Protecting Your Mental Health Waiting For Bar Exam Results

Protecting Your Mental Health Waiting For Bar Exam Results

Waiting for bar exam results is a difficult stretch of time for a number of reasons. The months in between taking the bar exam and receiving results are filled with anxiety, dread, stress, and uncertainty. The ability to immediately pursue a legal career is essentially dangling in front of peoples’ faces for months. Bar exam results can mean one is either eligible to practice law or one has to continue their studies by working to pass the bar exam again. For many applicants, the waiting period that follows the bar exam can result in mental health challenges. Constant levels of anxiety and stress over whether an applicant passed or failed the bar exam can impact someone’s daily quality of life. If you’re feeling weighed down by the constant thought of bar exam results, this is normal!. Thousands of applicants caught in bar exam limbo feel this way! Here are some of our favorite tips to help protect your mental health while waiting on the results from the bar exam.

Protecting Your Mental Health Waiting For Bar Exam Results

It’s Fine To Fail

Failure on the bar exam happens to thousands of applicants each year. In some states, like California, it’s even statistically more likely that applicants will need to retake the bar exam. The one thing that you need to realize is that life goes on. Yes, having to retake the bar exam isn’t ideal, however, it’s not the end of the world. All that’s required is for you to identify areas where you struggled and improve upon them going forward. Easier said than done, we know. However, thousands of repeat test-takers also pass the bar exam every year; we want to assure you that it’s doable. Despite the bar exam seeming all-encompassing now, once you’re an attorney it will be a blip on the radar. Once you realize that failure isn’t the end of your existence, the fear of failing slowly starts to dissipate.

Your Emotional Reactions Won’t Change The Result

You’ve probably heard the phrase “worrying about it isn’t going to change anything.” That phrase rings very true when it comes to waiting for Bar Exam results. You’ve taken the test, submitted the results, and hopefully did your best. That’s all you can do. In the meantime, worrying about whether you passed or failed isn’t going to change the end result. In other words, it’s out of your control – so why worry about something you can’t control? Accept the fact that your emotional reactions aren’t a foreshadowing of your results. In order to help you feel more secure, try focusing your energy on things you can control. For example, if you don’t have a job lined up after results are released, try focusing on that.

Actively Practice Stress Management

If you’re feeling overwhelmed and disheartened about bar exam results, it’s likely that your anxiety and stress levels are high. In order to combat these emotional responses, try actively practicing stress management techniques while waiting for bar exam results. For example, mindful meditation, exercising, and counseling/therapy can all provide much-needed relief. If you’re struggling, there’s absolutely no shame in reaching out for help. Remember, you can take the bar exam as many times as you want, without penalty. Stress management techniques can help to put things into perspective.

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