How Will I Feel After The Bar Exam?

How Will I Feel After The Bar Exam?

There’s no doubt that students experience a variety of emotions leading up to the bar exam.  After all, students spend months preparing for a two-day examination that covers a multitude of subjects. While feelings such as nervousness, stress, and anxiety might be something you grapple with leading up to test day, what will it be like when you finally submit your finished exam and leave the testing site?  Here are a few emotions you may feel after the bar exam.

How Will I Feel After The Bar Exam?

It Might Be Difficult To Relax

After finishing up those last multiple-choice questions, many students expect to leave the bar exam with a giant sense of relief and extra spring in their step.  While some students do experience a sudden sense of relief, it might take a few days for other students to wind down after taking such a high-stakes examination.

Your family and friends may be urging you to relax and enjoy yourself after the bar exam, but some part of your brain won’t let you. You may feel like you should be doing something productive, like studying, even though there’s nothing to study for anymore. We all know that saying about old habits that die hard, and studying for the bar exam has been a major part of your life for months. Without that, you may feel like there’s something missing, something else you need to be doing, even when there’s nothing you need to do.

You might resolve this by starting a new passion project, engaging in a favorite hobby, or taking a much-needed vacation. This will help fill that uneasy void that bar prep has left in its wake. Alternatively, you can just relax anyway, remind yourself that you don’t need to study or do anything at all if you don’t want to, and wait for the feeling to pass. It may take some time, but you will adjust.

You May Feel Anxious About The Bar

Now that the bar exam is over, there’s nothing more you can do about it. While this thought may comfort some people, the loss of control gives others some anxiety. You may find yourself thinking back to the exam, wondering about the answers to certain questions, or trying to guess what score you’re going to get.

It’s very normal to feel anxious about the results of such a huge test, and there are things you can do to make it more manageable while you wait. Practice catching yourself when you think about the bar and make an effort to turn your thoughts to something else. Try meditation, or make plans to do other healthy activities that will help take your mind off the bar exam. You can even ask people in your life to remind you that you did your best and not to worry. Sometimes, that’s all you need.

You’ll Probably Be Exhausted

The bar exam is a huge drain on your mental and emotional energy. After the test is over, you might not want to do anything at all but sleep, eat, and binge-watch a television series. It’s important to give yourself a few days to decompress. Acknowledge to yourself that you’ve been through a lot, a once-in-a-lifetime test of your memory, your endurance, and your mental agility. Remind other people of this if you need to. It’s perfectly understandable if you’re not yourself for a little while as you recover. Remember that it’s normal to feel a wide range of emotions after the Bar exam. Congratulate yourself. Be kind to yourself. This is the time for self-care and celebration! You deserve it!

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