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Advice Law School

The Ugly Truth About Bar Prep

Preparing for the Bar exam is unbelievably lonely. I’m not sure what I expected this to feel like, but whatever those preconceived notions may have been were shattered after a few weeks into seriously prepping for this exam. Admittedly, I put off studying for a while. My brain just felt like it couldn’t deal after graduation.

This summer has been the most mentally fatiguing experience of my life and I’ve found myself trying to explain this emotion, or series of feelings, multiple times to many different people. So, here’s the ugly truth about bar prep – it sucks and feels like a hazing ritual. When no one in your immediate family has gone through this experience, it can feel like you’re an island and there’s not even a dinghy to help you escape. But you’ve got to get through it, and you will. Build the damn boat, friend.

The funny thing is, studying isn’t the difficult part. It’s getting myself into study mode. Every day. For hours. Several hours. Like nine hours a day and then time spent for review, and the gym (where I’ve been listening to audio outlines from Crushendo), feeding myself, and getting the dogs to the park for some play time. Aside from the gym, I tend to do a majority of these events alone. Despite what others might think, I am not lounging around at home, eating bonbons, and watching movies. I’m studying, working, working out, stress-baking, or sleeping. Glamorous, huh?

But hey, I bake cookies and send them to friends — that’s a good thing, I think.

I did make sure to maintain my weekly brunches with family because there’s no way this girl was giving up waffles and coffee on a Sunday morning. Also, I stress-bake. And frankly, I don’t give a damn if you think it sounds stupid. It’s how I cope and take needed mental breaks. Stay in your lane, peeps.

I’ve given it plenty of thought and honestly feel like I’ve put in the time this exam requires. There’s still about 100 hours of review left, which sounds ridiculous, but there’s plenty of time left to go over the law I need. Thinking about that time means more minutes alone spent working on essays, P&E practice questions, and MBE questions. It’s a lonely business, y’all. If your brain and personality don’t handle being alone well, then I strongly suggest figuring out a way to study and meet your social needs. [Everything in moderation, folks…including time with your friends and family. Little spurts seem to work best for me.]

In addition to the loneliness, studying for the Bar is also a suffocating experience. I used the Barbri program and, once I get results, I’ll be sure to let you know how things turned out. What I know right now is that I feel so overwhelmed with the breadth of law this program includes. From what I ascertained, it’s more than necessary, compared to other programs. Which is probably why I feel like I’m drowning all the time. Some of the condensed outlines are 70 pages. Let that sink in. SEVENTY. PAGES.

So now, you’re secluded. You’re losing yourself in a pile of books that basically require glue to keep your eyes open, under an amount of law you’re pretty sure there’s no way a single person can know all of, wishing for the chance to just use the degree you already earned. Not allowed.

Plus, there’s the relationships that will – without a doubt – suffer for your failure to be present in the lives of others. Oh, and if that’s not enough stress, there’s the added concern of the countless other things going on in the dark depths of your mind. Everyone has worries. You don’t want to disappoint your family, friends, or yourself. There’s so much riding on this exam and everything in your life at this very moment feels like it’s being held together by balsa wood and papier-mâché. Trust me — you are not alone in this. It may feel that way, but we’re going through it together. You can reach out and vent and talk through your concerns. Every attorney before you has been in exactly this same position.

Every lawyer I’ve spoken to about this process said a variation of the same thing – “this is the worst of it. Get yourself past this roadblock and you’ll be fine.” But no one told me how they did it. Not a single person. Because the only real answer to “how can I get through this?” is simple: everyone does it differently. And no single experience will align with another. Everyone learns differently, studies differently, and works differently. There is no formula for getting through it with flying colors. You just do what you can, give prepping everything you’ve got, and then walk into the exam days with confidence to spare.

There’s 2 weeks left until game day. Keep it up. You’ve got this. Keep going. Little by little, you’ll get yourself there. Plus, in 17 days – you can go back to reading things for fun!

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Daily Dose Reviews

Hudson House

Bright & Airy Atmosphere with an East Coast Vibe

This place sits on the corner of an unassuming strip mall. Most of their seating space is for groups of 6 or less, which makes this upscale casual locale a bit more intimate. Though our brunch group tends to be about 8 people, it worked out quite well that only the Beau and I ventured out this morning. Gorgeous summer Sundays in Dallas mean dog park visits, iced coffee, and the best brunch outings!

