Having butterflies in my stomach, I am reading other blogs and realizing that I, like many others, have felt or am feeling the same anxiety. Waiting for results is like waiting for a painter to paint one's portrait. One never knows how the portrait will turn out. . .a lengthy process. . .
http://calbarred.blogspot.com/2008/11/mixed-feelings.html
Friday, November 5, 2010
Monday, November 1, 2010
Top Ten Ways to Wait Out the Waiting Game
I thought that it was high time for me to address what I and everyone else is thinking, “Did I pass the California July 2010 Bar Exam?” given that I and every exam taker is on pins and needles. . .
A personal event, while our family and friends are supportive, we don’t need to hear platitudes (“Don’t worry, you’ll pass!) or (“Well, if you don’t pass, you can always take the exam again.”) It is better to avoid addressing this issue with us and to leave silent dogs where they lay.
Of course, we worry. One never knows if one passed or not when one walks out of the exam. The MBE’s in the afternoon of the July 2010 exam were particularly rough and where did the questions on civil procedure and wills come from? These questions were not supposed to be on the exam!
And, our friends and family don’t know what they are saying when they state, “Well, you can always take the exam again!” True. But, after five-months of study, and after balancing a paralegal job with enumerating for the U.S. Census Bureau, and barely able to pay the rent. . .after living in a room with mold in the closet and ants in my cat’s food. . .and another nearly 4-months of waiting. . .how many times does one expect that I, or anyone, can do this over again?
Someone wrote that they pitied poor Paula Bandy who took the California Bar exam 14-times before she passed, moving from a house to a garage converted into an apartment, penniless, and still intent on passing. Ms. Bandy is now tutoring bar exam takers; for all that, she is not now a practicing attorney.
And, yet, I am lining up 2010 version of Strategies and Tactics and taking out my sharpened pencils. For, after 10-weeks in the final coursework of a paralegal program, providing good grounding in criminal law and procedure, constitutional and family law, I’m on my game. And, my study buddy is waiting for me in California. For yes, I’ve decided to go back home. I’m a California gal through and through. . .I’ve moved on from the prairie state. I’m turning my little car in a westerly direction and, after clerking for a judge in Illinois (pro bono), after Christmas, cat and I will take the southern route on the long trip home to the Golden State.
So . . . now to the Top Ten. . .
1. Study for another bar exam and don’t look back.
2. One of my friends avoided the results. Her husband awakened her on Sunday morning, and exclaimed, “Honey, you passed the bar exam!” She rolled over and went to sleep.
3. Bake bread, cookies, cakes, croissants . . . and feed them to your friends.
4. Work out with a vengeance. Develop the body that you had before the bar exam!
5. Begin drinking and don’t stop. (But, don’t drive!)
6. Look for gainful employment . . . anything that pays the rent . . . (and, good luck finding a job!)
7. Clerk for a judge.
8. Fill your life with endless details . . . only think about the exam in your dreams.
9. Concentrate on finding a new man (or woman) . . . being in love is a great escape. . .or, keep the one you have if you are both in love.
10. Pour your heart out into a blog. Although comments may be rare, you periodically receive one or two notations that let you know that you are in good company.
A personal event, while our family and friends are supportive, we don’t need to hear platitudes (“Don’t worry, you’ll pass!) or (“Well, if you don’t pass, you can always take the exam again.”) It is better to avoid addressing this issue with us and to leave silent dogs where they lay.
Of course, we worry. One never knows if one passed or not when one walks out of the exam. The MBE’s in the afternoon of the July 2010 exam were particularly rough and where did the questions on civil procedure and wills come from? These questions were not supposed to be on the exam!
And, our friends and family don’t know what they are saying when they state, “Well, you can always take the exam again!” True. But, after five-months of study, and after balancing a paralegal job with enumerating for the U.S. Census Bureau, and barely able to pay the rent. . .after living in a room with mold in the closet and ants in my cat’s food. . .and another nearly 4-months of waiting. . .how many times does one expect that I, or anyone, can do this over again?
Someone wrote that they pitied poor Paula Bandy who took the California Bar exam 14-times before she passed, moving from a house to a garage converted into an apartment, penniless, and still intent on passing. Ms. Bandy is now tutoring bar exam takers; for all that, she is not now a practicing attorney.
