trudiannracquel

Author: herlifenotyours

  • Why I CANCELLED MY LSAT 1 WEEK BEFORE taking it

    If you’re at all familiar with the LSAT for 2023, you’ll know there are a lot of changes for this cycle of exams. In addition to new options, they partnered with a new proctor for those of us who choose to take the LSAT remotely/online. Aaaaand, we also know, if you keep with LSAT news, there was a catastrophe on Friday. However, before the meltdown of the LSAC website and Prometric, I had already decided to cancel my August LSAT exam date. Here’s why:

    I made it my identity

    I was approaching the LSAT in the wrong way. I made it my identity and not just the next step in a journey. I was forgetting myself and my own reasons for wanting to get into law school. Basically, I overwhelmed myself and put too much pressure on literally 3 hours of my life. If I did it, it would have just been for an ego boost to say “I can prep for 2 weeks for one the most important tests up to this point in my life”. Which, I cannot do.

    I wasn’t ready

    My practice test scores were still well below what I would want before feeling comfortable applying to law school. And in order to make up for the nerves you’ll feel and the mistakes you may make in exam conditions, you need to be scoring at least 2 points above your goal score for a few tests in a row. I was scoring a consistent 15+ points below my target.

    Burnout

    I just finished my Bachelor’s in Psychology 2 weeks prior to my exam date. Yay me! I don’t know what this is a symptom of, but I find it’s a bad habit of mine to overbook myself, be stressed out (and either become obsessive or enter zombie-zone) and then be upset at myself for booking important things so close to each other. I did not take the time to recuperate after studying for my final exams for my degree. And that reflected in how I was testing, even a week after my dedicated LSAT study.

    Skipping the Fundamentals

    If I’m being honest, I still didn’t understand basic concepts. And I didn’t know this gap in my knowledge existed until I started reading answers and wondering what some of the words mean. It was only a week before that I realized the difference between ‘fails to consider’ and ‘ takes for granted’. I didn’t feel comfortable doing most things in logical reasoning. When I started reading sometimes, my brain mushed words together and jumbled them. I also wasn’t as fast in reading comprehension as I could be. I’ve been reading and consolidating a lot for the past 3 years in academic contexts, so it was strange to realize that I’ve been reading wrong for the LSAT. I kept getting 1-2 questions wrong per passage and that’s not good enough. In the games section, while I’ve gotten way better at the skills required, I still struggle with new diagramming techniques because I hadn’t practiced often enough, and I kept getting 1 or 2 questions wrong per section. Again, not good enough for me.

    Saving my Self-Esteem

    Finally, my mental health and self-esteem would have plummeted. As I said, a lot of my identity was wrapped up in this test. However, I forgot that my identity is not a law student or future lawyer, it’s a representative of God. So if I had taken it in the headspace I was in, it would’ve felt like a reflection of me as a person, not a person taking the LSAT. I would’ve felt not smart, not good enough, even though the LSAT is simply a test of mental stamina and anybody could do well in it with enough practice. And if took it in that state and failed (which I would’ve), it would deter me from ever taking it again. Which means I’d never go to law school. And I believe that that’s where God is directing me towards.

    So why was I going in unprepared?

    I could’ve made up an excuse like “God does miracles with empty things”. Of course, he does. I have no idea how I even got into the university I’m in, or how I made it to graduation with all the external factors. But, he does miracles with people who he’s prepared. And if I’m being honest, I simply wasn’t prepared. I didn’t do even half of what I could do or what I’m capable of. I didn’t make it through enough practice tests, and drills, or even complete the study guide I bought. I wasn’t comfortable explaining concepts to myself, let alone working them out in a high-pressure situation.

    So, I made the decision to cancel. And knowing what I know now, I don’t think I could have made a better decision for myself and whoever I impact in the future.

  • Book Review: Ace of Spades (2021) by Faridah Abike-Iyimide

    From a completely unqualified literary enthusiast. I just like to read and recommend books based on my preferences.

    *Spoiler alert* I may unintentionally reveal some things about the book.