Hudson House was on my list for a very long time. I am so happy we stopped in to feast! Their menu is small, which I find refreshing. I think too many places try to provide a wide range of offerings, but then the food ends up being quite lackluster. That’s absolutely NOT the case with Hudson House. Our waiter was genuinely sweet and provided us with amazing service for a busy Sunday. This spot is known for their bagels and fish offerings, so we were urged to order up their Lobster Benedict or Lox bagel.

We opted for the Fresh Herb Lox on a sesame seed bagel. LOVE LOVE LOVED these flavor combinations! The salmon was brined well, with just a hint of salt and didn’t overpower the herbed cheese or fresh dill; the mandolin thin cucumbers added some excellent crunch, too! Angel drizzled a little lemon over this dish and it was incredible. We’re going back for another one, this I promise you!

We also tried their breakfast sandwich and the berry pancakes. Now, you all know how much I love waffles, but…these pancakes are my next favorite breakfast dish. I was a bit disappointed they didn’t have the warm espresso butter mentioned in the menu, but that would only have made the dish even better. These pancakes were stacked five high and only slightly thicker than a crepe. The berries on top were tossed in a light honey and the syrup was warm and buttery. I highly recommend an order of these on your next brunch visit. I plan to order the lemon pancakes next time.

As if I wasn’t already over the moon with my options, I also ordered their power breakfast (because why the hell not?). The poached eggs were perfectly done and I quite enjoyed the fact that everything was separated on the plate. It was a bit pricey considering there was no starch involved, but the overall feel and taste of this dish was healthy and scrumptious! I did move the bacon over into the egg dish because it felt awkward not to.

The only letdown was their coffee. womp, womp.
It isn’t wonderful and a breakfast this tasty deserves some damn good brew. Maybe they can reach out to @WhiteRockCoffee and work on a partnership. Those peeps never disappoint a girl in need of a caffeine fix.

All in all, I think I’ve found a favorite new brunch spot. We plan on visiting them again soon for their daily Happy Hour (3-6pm). Hudson offers some excellent fish dishes (our waiter mentioned the Halibut with a side of velvet sauce and, I don’t know what it is, but I need it!), as well as half-off their bellinis, martinis, and cheeseburgers. I’d say that’s a winning combo, don’t you? Keep in mind, their dinner menu is pricey; based on this brunch though, I’d say it’s probably worth it.

Soak up every lovely minute left of this weekend!

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Daily Dose Law School

You Don’t Know Everything. Adaptibar Can Help.

This is some bullshit. But it’s a mess of my own making and I am big enough to admit that.

I’ve put off intensely studying for Day 2 of the Bar exam because, well…obviously “it’s not that hard.” Welp, I received a helluva gut check when I took the practice MBE this week. I didn’t do well, by any standard. So, I’ve relegated myself to daily practice questions (approximately 100 of them) in each MBE subject until next week, when I re-take the practice exam. As my professors said – I did this to myself. And it’s true. Sucks so much, but it’s too accurate.

I let my personal emotions, things going on at home, with friends, with family…everything else kinda seeped into my mind during my study time and I failed to focus properly. Plus, I didn’t think the multiple choice was going to be that bad and figured what Barbri offered would be enough. I didn’t take my own [prior] advice about ignoring the world and just getting things done. Don’t you just hate when that happens?

For the next five days, I’ll be neck-deep in all things MBE. I’ve added Adaptibar to my study routine, too. Sure, I purchased it in June, but I certainly hadn’t used it. I should have. Hopefully, you’ve already gone through several hundred [yes, I’m dead serious about this] practice problems and are using the hell out of this excellent tool. I didn’t realize how much I was going enjoy the statistics and progress analytics it offers. You can, quite literally, view your progress over time.

With more than 1500 former MBE practice questions, it behooves you to go through them and get better at understanding what the examiners want to know. Remember, we only have about 1.8 minutes to read and answer each question, so it’s imperative you get quite good at speed reading because there will be – without a doubt – several lengthy fact patterns. Shave seconds off the easier questions (from which there should be approximately 35) in order to spend that extra time on more difficult ones.

