Well, it’s that time again, brothers and sisters in arms (or number two pencils in this case). This Saturday is Practice Exam number two; time to step up and show that LSAT who’s boss. Or at the very least own the shit out of the problems we’ve learned to tackle so far. I’m not exactly thrilled to be taking the practice exam. I guess it’s like ripping off a band-aid, but, unfortunately, this is going to be about four hour’s worth of band-aid ripping on what will probably be a beautiful, sunny Saturday. This leaves me with two options: a) suck it up, and stop whining or b) learn to enjoy it. Contrary to popular belief, I’m not some weird academic-masochist and my “learn to enjoy” curve is pretty high, so I’m going with option “a” this time around. I have a sneaking suspicion that Blueprint is trying to get us to the option “b” side of things, eventually. Or at least desensitizing us to four hour mental marathons of logic.

In an effort to get pumped, I’m looking at Courage Wolf memes. If you’re unfamiliar with Courage Wolf, Google it. Although most people might find it strange to take inspiration from an internet meme, it’s nice to know that even when I’m up against hours of testing, Courage Wolf’s got my back with sayings like “Bite off more than you can chew. Then chew it” or “Climb the highest mountain, punch the face of God.” Thanks for the lulz and words of wisdom, Courage Wolf. So there you have it: Score a 180, laugh in the faces of those sneaky LSAC bastards who wanted you to fall for their tricks.

Other words of advice about the practice exam came from Nick, who suggested that we treat the practice exam like game day, so don’t show up hungover and do exactly what you would do if you were taking the actual LSAT. The second part was in specific reference to how much caffeine you’re planning on consuming, but can pretty much be applied to anything.

In preparation for Saturday’s rousing round of LSAT fun, we did timed problems for Tuesday’s workshop. Overall, I felt pretty confident about doing both the logical reasoning and the reading comp problems with the time constraints. I was a little surprised by this because it takes me quite some time to go through the homework thoroughly. I’ve been treating extra time like training wheels for the problems, so it’s nice to see that I can get through problems at a faster pace.

That being said, I’m not quite ready to swap the training wheels for a carbon frame racing model. I was similarly surprised by the logic games section. (Note: As of August 2024, the LSAT will no longer have a Logic Games Section. The June 2024 exam will be the final LSAT with Logic Games. Learn more about the change here.)

Granted, we only did two games, a tiered ordering game and an in-out game, but all the same, I was pleased to at least complete both games with only a few incorrect answers. The in-out game I was especially surprised to finish because I’m still really uncomfortable with representing and understanding the rules associated with those games. When I look at the rules, I have to remember that I have the ability to solve the game. Maybe this is some weird idiosyncrasy of mine, but I frequently have to remind myself that I am capable of doing something. I first noticed this when I was studying Greek. During exams, I’d look down at the text and see this incomprehensible block of weird-ass, squiggly writing with accent marks staring back at me. It’s times like that when you really get the feeling of the saying “it’s all Greek to me.” I would have to take a moment to remind myself that I know how to read that alphabet and that it can make sense to me. It’s the same with logic games, the rules might seem incomprehensible at first, but you’ve been taught how to represent and understand them. Don’t freeze up like some deer on the highway in the glaring lights of an oncoming semi, take a moment to remind yourself of what you know how to do and trust in your skills.