    Synopsis (in my own words): it’s a mystery, centred around two teenagers, Devon Richards and Chiamaka Adebayo. While they are both prefects in their senior year in high school, they couldn’t be more different. Devon comes from the side of the town where people live below the poverty line, and Niveus Academy is his escape from that reality. He hones his talent there and is only concerned with one goal: getting out of that town. He is a loner, basically unknown in school, until the first day of the semester. Chiamaka comes from the opposite side of town where wealth is the norm and climbing the social ladder is a requirement. She’s the Queen Bee in school, which is strange for someone like her. She has her eyes set on a goal that she thinks requires conquering high school, and like Devon, it centres on getting out of Niveus. As both become targets of a bully named Aces, they begin a twisted journey to figure out who is behind the bullying and why.

    There is a warning at the beginning that the book deals with racism, homophobia, suicidal ideation and bullying. So take care if you’re sensitive to those topics.

    My thoughts as I read: I had a feeling that Aces could not have been a single person, but that’s only because I’m very paranoid and suspect everyone of being shady. I actually had my jaw drop a few times and side-eyed several characters before we start seeing movement in the story. I even made up backstories for people who appeared once or twice in the book, convinced that they HAD to be a part of something bigger. Like the sophomore who brought Chiamaka coffee. Or the headmaster who mysteriously dropped out at the beginning. And even Devon’s dad; what did he do?? So many questions. Please write a prequel.

    Interesting topics – Social Eugenics: According to Francis Galton, the originator of the term eugenics, it is an idea for improving humanity through selective breeding. By choosing the socially acceptable ‘best of the best’ and encouraging reproduction, his hope was that society would be filled with offspring of only the best people. At the same time, a part of the goal was to ensure those with more problematic genes could not have kids. Think about forced sterilization when colonizers took over Canada or when Aboriginal women had kids with White men, how they were no longer considered Aboriginal. These practices from hundreds of years ago show up in this book in a really weird way. And it left me with a weary and wary feeling that it could happen in modern society.

    My suggestion: (please) write a prequel to Niveus’ tradition in 1965, that shows when they first did it and tell the story from that girl’s point of view. Show us how it started and what happens at Camp Aces where all the legacy kids go to learn about the tradition and how they prepare for it.

    My unprofessional rating: 5/5

  • The HIDDEN COSTS of Applying to Law School

    Good morning, fellow prelaw students! Welcome back to a new post!

    Unfortunately, you read that right. There are costs BEFORE you even consider paying for tuition, textbooks, or a townhouse if you’re fortunate.

    1. LSAT-specific Resources – This is the first thing everyone spends money on when they start their LSAT studying. Or any standardized test to get into a specialized program/field. As usual, there are books or programs you need to study with to create a study schedule, for explanations, for what to focus on, etc. Some people choose to do classes, which could be valuable depending on your learning style or what you’re comfortable with. I have a blog post here of LSAT resources I’ve used or am planning to use, both free and paid for.
    2. LSAC – This is where you need to take the LSAT, so it’s non-negotiable. The LSAT costs about $200, provided you don’t want to see your grades in advance or cancel your test if you don’t feel prepared or any other benefit I haven’t explored on the website. If you want access to extra practice tests (your sign-up gives you 4 in a simulated testing environment, as well as a sample essay question), you need a subscription of about $100.
    3. Applications – Hello and welcome to ‘I have to pay the province to get into the school.’ If you live in Ontario, there’s a standard $200+ fee on the OSLAS website, plus some schools require specific applications that they may have to pay for.
    4. Study supplements – My biggest surprise was how much food I’ve been eating. If you watch the YouTube chronicles of my time studying, you’ll see me get frustrated with eating almost every three hours. Intense concentration requires more brain work, apparently. The more your brain works, the more calories you use and the more you need to eat to supplement and ensure you build the stamina to keep going. And, you want to nourish yourself with good food, which costs more.
    5. Time – I saved enough money to apply for law school, finish my last semester of University and support my basic needs, including bills, for about a year. However, what I didn’t budget for was how long each application would take, how long it would take to write a good essay, to apply for multiple scholarships, to actually study, or even to ask professors for recommendations! All these things I never budgeted my time and energy for. And my mind was overloaded once I realized this.

    As you can see, there’s a lot more that goes into law school than just grades and LSAT scores. There’s a lot of pre-planning and sacrifice before you even get to step 3, so it really makes sense to make sure that’s what you want before you decide to start the journey.

    Hopefully, this post helped put things into perspective for you and helped you decide your law school journey.