Extra bonus with Adaptibar? They keep track of the time you spend on EACH question! That’s so damn fantastic. They also compare that time with the average time it took other users to get through the problem. What?! Seriously one of my favorite features, second only to how you rank among other users overall.

Image from my First Login
Plenty of room for improvement…

For transparency, just know I was offered a discount to play around with their tech tools to prepare for the Bar Exam, in exchange for an honest review. After getting spanked on the BarBri practice MBE, I’ve gotta admit that I only know of ONE other tool (crushendo) that would be able to help me get where I need to be score-wise, and that’s for a later post (however, I was informed that program and Adaptibar both license the same set of released NCBE questions, so I did not get access to their platform because I already had Adaptibar).

If you’d like a $30 discount for AdaptiBar, enter Cerebellum as your promo code at checkout. Happy Studying!

I didn’t pay for access to their flashcards, because I do better writing them out myself and subscribe to this method for memorizing the essay components. [Saluting all my multiple-modality learners! 😛 ] Using Adaptibar and going through the practice problems, coupled with reading their rationale after each and every question, is the most effective way (in my opinion) to get the most out of your study efforts.

By the time I sit for the MBE on Day 2 of the Bar exam, I will have completed roughly 1800+ practice questions and studied [dutifully] for more than 300 hours in preparation for this exam.

My (new) study plan was laid out by our Academic Success program, where my professors kindly chewed me out for failing to effectively prepare for this portion of the exam. But you know what? My ego needed the kick in the face. This exam is set for minimum competency, but that certainly doesn’t mean I (or you) should only put the minimum effort into preparing for this test. It’s already grueling, and these next 24 days are going to be completely terrible – but we can do this. You can do this!

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Advice Law School

Camera Talk

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Advice Daily Dose

Stress & Bar Prep

We’re about four weeks into BarPrep. Are you kinda-sorta-totally losing your mind already? You’re not the only one. Honestly, I’d be more concerned for you if you lacked panic and fatigue in your daily routine. Studying for as long and as hard as we do, it makes complete sense that you’re a frazzled ball of nerves. I am, too. It’s okay. You will be alright and you’re not going through this alone. I promise.

At the start of bar prep, I found myself dazing out for several minutes at a time listening to lectures but not actually hearing the information. During these times, I realized the need to go back and rewind to collect my thoughts and my notes. It frustrated me so much. I think it was a combination of forcing myself to listen to a recorded lecture, which never worked for me as an undergrad or graduate student. So, why the hell did I think it would work now?

Instead of grinding out the lecture time, I reached out to a professor who suggested I toss the video lectures and only read through the outlines. She also encouraged shorter reading sessions followed by a necessary break. It seemed entirely wrong, but I tried it. In having done this for a week, I can say that this version of my studies experienced a positive effect. My MBE practice scores are in a good to better range and I am on track. I was feeling off-kilter and am thrilled to settle on a studying approach that works! If the method your bar prep program suggests doesn’t work for you, don’t be afraid to change it up. Work with your learning style and their tools!

Between studying, the breaks are crucial. My friend Dax (who already aced the Bar in February) keeps posting kind, motivating words on our class facebook page. It’s incredibly thoughtful to hear from a friend, as well as have the reminder that “hey, there’s life after the bar exam.” It may seem silly, but those words – offering peace and a gentle reminder to step away from the books – are wonderful. Do what you can to take a break and give your mind some ease.

I took time off for a [much-needed] three-day weekend with some of my best friends. We plan an annual Girls’ Weekend and, holy cow, was I desperately in need of seeing these phenomenal ladies!

We visited Colorado Springs, went hiking, and talked about everything under the sun. I let go of so many thoughts I’d put energy into. I took deep, steadying breaths atop amazing cliffs and enjoyed deep-belly laughs with members of my support system.

You must deal with your stress. Figure out a way to get rid of it so you can focus the entirety of your energy on preparing for this exam. You’ll feel rested and ready to tackle the next subject when you’re not filling your mind with other stressors and situations you have no control over. You can control the effort you put into preparing for the exam, so get it done!

Here’s hoping you have an excellent study week!

