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July 18, 2006
Bar Exam, Anyone?
It’s a Monday night in late July. You’re holed up in a hotel room praying like you’ve never prayed before. For the last twelve hours, you’ve been an absolute basket case. You’re not sure what a death row inmate feels like in the days leading up to his execution, but you can’t imagine it’s much worse than how you feel now. You’ve had trouble eating recently, but today has been especially difficult. As soon as you glance over at the room clock, you can feel the beads of sweat starting to build on your forehead.
“It is really true?” you wonder. “Do I only have ten more hours before this damn thing begins?”
You’ve had an entire summer to learn the information, but for whatever reason, you find yourself pacing frantically in your room, wondering how the hell you can possibly pass. You check the alarm clock for what must be the twentieth time. You set the alarm on your phone just in case and leave the ringer on, hoping like hell that one of your idiot friends doesn’t call you in the middle of the night.
You take a pill out of its case and swallow it with the aid of some overpriced bottled water. You let out a huge sigh before resting your head on the pillow. Before you close your eyes, you stare straight at the ceiling and actually say, “Please let me sleep tonight, God. Please.” You’ve had more contact with the man upstairs in the last twelve hours than you’ve had in the last twelve years. A used car lot hasn’t seen as much bargaining as your room.
You stand up and check the alarm clock again. It still looks like it’s in perfect working order. You wonder if you should turn off your phone. If the alarm clock doesn’t work, the wake-up call should. “Oh the hell with it,” you think. “Better safe than sorry.”
For the next fifteen minutes, your mind is racing faster than Mario Andretti. “Does he even race anymore?” you wonder. “I’d love to be a racecar driver.”
Your thoughts continue to be sporadic, yet slow down in pace. Ah, yes. The Ambien is finally starting to kick in. Within minutes, you’ll be asleep for good.
You've never been this nervous. Why can't you have one extra day?
Welcome to the night before day one of the bar exam.
BAD NEWS: If you're taking the July bar exam, you're going to have a rough night next Monday.
GOOD NEWS: Rough night aside, you can definitely pass!
BETTER NEWS: Even if you've fallen way behind this summer, there's still one week to absorb a ton of information. Use this week to ensure that you pass! Make sure you read every essay in your Bar/Bri book as well as every answer. That simple exercise will help tremendously. Don't freak out on test day. You don't have to be perfect! You can do this!
BEST NEWS: You don't live in Southern Lebanon.
Comments
All the same, I'm freaking the heck out. And it's good to hear you recommend exactly what I'm planning on doing. Still... going crazy here.
Posted by: Philosofer at July 18, 2006 01:10 AM
Thank you for this. Not for putting the insanity in context but for making it public. You forgot to add making frantic calls to at least five people for wake up calls to the list. When I finally sleep I'm going to pass out for at least 96 straight hours and I would prefer that to be AFTER the exam.
Posted by: Lizzie at July 18, 2006 08:38 AM
hahahahahahaa - this post is AWESOME. Of course, considering that I'm baseline utterly insane, I guess my anxiety before the bar exam will be this post squared.
Posted by: LawNut at July 18, 2006 09:53 AM
I actually didn't think the BAR was too bad... defending my dissertation was FAR worse. Just rememeber, so long as you are not in the bottom 30% (in most states) you will pass. Looking at some of the drooling idiots that were at my Bar exam, that gave me quite a bit of comfort.
Posted by: Jason C at July 18, 2006 10:41 AM
I want to take it twice, this is just a dry run for my real bar in february. goooooood idea? no, never
Posted by: pretty at July 18, 2006 02:08 PM
Philosofer, It's good to worry. You're going to be more successful on this exam than the 1987 Minnesota Twins.
Lizzie, Don't rely on room service to feed you in the morning AND good luck!
LawNut, What exactly is baseline utterly insane? At least you have another year before you need to worry!
Dr. Jason C, I don't think the actual exam is too bad either, but the anxiety leading up to the exam - that's not a bundle of joy. Plus, if you're in a state that flunks half the people, the anxiety factor increases quite a bit. On the other hand, it was comforting to hear people talking about how this was their third and fourth time sitting for the exam.
Pretty, You are an idiot who will PASS! (Thumbs up!) Remember, WWHD? - What would Honigsberg do?
Posted by: Fool at July 19, 2006 12:33 AM
this post just made me physically nauseous. Of course, I realized earlier today that the words "monday night" alone have that effect, too. Thanks for the advice, though.
Posted by: b'enson at July 19, 2006 11:20 PM
b'enson, Half the battle is handling the stress. It's NOT fun, but you don't need to be perfect! Just remember that after seeing a question that makes you think, "Fuck!"
Posted by: Fool at July 19, 2006 11:28 PM
That actually made me feel a little sick to my stomach... i'm trying to calculate what i can learn in 4 days... it's not looking good...
Posted by: little shut-in at July 20, 2006 07:48 PM
Keep in mind that a LOT of you will fail the bar exam. A decent percentage really. You might spend some of that toss-and-turn time thinking about alternate careers just in case. Or start deluding yourself that failure is okay, that your parents will still love you.
The world needs ditch diggers too, son.
Posted by: Oregon Tillamook at July 21, 2006 02:00 PM
