Practice, Practice, Practice
Did a mock with 4 of my friends today and it was really hard! Got me feeling anxious and worried about how much more work I need to do. Felt like I talked in circles a fair amount of the time, though I know it wasn’t that bad. Was too tired–didn’t get enough sleep last night. Have a lot of practicing to do to streamline my answers so that each one actually has a real point, not just tangential bits of information connecting to what I’ve read. It’s really hard! And it’s different from first year orals, when we were all going through it together with the same material. Am glad I still have time left. Plan for the next week:
- Practice making my answers shorter.
- Write out answers to the questions I’ve put down on the lists.
- Make each answer have 3-4 main points, and draw on readings strategically to make the points not randomly to show I’ve read them.
- Think about each piece of reading and how it connects to my larger areas of specialization.
- Defining key terms, laying out central tensions and debates.
- Practice, practice, practice.