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Advice Daily Dose

Mentorship in Law

Business is cruel and navigating the professional workforce is difficult. My experience in the legal sphere is drastically different than in the corporate business sector.

One of my former bosses is a woman; the only one woman I ever worked for, actually. While working for her, she treated me like a secretary. Nothing wrong with a secretarial position, but that wasn’t my job. I was supposed to learn the industry and it was her role to teach me. But she cared little about my own career aspirations. She told me, on several occasions, that she didn’t understand the drive for furthering my own education. You see, she’d assimilated to the ‘boys club’ in the office and there was no plan to include anyone else in that circle, least of all a young Latina working toward potentially surpassing her. I wanted her to be a mentor and, in that desire, I learned several things.

Mentorships are Forged in Friendship

In corporate America, I’m sure there are mentorships. Sadly, my one lady boss was not willing to help nurture my goals. But you know what? We were NEVER friends. She was cold, distant, and looked down at me for not enjoying scotch. So, I branched out, connecting to other individuals. I found a mentor in one of the male figures within the company and did maintain several friendships after leaving that position.

By finding not-so-common ground with this man, I was able to ask questions about career goals, thoughts on a career change, and which leadership qualities may be best to work on for myself. I asked him practically everything under the sun, and he was always willing to answer honestly – which is not something I found often in that office. This mentorship stemmed beyond the corporate field and he even wrote me a letter of recommendation for law school, and further served as a reference for my character and fitness test.

I say all of this to you because sometimes the people you desperately want to look up to, well – they disappoint you. And others will surprise you. Be open to that surprise. A mentor can be someone very close in age to you, they don’t have to be “older” to be wisened. One of my newest friends and mentors is the same age as I am, but she went directly into law, whereas I taught for a few years before attending law school. Her direction and motivation is just as valuable and appreciated in my life, moreso because she’s a woman in the field and has recently experienced what I am about to go through. Be open to the wisdom and the friendship that comes from mentorship.

Mentors Can Have Differing Opinions & That Is Perfectly O.K.

I know this seems completely obvious, but just go with me on this one. I have two male mentors in the legal field who are partners at different law firms and work in the same practice area. They’re amazing individuals, both earned via potluck situations (meaning, through a couple of different, yet organic, circumstances), and their thoughts on my career ambitions vary. I initially thought I’d practice corporate or patent law and have since retained a love of science but gained an interest in criminal litigation.

One felt I should apply for clerkships, the other thought I simply needed to ace the patent bar and enter the job market. One suggested I pursue positions in the criminal law sphere, while the other voiced his concern in me not earning enough money there. These polarizing views helped me ask myself questions and, more importantly, helped orient my goals. Reaching out to these two, asking their opinion on the same question, always gives me something to think about; multiple perspectives is key to making difficult decisions.

The Mentee Needs to Put the Work in First

Law students tend to feel like mere specks in the legal workforce. As a 1L, when you don’t know how to begin or complete any work of merit, asking for help on anything feels akin to wasting someone else’s time. So it should come as no surprise that many law students fail to establish a relationship with a mentor early on in their legal education. My alma mater requires mentoring sessions during the 1L year. Each week, a group of peers meet up with an assigned set of attorneys (who volunteered to be mentors). The goal is to discuss anything of importance or concern among the cohort. In my first year, we spoke about internships, scholarships, and the difficulties of studying and maintaining life balance. Many students didn’t enjoy the group sessions, but I viewed them as an opportunity to get to network. In so doing, I reached out to the attorneys in our group for coffee, lunch, and the occasional hallway chat. They were incredibly receptive and worked around my schedule rather than making me feel like I was a waste of time.

I showed my interest in getting to know them and genuinely enjoy their company. These attorneys were (and continue to be) sounding boards for case analysis, motion drafting, and bar preparation ideas. I highly doubt they would have taken as much of an interest in me though, if I’d failed to establish the direct line of communication. I took it upon myself to reach out, which I know may be difficult for some. But you should know that I’ve never been blown off by a lawyer after reaching out with something specific. In the business world, sure. Among lawyers? Never.

Case in point, when working on my Blockchain Analysis for an independent study course, I looked up a partner at a Big Law Firm in Dallas and sent him a message via LinkedIn. He responded within 24 hours and we met for coffee to chat about the topic of my paper and where I planned on taking my research.

