my life begins...
Day three is just a blur, and I'm a little disappointed at the lack of drama. It was just a really hard, really boring, really long test. Nobody freaked out and died. I didn't get to see anyone throw up although there was people in the bathroom barfing, and there was much bar flatulence as well. I noticed a general lack of handwashing in during the intermittent bathroom breaks I used to stretch and relieve my sciatica. Those must be some pretty happy bacteria on all those laptop keys.
I did not have to write again. I successfully typed the entire test. There was nothing that completely blindsided me on this test. I had heard that there was always one question where people go "what the fuck?" but this did not happen. Every single part of the test, save the mbe's, was straightforward. I'm certain I missed a number of issues, and while I felt my answers were quite good, I understand the subjectivity of the graders and their need to chop off the heads of the bottom 52%. If I found it easy, then other people did too.
I found myself socializing a lot more during the exam than I thought I would. My fiance is probably correct; when the chips are down, people come together. I'm not sure studying would have helped. It was good luck that Tom was right across the aisle from me at the test. A wierd coincidence.
Flemings did successfully predict the corporations question and the Professional responsibility question. I believe he also stated that there would be common law fraud on the corps. and the question on PR would entail answering according to CA and ABA rules. He was correct, although I must say I didn't really study according to them anyway. I just kind of glanced through the checklists. It probably helped, but I'm not sure, since I already studied everything. He predicted community property, which did not come to pass. Instead it was wills and trusts. He was thus four out of six for the entire exam.
I know that people regard predictions with skepticism, but if you did like me, and had already studied everything, I can honestly say that my focus on the subjects, four of which were predicted correctly, helped me. So the predictions can be a good thing. Depending upon who you listen to. Of course, I haven't passed yet, and while I'm hopeful, I don't expect to. I understand the nature of the beast.
If you ever take the bar in Oakland, go up stairway B to the top floor and sneak into the lounge up there. In the morning the sun rises over the Oakland hills and it is quite beautiful.
I must say that there were definitely moments where I felt dizzy and not well. I kind of fought off the anxiety spells here and there and just continued to plug away. I'm absolutely amazed at the resolute strength of almost every bar examinee in that room. Although they have all been battle-tested in law school (most of them)this exam is different; it is without question, alongside the study period, the hardest thing I have ever done.
There is a Japanese word for that moment between a new beginning and an ending which we don't have in English. That feeling of an empty room after a wedding reception, where crumpled napkins and sit on the tables and the broad swath of carpet absorbs the silence. I looked down into the lobby of the conference center and felt it. The intersection of so many lives, so many fortunes, so many failures. There is, within all of this, tremendous pain and suffering, and tremendous glory and exuberance.
You ask yourself how many times in your life you truly get to test yourself. You get to see those limits that yes, perhaps others have set arbitrarily and capriciously. But it is where the old world meets the new. It is, for lack of a better term, old school. Trial by combat. An elaborate hazing ritual. You hate and think it's unfair but you are still proud of enduring it, because the victory comes in the form of survival.
There are, to be sure, those who are there who have all the wrong power for all the wrong reasons. They intend punish others because others punished them. They roll around in a t-shirt that says "Cornell" to assuage their flagging egos and assure themselves that they are special and superior. more than one out of ten of them fail. It must be more embarassing for them. You look around and see the meek, tiny oriental girls, huge white males, the average, nondescript white guy with brown hair, five ten, 170 pounds. There must have been thousands of them. The brilliant asian guy. The dumb asian guy. The hot chick. The fat chick. That is about all the diversity we can apparently manage in California. Don't ask me why.
I cannot say that it was a positive experience. I cannot, however, say it was negative either. It is what it is. A moment, like any other moment, strung together with threads of love, life, hope and happiness. A zen moment, like the one I had driving over the hill last night. The moon hung there in the blue-blackness of the sky, with a few stars slowly appearing; it was a faint crescent with the rest of it's dark mass blending into the backdrop. It was all I had. That moment. The same moment when, as keys were clicking by the hundreds I paused for a second and kind of breathed in the experience of the bar. The same moment when I came home and Debbie was on the porch waiting for me.