And, yet, I am lining up 2010 version of Strategies and Tactics and taking out my sharpened pencils. For, after 10-weeks in the final coursework of a paralegal program, providing good grounding in criminal law and procedure, constitutional and family law, I’m on my game. And, my study buddy is waiting for me in California. For yes, I’ve decided to go back home. I’m a California gal through and through. . .I’ve moved on from the prairie state. I’m turning my little car in a westerly direction and, after clerking for a judge in Illinois (pro bono), after Christmas, cat and I will take the southern route on the long trip home to the Golden State.
So . . . now to the Top Ten. . .
1. Study for another bar exam and don’t look back.
2. One of my friends avoided the results. Her husband awakened her on Sunday morning, and exclaimed, “Honey, you passed the bar exam!” She rolled over and went to sleep.
3. Bake bread, cookies, cakes, croissants . . . and feed them to your friends.
4. Work out with a vengeance. Develop the body that you had before the bar exam!
5. Begin drinking and don’t stop. (But, don’t drive!)
6. Look for gainful employment . . . anything that pays the rent . . . (and, good luck finding a job!)
7. Clerk for a judge.
8. Fill your life with endless details . . . only think about the exam in your dreams.
9. Concentrate on finding a new man (or woman) . . . being in love is a great escape. . .or, keep the one you have if you are both in love.
10. Pour your heart out into a blog. Although comments may be rare, you periodically receive one or two notations that let you know that you are in good company.
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Morally Fit for the Bar?
After receiving the following link from a friend, it begs the question as to just who is morally fit for admission to the bar...
Harvard Grad Torched 911 Memorial
Harvard Grad Torched 911 Memorial
Friday, October 8, 2010
Lionness in Need of Courage
Famous Failures
I was recently announced to a room full of judges and it was said that I failed the California Bar exam on my first attempt and took the exam, a second time, in July 2010. Oh, great! If it wasn't sufficient pressure already. . .!
Can't someone just call me when results are out? I'm too afraid to look. . .the first experience was sufficiently nauseating.
To make myself feel as if I am in good company, I examined the link above. OK, I feel better now, particularly since one of the Court personnel said, "Well, I passed in Iowa and the scores are equally dismal and it's a 3-day exam, just like California." Then she followed with, "500 people take the exam." So how, exactly does Iowa compare to California???? (By the way, I looked up the pass rate in Iowa. . .it hardly compares!)
I was recently announced to a room full of judges and it was said that I failed the California Bar exam on my first attempt and took the exam, a second time, in July 2010. Oh, great! If it wasn't sufficient pressure already. . .!
Can't someone just call me when results are out? I'm too afraid to look. . .the first experience was sufficiently nauseating.
To make myself feel as if I am in good company, I examined the link above. OK, I feel better now, particularly since one of the Court personnel said, "Well, I passed in Iowa and the scores are equally dismal and it's a 3-day exam, just like California." Then she followed with, "500 people take the exam." So how, exactly does Iowa compare to California???? (By the way, I looked up the pass rate in Iowa. . .it hardly compares!)
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
July 2010 Essays Posted
July 2010 Bar Exam Essay Questions and PT's on the State Bar web site but not the model answers.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
California Dreaming
All the leaves are brown
And the sky is gray
I've been for a walk
On a winter's day
I'd be safe and warm
If I was in L.A.
California dreamin'
On such a winter's day
Stopped into a church
I passed along the way
Oh, I got down on my knees
And I pretend to pray
You know the preacher likes the cold
He knows I'm gonna stay
California dreamin'
On such a winter's day
All the leaves are brown
And the sky is gray
I've been for a walk
On a winter's day
If I didn’t tell her
I could leave today
California dreamin'
On such a winter's day
(California dreamin')
On such a winter's day
(California dreamin')
On such a winter's day
And the sky is gray
I've been for a walk
On a winter's day
I'd be safe and warm
If I was in L.A.
California dreamin'
On such a winter's day
Stopped into a church
I passed along the way
Oh, I got down on my knees
And I pretend to pray
You know the preacher likes the cold
He knows I'm gonna stay
California dreamin'
On such a winter's day
All the leaves are brown
And the sky is gray
I've been for a walk
On a winter's day
If I didn’t tell her
I could leave today
California dreamin'
On such a winter's day
(California dreamin')
On such a winter's day
(California dreamin')
On such a winter's day
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