Put yourself out there. Worst case? They don’t respond. Then you’re merely at square one. Best case? They do respond and you’ve got a new connection.

Women Mentors are Scarce

Per the 2018 Census statistics, 38% of attorneys are women. As of 2010, less than 2% of women attorneys are Latina. Forging your way into a new career is tough, so it helps greatly to have someone rooting for you. Someone who’s been there, who knows just how hard and how long you have to work to get where you want to go.

Enter Nora. (And Lara, Loren, Melissa, Jessica, Lauren, Tracy, and Jenny)
These women have fundamentally impacted my life and career. I doubt they even realize it, but I think about their words of encouragement and advice nearly every single day. As I told Nora, these women – and those who came before them – are the reason I am a lawyer (and studying for the Bar). The reason I could even consider the idea of becoming a lawyer at all. They’re the giants whose shoulders we get to stand upon.

Nora Riva Bergman is an attorney and law firm coach who took the time to write several books (because she’s just that awesome). Her most recent one is 50 Lessons for Women Lawyers from Women Lawyers. Between her crazy-hectic schedule she made the time to speak with me about life goals, career options, and what the heck I plan to do after passing the Bar exam. She even offered to connect me with another female attorney who she thought would be an excellent mentor for me. Trust me when I say that most people want to help you. Nora is a prime example of this and I consider myself lucky to know her.

Nora Riva Bergman
Click HERE for More Info

The day I met Nora, I was panicked. Everything went wrong. My technology failed and I was running late for our meeting. I was nervous and flustered because my two dogs chose that particular timeframe to have the zoomies. She let me go on and on about goals and my blog and my worries regarding the Bar exam. Speaking with her was just so easy! She let me talk (and talk and talk) and, when I was all talked out, she shared her own words of wisdom. I’m sure if I asked her, she’d be happy to mentor me. Heck, she already started to mentor me with her book and the lessons she and her friends compiled. Nora is an ally for all women looking to make a positive impact in this world and we need more people like her.

If you haven’t already, I highly recommend you read her new book. I’ve been treating it kind of like a bible in the sense that I flip it open every other day for some inspiration while studying for the Bar Exam. The lessons these women wrote for us are so important to establishing our roles in the legal field. Anyone with the desire to do something, to be a part of something bigger than yourself, should read this book. My current favorite is Lesson #8: Find a Mentor – Be a Mentor.

Your Voice Is Powerful

Mentoring means you make the time to teach and guide another. As lawyers and law students, we are in the unique role of being able to help others on a daily basis. We are privileged in that we can use our voice and know-how to be a platform for others. Remember that. Don’t ever forget how far you’ve come, how far there is still left to go, and the fact that there is always someone in your corner.

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Daily Dose Law School

Practice. Review. Repeat.

Bar exam essays are the 12 cruel mistresses on the Texas Exam. As an avid writer, and someone who does well under pressure, I still think it’s easy to muck up the whole experience. Don’t do yourself the injustice of feeling confident on essays, and find yourself in the predicament of having failed to properly prepare yourself for Day 3 of the Exam.

This year we got a curveball from the Board of Law Examiners. They will not pair our essays this July. This is super crummy, in my opinion. Now, you have to remember all the content for both portions of the AM/PM exam. Rather than confidently rest in the knowledge that if you opened your exam to a Wills Essay, the next one was inevitably Wills, too. C’est la vie, right?

This craptastic news simply means you need to practice those Bar essays and treat them like you’re a freaking LAWYER (because, you ARE) and just answer the damn question!

Remember, if you don’t know or recognize every issue in an essay question, answer as MANY OF THEM as you can. Practicing the essay questions and reading through sample answers, or model answers from that session’s examinees, will do wonders for your retention results.

If you haven’t done so already, download the past ten years worth of exams. Be able to pull them at random and set aside 30 minutes to tackle them. I’m sure your Bar Prep program has several for you to practice already, but it certainly doesn’t hurt to practice more of them. A classmate of mine told me that on the February Bar there were at least 3 completely recycled questions. Verbatim. Seriously, folks. Go back and at the very least – read through them and, at the very least, outline your answers. Personally, I’ve added a weekly MPT and four essays per weekend in addition to my own BarBri study plan.