It's all we have, these moments. It's all we ever have.
I did not have to write again. I successfully typed the entire test. There was nothing that completely blindsided me on this test. I had heard that there was always one question where people go "what the fuck?" but this did not happen. Every single part of the test, save the mbe's, was straightforward. I'm certain I missed a number of issues, and while I felt my answers were quite good, I understand the subjectivity of the graders and their need to chop off the heads of the bottom 52%. If I found it easy, then other people did too.
I found myself socializing a lot more during the exam than I thought I would. My fiance is probably correct; when the chips are down, people come together. I'm not sure studying would have helped. It was good luck that Tom was right across the aisle from me at the test. A wierd coincidence.
Flemings did successfully predict the corporations question and the Professional responsibility question. I believe he also stated that there would be common law fraud on the corps. and the question on PR would entail answering according to CA and ABA rules. He was correct, although I must say I didn't really study according to them anyway. I just kind of glanced through the checklists. It probably helped, but I'm not sure, since I already studied everything. He predicted community property, which did not come to pass. Instead it was wills and trusts. He was thus four out of six for the entire exam.
I know that people regard predictions with skepticism, but if you did like me, and had already studied everything, I can honestly say that my focus on the subjects, four of which were predicted correctly, helped me. So the predictions can be a good thing. Depending upon who you listen to. Of course, I haven't passed yet, and while I'm hopeful, I don't expect to. I understand the nature of the beast.
If you ever take the bar in Oakland, go up stairway B to the top floor and sneak into the lounge up there. In the morning the sun rises over the Oakland hills and it is quite beautiful.
I must say that there were definitely moments where I felt dizzy and not well. I kind of fought off the anxiety spells here and there and just continued to plug away. I'm absolutely amazed at the resolute strength of almost every bar examinee in that room. Although they have all been battle-tested in law school (most of them)this exam is different; it is without question, alongside the study period, the hardest thing I have ever done.
There is a Japanese word for that moment between a new beginning and an ending which we don't have in English. That feeling of an empty room after a wedding reception, where crumpled napkins and sit on the tables and the broad swath of carpet absorbs the silence. I looked down into the lobby of the conference center and felt it. The intersection of so many lives, so many fortunes, so many failures. There is, within all of this, tremendous pain and suffering, and tremendous glory and exuberance.
You ask yourself how many times in your life you truly get to test yourself. You get to see those limits that yes, perhaps others have set arbitrarily and capriciously. But it is where the old world meets the new. It is, for lack of a better term, old school. Trial by combat. An elaborate hazing ritual. You hate and think it's unfair but you are still proud of enduring it, because the victory comes in the form of survival.
There are, to be sure, those who are there who have all the wrong power for all the wrong reasons. They intend punish others because others punished them. They roll around in a t-shirt that says "Cornell" to assuage their flagging egos and assure themselves that they are special and superior. more than one out of ten of them fail. It must be more embarassing for them. You look around and see the meek, tiny oriental girls, huge white males, the average, nondescript white guy with brown hair, five ten, 170 pounds. There must have been thousands of them. The brilliant asian guy. The dumb asian guy. The hot chick. The fat chick. That is about all the diversity we can apparently manage in California. Don't ask me why.
I cannot say that it was a positive experience. I cannot, however, say it was negative either. It is what it is. A moment, like any other moment, strung together with threads of love, life, hope and happiness. A zen moment, like the one I had driving over the hill last night. The moon hung there in the blue-blackness of the sky, with a few stars slowly appearing; it was a faint crescent with the rest of it's dark mass blending into the backdrop. It was all I had. That moment. The same moment when, as keys were clicking by the hundreds I paused for a second and kind of breathed in the experience of the bar. The same moment when I came home and Debbie was on the porch waiting for me.
It's all we have, these moments. It's all we ever have.
posted by demabloggery at 9:49 AM
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