Mindset/Psychology | Make This Your Last Time

December 21, 2024December 19, 2024 - 2 Comments

Should You Study for the Bar Exam or Take a Break During Holidays?

Every time the holidays roll around, a pang of GUILT flashes across the bar taker’s heart as they balance social obligations and the big day looming two months away.

“Do I go to that wedding? Why is the wedding outdoors in December?”

“Do I grow a spine, or say yes to that holiday party with the mandatory $100 white elephant gift?”

“Do I study or hang out with my family?”

There are pockets of cultures surrounding work, rest, and “self-care.”

Let’s divide them into two extreme stereotypical categories. This false dichotomy will be a narrative device so I can make a point later:

December 4, 2024December 10, 2024 - 2 Comments

Doing What “Works for You” in Bar Prep

How bar takers view the prep process has shifted over the last 10 years:

Standard advice 10 years ago: Follow the program. Trust the system.
Past few years: Movement toward independent self-study and people advising others to “do what works for you” or “do what’s best for you.”

But what does that mean?

“Do what works for you” can be vague and circular because knowing what works for you may be a product of hindsight.

If you already knew what was best for you, you’d be doing it already.

November 30, 2024November 30, 2024 - 4 Comments

Two Biggest Fears of a Bar Exam Taker

“I need to know all the law first!”

What were those three years of law school for? Never mind.

There’s this strange concern in the atmosphere floating around.

A concern that if you don’t know it all, then you won’t be prepared to solve the problems… The thought that all you need to do well on the bar exam is to “have the information”…

So you sit there, fold your arms, and wait for osmosis. You wait. Maybe your soulmate will one day knock on your door, too.

And then when you finally flip open that essay after weeks of “studying”…

You stare at the blank page.

In front of you, a blank canvas ready to be filled but only reflecting a harsh stillness.

The cursor blinks at you, urging you to fill the awkward silence.

Cold sweat squeezes out of pores you didn’t even realize you had on your body. 😓

“…”

You decide to hit the books and videos again. Maybe you just need to study a little more…

You’re mostly grasping the material, but then when you take a practice exam it’s like everything you know is out the window.

WTF? Why didn’t it work?

November 16, 2024November 16, 2024 - 32 Comments

Should You “Trust the Process”? You’re the Dean of Your Own Bar Exam Studies

Here’s something that people who pass the bar exam never say:

“All I had to do was listen to all the bar course lectures and take a lot of notes. Just complete the course 100% and you’ll pass!”

Could you imagine if that’s all it took tho

Sometimes we think “doing whatever it takes” to pass the bar exam means exhausting yourself and throwing 1000 hours and even more dollars into a black hole. (But it doesn’t have to be expensive.)

Or following some unsustainable cookie-cutter schedule (that doesn’t care if you have other responsibilities like work or family). Good luck if you fall behind by one day.

Or letting a perfectly fine morning slip through by religiously sitting through 4 hours of droning lectures. Worse, pausing lectures to fill in all the notes. Then not even remembering 99% of it.

When you thought the lectures made sense

“Trust the process.”

I remember those days. All of those things above are things I stopped doing on my second attempt at preparing for the bar exam.

Here’s what I’d do instead:

November 15, 2024December 4, 2024 - 3 Comments

Passing the California Bar Exam 20 Years Out of Law School

Heather graduated from law school 20 years ago. Then she passed the 2024 July California Bar Exam.

The last time she took the California Bar Exam was when it was a different format altogether and three days long (I took that shit twice, and it is no joke).

💬 “I’m a full time working mom, with 2 young kids at home, and diagnosed with ADHD. No one at work even knew I was taking the exam.”

💬 “I didn’t need the license for my job, but wanted to pass just for me. My 2 kids got to see the whole process, and were so excited to share in the joy when they found out I passed the California Bar Exam!”

Let me get this straight:

Graduated 20 years ago
Last exposure to the bar exam was several years ago at least
Probably forgot everything from law school
Full-time working mom with ADHD
Didn’t even need to pass and or flex on anyone (I will be flexing on her behalf)

And here you are wondering how you can get “motivated.”

Well, here’s how you can do it too.