luckily the lease questions were straightforward.
I left the exam feeling that I had let myself down.
Looking back with a critical eye I would estimate the marks to be;
business 70%
litigation 60%
property 50%
Which is not bad, all passes but I was hoping for better. I really wanted to shove it in the faces of the tutors that my fail in advocacy was a big thing after all (yes, I'm still bitter about it!) but not on these scores.
Pity.
Post exams-Our class was meant to get together and celebrate but I was on such a anticlimax from property that I could not raise myself. On Friday, I crashed at about 8:30 and about 9:30 on Saturday. I'm a bit more with it today-I have been playing my radio and screaming along with my favourite tracks.
I have had a tiny drinkee,
...or two
What now? Well, class doesn't begin for another week but I have another assignment to do for about 11 days from now and of course I have my reading for my electives to start-(as one door closes so another slams in your face-sorry, I mean 'opens')
If anything vaguely interesting happens (and the odds are against it) then I'll keep you informed.
- no more board meeting sandwiches,
- no letters of claim,
- no interim applications and
- NO bloody property-ever, definite, absolute, underlined twice with daggers 'n' blood.
There, I've said it-all ended, finished, done and dusted (where's that thesaurus, I'm running out of synonyms)....
...that is unless I failed one.
I have an interesting record though, I have never failed an important written exam. Even if I've been complete pants at the subject I've still managed to put in a good enough performance to get through. My 'A' level mocks were an 'F' and two 'E's but come the real things I bettered the passes I needed. My 'O' level mocks were pretty abysmal too but I recorded a mass of solid 'C's or better. Similarly my degrees were barely average for coursework but my exam scores bailed me out.
This course is different however, for the first time ever I've throroughly enjoyed it and put the necessary work in (and more besides) but I still have those nagging doubts about the results. I have to say that my work load did fall dramatically in the exam week. I had great hopes that I would sit the exam in the morning then come home and hit the books and study until the usual time when I could sit back and bask in my own smugness.
But it didn't happen-at least for me, some of my friends from my now deconstructed tutor group (sob) could get back and work and not only that but 'hit the books' till the wee hours then get up and do it all again.
Just not me, a week or so back I made a gentle analogy relating exams with sex-that seems far more pertinent at the moment. After each exam I felt, well, spent I suppose. The motivation to get interested again when I got home wasn't there. (Ah, if I was 20 years younger-I could do exams and be studying within half an hour...)
Was that too much information?
It gets worse I'm afraid. The build up to the exam is getting too much for me. The whole 'arriving early at college, trying to keep cool, doing a simple test (or crossword) before the exam proper to stop myself peaking too soon' business has worn me out. Likewise the intensity of the exam itself-for between 2 to 3 1/2 hours I am in the 'zone'-there could be a fire break out or the stunning young lady in front of me could disrobe and I would be oblivious. The only thing that matters is that clock and the 30 minutes/10 minutes to go warnings.
Obviously I don't want to finish too soon...
You've got to pace yourself-but that intensity is wearing (again, I think it's an age thing-my OU exams were in one day-study/revise/exam/over but with these, they take 5 days in a row). Granted they are all open-note so there is no pressure to learn it off by heart but you must understand not only the practical application but also the background material.
Most of this is given in the exam itself (and it is not easy to read through a case history when you are under time pressure-friends of mine have lost marks this week for not reading the questions or not having analysed the case material properly) but we were lucky to have been given prereading for business and property.
The business one was a fairly simple family owned company and the property one was a leasehold in (of all places) Exeter. I have a very strange feeling that I used to walk past the very property that was being discussed when I was going for my daily exercise when I first started writing this blog...
The exams themselves;
Monday-Business, I was guessing that we would be tested on (a specific) tax, (a specific aspect of) insolvency and A N other business topic (I actually guessed partnership/EU but was wrong) as well as the 15 multiple choice questions.
I won't state what subjects were chosen but was 100% correct on my first two guesses. The other business subject was one that I had good notes on so I was pretty content with the paper.
Tuesday-Business part 2. I assumed we would have no further tax or insolvency questions and all the problems would be based on company law. Again I was spot on. We had a huge board room sandwich to digest as well as questions on ethics and meeting protocol. But again I had that smug, contented feeling that you associate with excellent sex (or so I vaguely remember)
Wednesday-litigation part 1 (Civil). This was always going to be my worst exam-I had crawled through the mock with an exact pass and even though I had dismantled my notes and rewritten them from scratch over Christmas/exam break I was not overly keen on them.
It was a toughy-no doubt about it.
In fact it was so unmemorable that I can't remember what a single question was (never a good sign-I can remember all of my last OU exam questions). I wrote plenty and didn't finish ahead of time-never a bad sign but hmm, I'm not sure
Sometimes the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. (you guys will know what I mean)
Thursday-litigation part 2 (Criminal). This was always going to be my best exam-luckily litigation is the combined civil and criminal scores-so I had a chance to make up anything I dropped yesterday.
But, it was a toughie-I have a suspicion that a few people might struggle with this one. The questions were harder than any we had experienced before (luckily at least two of them were more difficult copies of ones we had done in class).
By about this stage of the week I felt that I was just going through the motions, that exams and I no longer had the same attraction and I was doing them as a sort of duty. (some of you guys will know what I mean-it was good just not great...)
Friday-property (as a treat the college have saved the longest exam to the end). This had been my best exam in the mock and with hindsight I may have done less work on this than I ought to. I guess that I lulled myself into a state of complacency. This exam was hard-very hard. The multiple choice questions were (at best) a pure guess. The questions concerning a buyer of business property were a struggle but luckily the lease questions were straightforward.
I left the exam feeling that I had let myself down.
Looking back with a critical eye I would estimate the marks to be;
business 70%
litigation 60%
property 50%
Which is not bad, all passes but I was hoping for better. I really wanted to shove it in the faces of the tutors that my fail in advocacy was a big thing after all (yes, I'm still bitter about it!) but not on these scores.
Pity.
Post exams-Our class was meant to get together and celebrate but I was on such a anticlimax from property that I could not raise myself. On Friday, I crashed at about 8:30 and about 9:30 on Saturday. I'm a bit more with it today-I have been playing my radio and screaming along with my favourite tracks.
I have had a tiny drinkee,
...or two
What now? Well, class doesn't begin for another week but I have another assignment to do for about 11 days from now and of course I have my reading for my electives to start-(as one door closes so another slams in your face-sorry, I mean 'opens')
If anything vaguely interesting happens (and the odds are against it) then I'll keep you informed.
Labels: Examz
posted by Paul Salmon at
5:12 pm
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