    – HL

  • FREE LSAT RESOURCES for the Self-Study Student

    I have been studying for the LSAT on and off for about 3 months now. I plan to take the August 2023 LSAT and apply to law school for the Fall 2024 cycle. Fingers crossed I do well enough to make it into my top choice!

    For the way I learn, I need to have a schedule and a daily to-do list to keep me on track. I may not actually follow said list (which is why it’s taking me this long to study), but a visual spread of what needs to be done always helps. For that, I have used the LSAT Trainer by Mike Kim (3rd edition). The good thing about this is that you can view samples of chapters online, create study schedules according to how many weeks you have to study and he provides lots of supplemental resources on the site. This way you’ll be able to gauge if it’s worth your money since it is upwards of $80. I don’t have the financial resources to take a dedicated course and it has been years since I’ve been in a normal classroom setting, so the ability to go at my own pace and work in silence is golden.

    You also need to register on the LSAC website, which is where you’ll take your LSAT and communicate your scores to potential schools anyways. An initial sign-up is free and you get access to a few practice tests on the website. This is good because you’ll get the feel of how the LSAT is administered online if you’ve chosen the flex option. The flex option is when you can take it online, from home, and is new since COVID. In conjunction with the LSAT Trainer, and required to get the most out of his program, is the 10 Actuals books. We do drills from the 72-81 edition. And we do practice exams from the 82-89 edition.

    That’s it for required paid resources that I’e used. I also look in the thrift store for resources and there are usually a few books that are under $5. Now that that’s out of the way, here are the YouTube videos I’ve used so far to supplement my understanding, as well as a few apps that I have not yet tried out that come recommended. Also, some websites used the term ‘analytical reasoning’ instead of ‘logical reasoning’, however, they are the same. Note that most often, these videos may not have the specific question in the video because of copyright reasons.

    Videos I’ve used:

    LSAT Lab – for lecture style explanations (specifically for logical reasoning and logic games so far)

    Law School Grit – to explain ‘if’, ‘only if’ and ‘if and only if’ statements

    LSAT179com – to explain ‘either…or’ statements

    LSAT Unplugged & Law School Admissions Podcast – for help explaining specific games and diagramming (he does speak kind of fast though)

    LSATMax LSAT Prep – for help explaining specific games and understanding questions (she diagrams a little differently than the LSAT Trainer, but it’s still clear to me)

    Eric Wilson – for help explaining logic games (this one is my favourite recently)

    These videos helped me curate my study schedule and process:

    Banter with Babs – HOW TO STUDY effectively and her resources.

    Nadia Cianca – How I raised my LSAT Score (she talks about her resources and introduced me to the concept of blind review)

    Resources I have yet to try:

    KHAN Academy – to help with Logic Games. I have downloaded the app, so I’m currently using it just to refresh how to diagram games on the go. It does come recommended by the LSAC.

    PowerScore – to help with Reading Comprehension. I’m not sure if their resources are free, but they do have a podcast on Youtube and Spotify for specific LSAT tests administered.

    The LSAT Unlocked – no idea what this is yet, but if I still feel unprepared I may try to find it at the library/thrift store. *update: it’s not free or cheap, but it might be a replacement for LSAT Trainer if that book doesn’t vibe with you.

    7Sage – they have explanations for specific questions, which would be useful. But I just haven’t needed them yet.

     

    That’s it for now! I hope this helps to guide your studying a bit! I will update this blog post as I happen upon resources or videos that help me with specific things.

    Good Luck

    HerLife

  • APRIL 2023 MEMORIES

    Each month I try to update this page with new products I have tried. This one will be a little different. For April and possibly moving forward, I am letting you lovely readers in on things I’ve incorporated this month to progress my life. These are five activities, memories or thoughts that will make future me happy.

