Win, Lose, or Draw, The Bar Exam Has Run Its Course And Most Of You Are Coming Down From A Ten Week Period of Testing, Reviewing, Memorizing, and Working Like The Lawyers You Want To Be In The Future.
So, what is next? What do we do while we wait for the bar exam results? Here are a few things to contemplate after you have taken three to ten days off from your personal relationship with the bar examination.
1. Re-take The Bar Exam. Hold up. Wait one minute. Stop reading the first sentence because it does say what you think it says - - re-take the exam. If your jurisdiction allowed you to take the questions to the exam home with you, then you should count yourself as lucky. Why? Well, you get to actually write out answers to questions and with the books right there with you.
I did it. I returned home and answered the questions. I sat down with a yellow pad and wrote out the answers. I know. That was me. That was then. Just because I did it does not mean that you must do it. You are correct on all counts. Correct or not, if you want to know how you did on the exam, and if you have the questions available, then take a seat within the next 14 days. Write out the answers.
2. Pack Up The Commercial Outlines. Pack up the materials, nicely, please. Take time to organize your work. The material does not have to be color coordinated and packed in tip-top shape, but loose notes should be stored in folders, write the names of subjects on the front of the box, and do not throw away the schedule and other tidbits of information received by the commercial course. Hold on. Change could be coming, but we do not yet know in what form.
3. Stop talking about the bar and reflect on the experience. It is time to deflate a little, and get away from the experience. I do not ask you to hide and deny the experience, or that it ever took place, but too much talk about it makes it still seem like the exam is still part of your here and now, but it is not. It is over. If someone brings it up, certainly you can discuss it. But I suggest that you do not begin every conversation with the bar exam. Let it rest for a while. The bar will return in a few short months. If you want to know how you feel about the exam, then write a reflective note to yourself by e-mail.
4. If you do not have a job, find one. I said, a job. I did not say, "the" job, or a legal job, but "a" job. Once you find a job, then you can look for "the" job. I don't want you to be confused about what you need and what you want. You need to eat, to have a place to sleep, to pay for a few bills. You want food that looks more like a feast than a meal, you want to sleep in a mansion (or, at least a five bedroom, three full baths, home), and you want to be able to pay your bills off, and not down (or, get them in control) within thirty (30) days.
Don't let other people deter you or beat you up because their job is "allegedly" bigger than your job. My job is to make the green. That's my job and no one else is supposed to ask me how I do it or care how I get it done. Stay out of my pocketbook unless you put money in my pocket. I never ask people what they do or what they are doing or show any indication about wanting to know who makes what. It's simple. No matter how much information I have about other people, their salaries, and their positions, all of "that stuff" belongs to them. I still have to fight the good fight for myself and my family. I do not allow anyone to intrude on how I earn a living, and I do not intrude on how others support their families. Sharing is one thing; tending to your own household's business is another.
5. Make A Plan After Results Are Posted. What will you do if you pass (will I take a second exam, do I have enough points to waive into another state, who will I tell and what will I say)? What will you do if you don't pass (will I take the exam immediately in February 2011; how will I study; will I sign up with the same commercial bar prep course (or, another course); will I sign up for a course, at all; when will I begin study for the next exam; what will I do if I have a job; how will I study).
A word on jobs. If you found a job that is not the job that you want, but the job that you need, keep in mind that may want to let that job go IF you do not pass the bar exam and need to take it again. The bar exam is easy (easier, let's say) with the person does not have a job that he or she must contend with five (5) days each week and 40 hours per week. But include the exam with five (5) days and 40 (or, more) hours, and it looks like a tragedy. A soap opera of some sort. If you are a smart person, you will find a job that works for you as soon as possible, and learn how to save all or most of your money just in case you get a surprise in November. If you have squirreled away enough money over five or six month period, there is no reason why you can't live without the extra 40 hours a week.
On the other hand, a forty (40) hour a week job makes you work harder IF you have to work and study for the February bar exam. It makes your time more valuable, and it makes you believe that you have to get it this time around, because you do not want to do it again in July 2011.
If you have already secured "the" job before graduating from law school, then you will have to work. You hope your boss will be kind and understanding, and not place a heavy workload on you. But don't expect it, or anything else from a boss or co-workers. If you get some time off or a lighter work load, that is good, but you are now on the other side of the law school experience. You are not a student anymore, and your employer may force you to tow the line. Be ready for it.
My last post for the July 2010 bar exam is tomorrow, July 30, 2010. The thought for tomorrow is, "How should you conduct yourself when the results are posted?"
Until tomorrow.
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