The Fear Factors: Fifteen Reasons Why Applicants Fail The Bar Examination.

Your Dreams & Goals Should Be Lofty Enough To Sustain You Through The Bar Exam.

I was not as scared, as I was uncertain. But I knew that I knew the law.

Cold. Cryogenic Cold.

I went over to Howard Law School and found a room. A room with a blackboard where I wrote my entire outline on the board. Over and over --> again.

Then I spoke it. Aloud. Then I lay on the table to sleep.

Because I was not sure if someone would take my space.

Or, if I would have to share a room.

I found a hotel room alone. I studied alone. I sat outside of the hotel on the night before the exam. Alone. I bathed myself in the bar exam.

I had missed the mark on so many other tests before that I had promised myself that I was not going to lose on this one. Missed the mark does not mean that I did not study on other tests. Missed the mark meant that I did not know how to prepare and although I thought I did the best I could to prepare, I did not receive an "A." I did not start obtaining "A" grades in law school until I saw "A" papers.

I gained too much weight. I ate too many Popeye's biscuits and red beans and rice. I exercised too little. I was (and I emphasize, was) a smoker.

My greatest achievement in life is that I am not a smoker any longer.

Black lungs and biscuits aside - I was going to pass this bar exam.

Kim Kirkman, one of the very few people that had my heart, asked me to her wedding about 10 days before the exam. I vascillated about whether or not to go. I had played that, "try to work it out with other people to preserve the friendship thing," before.

I A-L-W-A-Y-S seemed to get the short end of that stick.

This time I stayed home. I haven't seen nor spoken to Kim Kirkman since the exam. I wish her and her family well. I don't feel guilty. Loved her then. Love her now.

Noticed that people talked more about taking the exam & less about preparing for it. Didn't want to be one of those people.

The Answers Came To Me Like It Was Nothing.

I remember the first four or five words I wrote were not that attractive, but I followed my plan, and then the words flew out of my mind, directly into my fingers.

I want to emphasize. I DID NOT SHOOT FROM THE HIP. I ORGANIZED, MADE A DECISION, THEN EXECUTED THE PLAN, LIKE SOMETHING OUT OF MISSION IMPOSSIBLE.

The first question was commercial paper and secured transactions. I wanted to stand up at my desk, and scream to the other 25 people from my school taking the test and say, "I know the answer."

We are going to be okay.


The Fifteen Factors - - The Re-Mix.

1. Remember, You Are An Applicant For A State Bar & Nothing More. Don't Ever Forget It. You want to get into the club; it is not the other way around. You have not arrived.

2. Say NO to Others, Via The Establishment Clause: Purposeful, Excessive, Entanglement. Stay out of other people's lives. Live your own. For now.

3. Test Early & Test Often - Test. Review. Outline. Get Up. Early. Everyday. Test.

4. Properly Assess & Tell The Truth To Yourself About Your Personal Learning Curve. So, It takes you six hours to learn what others comprehend in 90 minutes. And?

5. Use Textbook Answers As a Method To Create Your Answers on Particular Topics. Do not reinvent the wheel. If someone has said it and you like it, then write it.

6. Wear The Hat of The People That Write The Questions & Grade the Answers. What would you want to see on an exam & what kinds of questions would you include if you were giving the test?

7. Put Pressure On Yourself Because This Is Your Time, Money, Life & Self-Preservation. Cheer yourself on - few people will take time to tap into greatness. They will come to your aid when you have finished 85% of the journey & your worth is certain.

8. Identify & Recognize Categories of the Law & The Defenses For The Cause of Action. Know what areas of the law the fact pattern presents and match a defense and remedy with EVERY cause of action.

9. Recognize & Learn Various Subject Combinations That Appear On The Exam. Know thine enemy and the substantive law to which it is attached.

10. Find a Place to Study; Have a 24 Hour Buddy Or Realize You Are On Your Own. Get used to being alone, in a place that's your cubby hole. Find a friend. If no friend in figure form, don't fret. Walk by faith.

11. Failure To Use the Time Allotted To Adequately & Properly Outline The Substantive Law. There are 24 hours given each day. Time to study first; EVERYTHING ELSE IS SECONDARY.

12. You Are Not Depressed, Sad, Feel Like You Can't Do It, and You Will Not Change Your Mind At The Last Minute; It's Ten and One-Half Weeks. Some of you are going through some real stuff. I know you are. The rest of us are not. Stop pretending.

13. Write Answers That Are Forceful, Do Not Write Answers That Are Split Down The Middle & Indecisive. No lollipop answers. If you sit on the fence, I don't want to hear a word about how hard it is to balance yourself on such a thin railing.

14. Acknowledge the Depth & Structure of Essay Questions, Multiple-Choice Questions and the Multi-Performance Test. Three issues and three sub-issues. Pick the very best answer for the question. Follow the guide of the task memorandum.

15. Fight! Don't Back Down On A Question, Or, Exam, Overall, When The Jurisdiction Has A Reputation For Being A Tough or Hard Jurisdiction To Pass. You can answer any question; just collect yourself and calm down. Get the 4-1-1 on your jurisdiction. Do not allow its reputation to get to you. Come to the exam with your own reputation.