Well I don't know if I passed yet, but one thing I do know for sure, I completed the Texas Bar Exam.
I endured 2 months of intense studying which may or may not have included: multiple emotional breakdowns, numerous stress eating trips to the grocery store/burger king/whatever I was craving, and a couple pounds of weight gain.
However it also included an awesome bar survival kit from Jill:
The best part:
(you can read more about the kit, and "alphaing" here)
Then I flew to Texas to take the bar exam.
I stayed in a hotel right next to the convention center, which was a huge sanity saver (our rental house was about 45 minutes away without traffic). Each morning I woke up early and started my day with caffeine and more protein than any person should ever have to consume in one sitting:
The protein consumption was worth it. I was never once distracted by hunger (which was the goal).
I would be lying if I didn't tell you that it was 3 days of horrible. I would also be lying if I told you that I just breezed in, took the test, and breezed out. I was a stressed out mess.
2 days before the exam we had eaten dinner with Phil and Jill. Phil had told me about how in his college running days they would have big races. And before those big races they would sit around and say:
"What are we going to do?"
"We are going to complete the race."
It takes the stress and pressure off of winning or beating someone. You just have to focus on completing it. And this was how I got through those stressed out mess moments. I would say in my head, "you just need to complete today's exam." No need to focus on passing, just complete it.
And that is just what I did, completed the exam :)
A quick rundown of the days:
Day 1: Practical Test (they give you a practice senario and you have to write a memo about it), and Texas Civil Procedure and Evidence short answer test (40 questions with 5 lines following each for you to answer in). This was by far my best day, or at least that was how it felt. I felt really good about the practical, and pretty good about the short answer. The only bummer is that this day only counts for 20%
Day 2: Multi-State Multiple Choice Exam. 3 hours to answer 100 questions in the morning, and 3 hours to answer 100 questions in the afternoon. It was really hard, and I didn't feel great about it, but I feel like I performed at a passing level. Counts for 40%
Day 3: Texas Essays. 3 hours to do 6 essays in the morning and 3 hours to do 6 essays in the afternoon. This day was BRUTAL. I felt decently prepared for it when I walked in, but the more questions I read, the worse I felt about it. They asked about little nuanced things some of which I didn't know. Luckily BarBri (my prep course) had prepared me for making up answers, and I made up some awesome answers like a boss :) Counts for 40% (unfortunately)
Results don't come out until summer. I'm not super confident that I passed, because those Texas Essays were brutal. But you never know, the reality is that you only have to pass and I am hoping that the other days might balance out my horrible day. Either way, until the results come out I am hoping for the best!
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