    1. I have decided to try my best to live on hope and faith, not fear. I will be delusionally optimistic. You will see content related to my (pre) law school journey on the blog, and Youtube channel. I’ll be talking about why I’m choosing to go, the pre-application process, how I’m trying to be a competitive applicant, my studying resources, etc. You will see everything I’m doing to get a pinky toe in the door of a law school in Canada as a Black, female, 30-year-old, first-gen graduate. It’ll be a ride. And it fulfills two goals of mine: law school and content creation.
    2. I went to an Elevation Nights concert/show/praise session. I vividly remember thinking, “This must be what heaven is like.” It was the most beautiful thing I’ve seen in the last 3-5 years. And I went to the concert ALONE. It was both terrifying and freeing. Terrifying because I have hella social anxiety, and freeing because I didn’t have to worry about embarrassing myself. If anyone ever has an opportunity to go, even if you don’t believe in God for whatever reason, please go. They are amazing.
    3. My Youtube channel grew from 9 to 15 subscribers! Which is amazing! I only put up three videos because I had a busy semester towards the end of April due to finals. But two of my videos got over 50 views. So I think I’m a star now. Additionally, I’ve rediscovered how much I love taking photos. I enjoy still photography, product shots and this month, I’m going to start playing with black-and-white photography. Regardless, I’m getting more interested in content creation holistically. Photography, editing, filming and camera settings. But I’m only using free programs, things I already own and one Canon G7X camera.
    4. There is nothing wrong with being a Christian and wanting to make money. I’ve always shied away from talking about wanting to make money from anything I can contribute to the world. But the truth is, if I can do something I love and make money to fuel it, then I don’t see why not. Also, living costs money. And God knows that. And he doesn’t want me to be ashamed about wanting money. He just wants me to keep my spending and desires in check. And that’s never felt more real since I quit my job about six months ago.
    5. Finally, I have a lot of skills I want to acquire. Naturally, as an aspiring law student, I want to do whatever it takes to get there. Communication and reasoning. But as a human, there’s so much more I want to learn! Spanish, Italian, ASL, any form of visual arts, driving, a sport, cooking, books to read. So much! And as I age, I realize there’s little time to learn. So why not try as much as I can?
    6. Bonus: I’m learning that there is nothing wrong with wanting validation and recognition for good work academically, and something I put effort into. Pastor Furtick said something at Elevations Nights. He said, “God doesn’t need the recognition publicly, but I do.” And I felt seen because sometimes it feels scandalous or villainized to want to be seen. But, I want (occasional) validation from others. It makes me feel good sometimes. Most of the time, it feels awkward.

    Also, watch my monthly vlog on Youtube

     

     

     

     

  • What to Expect when You Turn 30

    1. Changes in sleep

    I went from can’t fall asleep without background music to can’t fall asleep with any. I went from easily waking up at 5 am to struggling to roll out of bed at 8:30 am.

    2. Body Temperature changes

    Went from being cold all the time to being hot all the time. Even when I’m sleeping, during the winter I used a fan. I often wake up without pants and sometimes without a shirt. My feet, however, remain cold as always. Even as I type this, I have a little heated blanket on just my toes.

    3. Changes in Patience

    I find myself becoming more tolerant and less patient sometimes. I’m willing to chalk differences up to differences, but I’m no longer interested (on certain topics, with certain people) to debate or hear you out. I feel my blood pressure rising and decide to tap out before an argument starts. And because I need to live long enough to see my niece and nephew have kids, I choose peace and say, “Sure”

    4. Increased Imposter Syndrome

    As I get older and more assured in what I want to do with my life, I keep asking, “Did I start too late to be successful where I want to be? Would I even be good at it? Do I need more experience?” Then I convinced myself that it’s just a negative spirit trying to delay/distract and get a burst of motivation…until about 3 days later when, for example, a Youtube video has 5 views even though you thought the content was funny. Or when you look at the qualifications for law school versus what you’ve actually done in life and think, “There are way more qualified people for this position.” Maybe. Or maybe, just do it like Nike.

     5. Exhaustion and More sensitivity to Hormone Changes

    “Y’all. My hormones are raging and I pray to God it’s my period and not just another surprise in my thirties because the way I woke up  and chose violence is unnatural.” That was the beginning of a rant I sent to my friends WHO HAD THE SAME SENTIMENT.  The way my body is so sensitive around my period is wild to me. Mood swings galore. An Esso commercial made me cry. Yes. Esso. The gas station. I’m hungry all the time, or I feel full all the time, I’m tired all the time (which might just be an iron deficiency, according to my friend who has an iron deficiency), and nothing satisfies me for about 15 days out of the month. Do you know how exhausting that is?? I miss being 29.

    Also, the rant ended with, “…this is why people do drugs” so just imagine what was said in between.

    Buckle up, buttercups, it’s a wild ride ahead!