“Pressure is a privilege - it only comes to those who earn it.” – Billie Jean King
“Nothing is given. Everything is earned.” ― LeBron James
"I run on the road long before I dance under the lights." - Muhammad Ali
This morning’s message is to our students, particularly our first-year students.
Final exams begin Thursday and continue until December 21.
My advice is to change the way you look at the pressure of final exams.
Look at the pressure as a privilege that you have earned.
You have chosen to study and work during this time of your life like most people won’t, so that you can learn law and live justice like most people can’t.
Prepare your mind: Do mindfulness exercises before you begin your exam, or yoga, or anything to put yourself at ease. Trust your preparation – remember you have done the work.
Prepare your body: Make sure you get plenty of rest and eat well before each exam, so you can go in to your exams refreshed and energized. Starting today, we will provide coffee and snacks for all our students in the Dean’s Suite between 8:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. on weekdays.
When you begin your exam: Read the instructions carefully, and don’t rush to answer. Stop and think for a while. Organize your answer in your mind. Once you begin to write, be careful to monitor your time and make sure you have included all of the issues, rules and legal analysis that you need to answer the question well. Make sure your conclusion answers the question asked. Do a final review and submit your answer.
Dean Fisher’s Serenity Prayer for Final Exams
- God grant me the serenity to accept that this semester has already tested me in ways I could not have imagined.
- The courage to lean into the uncertainty with strength, resilience, and optimism.
- And the wisdom to know that whatever the circumstances I face, I always have a choice on how to respond.
- Understanding that if I change the way I look at things, the things I look at can change.
- Trusting in my skills and surrendering to an unshakeable belief in myself.
- Accepting that the exam doesn’t just test my knowledge, it tests my state of mind.
- Focusing on the moment and visualizing success.
- Pacing myself, taking each question one at a time, and applying the law to the facts.
- Taking the exam as it is, not how I or others would have written it.
- Supremely happy that I am a student at a law school where we have each other’s back and we are in this together.
- Remembering that I have chosen to study and work during this time of my life like most people won’t, so that I can learn law and live justice like most people can’t.
- Amen.
I’m not going to say good luck; you’ll make your own luck if you’re prepared. Keep running on the road.
Stay safe. Stay healthy. Stay Committed to Living Justice.
Have a great day. Have a great week.
The views and opinions expressed in my Monday Morning Message are solely my own and do not reflect the views and opinions of the law school or the university.
My best,
Lee
Lee Fisher
Dean, Cleveland State University College of Law | Cleveland State University
Joseph C. Hostetler-BakerHostetler Chair in Law
For copies of past messages, please go to this link: Monday Morning Messages.