So I'm taking this moment to come out of blogging obscurity. I feel the need to pay tribute to those recent law school grads who are about to face the last hazing ritual before they're let into the club... The bar exam started today for most of them.
It doesn't seem like all that long ago that I was driving myself up to Albany, where they stuck all the out of state people to take NY bar. My trunk was full of study materials, but they never made it out of the car. My brain was on vacation and I decided it deserved the night off. However, I was struck by full blown panic when I realized around 9:30 that I didn't have any sharpened pencils.
As I plugged in the electric pencil sharpener and moved it as far away from the wall as the cord would reach, I had visions of waking up my strung out neighbors and having them come to impale me with their own #2 pencils. As I was sharpening my 5th pencil (and really, who needs THAT many pencils?), the sounds of a fist pounding against my door made me break into a sweat. I stopped what I was doing, hoping the noise would go away. But it came again, louder than before.
I crept over to the door and peered outside to see who was undoubtedly the largest, beefiest man I'd ever seen scowling back at me.
Oh, fuck, I thought as I opened the door. I am going to die before I get the chance to take this stupid test I spent all summer studying for!
"WAS THAT A PENCIL SHARPENER I HEARD IN YOUR ROOM?" He demanded.
I began to profusely apologize, not wanting to piss off another strung out, sleep deprived, tanked up on caffeine would be bar exam taker... Then he held up a fist full of pencils. "PLEASE? I'll get down on my knees and beg if I have to. PLEASE let me sharpen my pencils in your room."
The three days of testing that followed that moment passed in a blur. I know I left the test center in New York first, being assured by all the cab drivers outside that this was a good sign and that the first to leave always passed. I drove from Albany to Central Jersey and was so tired when I got to the hotel that I couldn't even give the clerk my name in order to check in. I have a vague recollection of being happy to be on the concierge floor because I was too tired to do anything more than stumble down the hall, grab some free food and pass out. I know I set four alarms to make sure I woke up the next morning so I didn't sleep through the exam and refused to speak to anyone, other than to text my parents and hubby that I had safely made it from NY to NJ. And I know at the end of the bar, I got stuck in the worst shore traffic coming south and was treated to a lovely voice mail from my bank telling me that I was going to bounce my rent check if I didn't transfer some funds into my checking account by the close of business.
But the point is, I got through it.
It was two and a half months of torture getting ready. It was three hellish days of testing. And with each year that goes by, the memory of it fades a little bit more.
So, to those of you taking the bar, good luck - not that you need it. You've spent your entire lives taking tests. You're a pro at it by now. And this is the one test you don't have to ace. C = ESQ (and look forward to your trip to the bar after you're done with the bar)
To those of you who already took it and passed, aren't you glad we're not doing this again?
And to those of you who never had to deal with this at all, you're far smarter than I am!
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8 comments:
I can make a vodka collins. That's about the best I can do on a bar exam. lol
Seriously though, it sounds really tough.
My brother took his when he was horribly ill, so he doesn't have any kind of fond memory about it either.
kinda glad i never had to go through this...i will take one of whatever otin is having though...
my bar exam mantra was "minimal competency." no A papers required; just tell what you know.
'course, i took the VA bar, and i have a dual degree in common law and civil law. so of course VA asked a secured transactions question. and of course, the answer was different in the civil code of louisiana than it is under common law. i was half through the essay before i realized i was answering for louisiana. thankfully it was an easy question.
and for the tax specialist i am: i got a full tax essay. i was LUCKY.
O: Yeah, that's all you need to know. How to mix a good strong drink for after the exam ;)
BV: no one has a fond memory of the bar. but it does seem to fade over time.
brian: see. you're far smarter than i am. i did this to myself three times. and i'm in the process of waiving into PA... it's like i collect bar memberships. i need to get a life.
magnolia: i hated life when i got a tax essay on the maine bar. they paired it in a section with a negotiable instruments question which literally tested 1 line of the barbri outline. (i will never forget what a damn alonge is for the rest of my LIFE!) each section was 2 essays to be completed in 90 minutes. i finished in 10 and freaked for the next 80 that i had failed.
you're the best. hopefully i can be done with this forever.
Firecracker: Welcome to the other side, young grasshopper. ;)
Tests and I don't get along. They simply become the theme of my nightmares. I get too nervous. I second guess myself. I third guess myself into the wrong damn answer.
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