Is there anything more painful. Well I’m sure #1 is probably somewhere being smug or at least reveling at being generally superior academically… but this is the first time i’ve been “ranked”. I don’t like it. I mean on the one hand it doesn’t matter… but on the other hand it reminds me of where i fell short. The bar exam is a chance to fix that in my mind. I got work to do.
Jun
09
This is going to be an interesting… yet stressful summer. I just started week three of BarBri. I’m finally starting to figure out how to focus. Needless to say I need to get on track fast. The good news is, I’m not completely dead in the water, the bad news is, i have a lot of work ahead of me.
In other news, the Real World is coming to DC. Head over to http://antirealworlddc.blogspot.com for a website that pretty much mirrors my sentiments. I’m not happy or excited about it at all. The Real World house is entirely too close to my fave frozen yogurt spot.. oh and they’re most likely going to totally misrepresent the city. I’m sure there will be plenty of interesting stories about these new unwelcome tenants. Only time will tell I suppose
Categorized in Bar Exam, BarBri and Real World DC
May
29
So i’ve done two weeks of bar prep. A week of PMBR and a week of BarBri. Fear is definitely creeping in. PMBR was cool, but this first week of BarBri has been pretty blah. This week was like the MBE Prep week… essentially a repeat of what I had done last week in PMBR.
I honestly don’t know how i feel about this whole method of doing sample questions and then reviewing them as a way to learn material. I mean there are limits to what you can learn that way and it just seems disjointed. Next week the “real” BarBri starts though, I guess that’s the part where I’ll actually “learn” stuff.
The whole process is scary, but I’m still optimistic.
May
23
So my PMBR week is pretty much over. I’m pretty sure I learned a lot but I have truly mixed feelings about the way the course is taught. I mean the idea is that you do the problems and then go to class to talk about why you got the answer right/wrong. According to PMBR, that’s how you learn the most. I’m not so sure I agree with that.
For subjects like evidence and criminal law/procedure this format was helpful, but that’s because I know something about those topics. When I answered those questions, and even to a certain extent the torts questions, I knew what concepts they were testing. I could say “ok this is a hearsay question, and they’re trying to see if i know about this hearsay exception.” That didn’t always lead me to the right answer, but I was actively thinking about it, and when i heard the explanation that afternoon i could follow along and make sense of it. For subjects like contracts and constitutional law, however, it’s completely unhelpful. Imagine, if you will, taking a quiz on a subject you know VERY little about. Multiple choice. What are you going to do? You’re gonna guess. There’s no reasoning behind it. You’re fucking making patterns on your answer sheet. So when it comes time to “learn”, you’re learning the material for the first time. Additionally, you’ve “wasted” the practice test for the most part because now you don’t have anything to go back and learn now that you know a little something about the topic.
Either way, today is the last day of PMBR. I’m happy to learn that I’m not completely lost. i did learn a little in law school and studying on my own. Of course I also still have a lonnnnnggggg way to go. Unfortunately however, BarBri starts on Tuesday and that’s when I essentially lose all freedom. Yay?
May
14
Today I officially officially started studying for the bar exam. Eesh. Unlike a lot of folks that’ll take the bar this summer, I took most of the classes that we’ll be tested on about 5 years ago… add to that the fact that I was in a much different place then and you have a recipe for possible disaster. I remember almost nothing about Contracts, Torts, Constitutional Law or Property. Like nothing. Luckily for me i was interested in Evidence in Criminal Law/Procedure, so I have a decent background/understanding of those topics, but other than that… not so much. So, a week before the actual classes begin I’ve started reviewing.
I’ve signed up for both PMBR (the 6-day and 3-day) as well as Barbri. Truth be told, the CA bar has me a bit scared. The thing that has bothered me so far about the classes (even thought neither has started yet), is that I still honestly don’t know what to expect from these classes. I don’t really know what I’m supposed to do before classes start. I don’t know what I should have done by the first day. I’m pretty much prepared to start off a bit behind but hopefully i’ll figure it out.
In addition to studying there’s the job hunt and just trying to improve my life in general. I know that getting in better shape will improve my stamina which will help while i’m trying to take this 3-day test. I’m also trying to get back into the habit of cooking. Being unemployed gives me PLENTY of time to cook and eat healthy. I just need to remember how to do that. I’m also toying with the idea of going back to being a vegetarian… I also just bought a pack of bacon so… Maybe i could be a vegetarian that eats bacon twice a week or something… I need to figure that part out. Other than that I’m purging what I can from this house. Come hell or high water we’re moving somewhere in September and I’m tired of lugging junk from one place to the next. No more junk = the motto.
I also need to get on a better sleeping schedule so… zzzzzzzzzzzzz
Categorized in Bar Exam, Goals, Health, Job Search and Weight
Gangsta Mittens 