The 5 Stages of the Bar Exam

Every law school student has experienced the stress of your entire grade being determined by your performance on one final exam, fighting with your classmates to be at the top of the class, and eventually accepting that this may have all been done in vain because the promise of big law firm jobs no longer exists. However, nothing can prepare you for the stress that is...dun dun DUNN...The Bar Exam. While everyone's experience is different, here's my experience during the bar exam:

1. Anticipation

I've spent a full month gathering the information for the bar exam application but bar prep doesn't start for a few months. To get a leg up on my classmates, I start reviewing my weak subjects and looking at practice tests and example MBE questions. But Teen Mom is on, Scandal is on DVR and everyone is going out for wings tomorrow (can't miss that). Then the continuous thought of, "I'll start on Monday. Monday is the day!" carries me into May/January (when bar prep actually begins).

2. Boredom

Oh my gosh Becky....how long can this guy talk about friggin Easements!! I'd rather claw out my eyes than listen to these lectures for 3 hours every day. And how am I supposed to concentrate when Facebook, Instagram, TMZ, and Candy Crush are literally calling out to me like an addiction. I'm gonna b.s. for 30 minutes and then get back to Landlord/Tenant rights...I promise. 

3. Despair

It's the end of my first month of bar prep and I have taken 2 practice MBE exams and I've done at least 20 essays and I continue to fail! I don't know any of this stuff! Why did they even let me graduate? I wonder if the board of law examiners will give me my money back so I can just cut my losses. I'd rather be at the beach anyway.

4. Panic

What in the holy %@$?!!! It's July 1st/February 1st and I don't know a single thing. Everyone else claims to have completed most of their review course and I don't even know the difference between Article 2 and Article 9 of the UCC...What does UCC stand for?...Why do I need to know about merchant contracts?...What business owner doesn't get things in writing?!....I need a glass of wine after I lock myself in this office to study for the next month!

5. Acceptance

It's one week before the exam. I've neglected my job, my kids, and my spouse for the past 3 months and I've worked my @$$ off. There's honestly nothing more I can do. Looking at this 3ft. stack of test prep books...NOBODY could possibly know all of this crap but I'm going to do my best. Dear baby Jesus, Allah, Zeus, Prince Harry, Kanye (and whoever else is a god who answers prayers) just let me pass so I don't have to do this again!!

**Just know you're not the only one going through it and you'll make it!! Also know that part of the bar exam is preparation while another part is luck. You're lucky if the examiners happen to ask questions on the subjects you've reviewed. For bar prep, I recommend AmeriBar because they condense the information to testable areas and they don't just give you a stack of books with every single law and advise you to "read it...or else." No matter what course you choose, don't beat yourself for checking Facebook every so often just to stay awake ;)

**Try not to read too many blogs as it'll only scare you and GOOD LUCK!!!**