N’s internal struggles were as much of an obstacle to his journey to passing the February 2026 California Bar Exam as the usual challenges of passing the bar exam.
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I never struggled with text anxiety prior to taking the LSAT. However, I experienced a panic attack for the first time in my life the first time I took the LSAT.
My body began to shake, my heart pumped out of my chest, my brain stopped working, I started hyperventilating.”
💬 “I think most people feel an overwhelming sense of pride or joy or excitement about graduation. While I certainly felt those emotions, the one emotion that stood above the rest was relief — relief that I had completed three grueling years of law school and could put law school, like the LSAT, in the rearview mirror. I also figured that the panic attacks were a thing of the past.”
He dealt with panic attacks dating back to his first LSAT attempt, and they didn’t stop.
💬 “I experienced this while taking the LSAT (and other tests en route to get to the bar exam).”
To make things worse, he was devastated by the results of the July 2025 exam. He hit emotional rock bottom.
💬 “I opened the results page and saw ‘FAILED’ emblazoned on screen. Devastated, I shared the news with my employer, family, and friends.”
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I struggled on the essays. I only had one essay scored 65 or better.
As you could imagine, the weekend the results were released, I went through a range of emotions. Anger. Sadness. Denial. Apathy. Disappointment. Bitterness. Jealousy. Grief. The list goes on. And so does life.
So, I went to work on Monday, kept my head down, and threw myself into work to distract myself from the pain.”
By the time N saw the word “Pass” on his screen in February 2026, 5.5 years had passed since he first sat down to study for the LSAT.
💬 “I shook and cried when I saw ‘Pass’ on the screen. I couldn’t believe it. And, in some ways, I still can’t believe it.”
💬 “I started working toward this goal of passing the California Bar Exam in December 2020 when I made the decision to study for the LSAT and go to law school. So much had happened — and so much had changed — in the five and a half years it took to pass the California Bar Exam.”
N sent me a 13-page document detailing his struggles, the mistakes from his first attempt, and what changed in this second attempt. (I’ll link you the full story below, including his top 10 insights.)
How did N pass the California Bar Exam despite his conditions affecting his test-taking abilities? What happens when you design your studies rather than following defaults out of fear?
Continue reading “Passing the California Bar on His Second Attempt After Years of Panic Attacks and Classic First-timer Mistakes”