For your enjoyment, I’ve included the first Wills essay I practiced writing, below, which I wrote in 30 minutes. I went ahead and typed it on Word, then read through the sample answer, and included commentary where I needed improvement and what I forgot to include. It’s complete shit. But, ya know…learn from my mistakes. Do better and heed this advice.

This method works wonders for me. The practice helps, and the kicking myself for forgetting stuff is a point of pride, so I remember what I forgot to include for the next essay. Remember, we’re striving for progress, not perfection. Check out my approach, here:

WillsEssayFeb2013_compressedDownload

Now get yourself back to studying, friend. You’ve got a Bar exam to conquer! Keep up that hard work and impress those graders!

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Daily Dose Law School

Thank You.

The funny thing about time is that it never seems to move fast enough when we want it to and yet, somehow, everything whizzes past in an instant. Three years of late nights, procrastinated motions, freaking out about sleeping through finals, and a collection of experiences I would not change for all the coffee in the world. Sure, it was difficult, and there were times I thought maybe I’d fall flat on my face (I’m looking at you, Secured Transactions), but the “J.D.” is incredibly wonderful to add to my signature. It was so much work but I am elated with the end result; I’d do it again, too.

Law school is officially over and I’m feeling all sorts of ways about it; thrilled to earn the degree, scared and somewhat intimidated about taking the Bar exam, frenzied to land the perfect job (more on that later), concerned about balancing my work life with my studies, and excited for the future that passing the Bar brings. I also kind of feel like a dog who caught its tail. I’d been chasing my own dreams for so long that now I’m nearly overwhelmed by the accomplishment.

I would never have gotten to this point without my support system. During the hardest moments – exam season, project deadlines, and an inordinate number of scheduled events – I leaned on my family and friends. Many of these incredible people stuck with me through it all. I lost a couple of friends, those who thought I was being selfish, who refused to understand the chaos of my life because “so many people go to law school. It’s not that hard” and the countless “you should visit/take a break, you’re always studying.” Those overly-toxic individuals simply didn’t make the cut. It was necessary to put myself first during these last three years (and for the next two months as I prep for the Bar exam).

I make no apologies for this.

Thankfully, my support system rarely failed me. Of course there were scheduling errors and distance issues, but we met for (nearly) weekly brunches, the occasional shopping trip, countless coffee runs, and my mom frequently stopped by to raid the (filled with the products of stress-baking) cookie jar and burgle a few bottles of (stress-purchased) wine. My brothers even pitched in hilarious hypos and attempted a few runs at crafting multiple choice questions here and there. It takes a village, y’all!

I couldn’t have accomplished this without you and I am incredibly thankful for every sacrifice you made to get me here. I know it wasn’t easy, and I spent many breaks a little too crabby, but I love you for doing what you could to help me reach this milestone.

I must have said this at least a dozen times to Melissa and Ashli…

These last three years were filled with challenges, some of which I thought might break me, and you – my amazing familia – were there to pull me through all of it. This win is for you. I love you fiercely. Thank you a million times over for making this Latina Lawyer’s dreams a reality.

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Advice Law School

Vlog Post #1

So I’m entirely new to the streaming/video outlet. I thought it might be a good idea to share my own Bar Exam prep experience, where I share tips and tricks along the way to learn the [insane amount of] content necessary to ace the Texas Bar Exam.

I’m hoping for a #OneAndDone experience and think it’s important to share what a portion of this process looks like. So many people think graduating law school means we can now all go out and practice. That’s entirely untrue. We graduate and then bust ass for several weeks re-learning everything we already learned in law school + all the other things we didn’t learn. Yeah. Super fun stuff, y’all.

In Texas, you cannot represent a client without first passing the Bar exam. Need more info on the test itself? Here you go! The Texas Bar is three days worth of grueling essays, multiple choice questions, short answer responses with a limited character limit, and the multistate performance test (more on that in a later video). Many of us graduate law school and then spend 8-10 weeks rigorously studying for the three day exam (which is only given twice a year). There’s a helluvalot riding on us passing, because we can’t get salaried attorney positions (or earn that full-time paycheck) unless we ace the Bar.

It’s imperative to use your study time wisely and to spend your downtime actually relaxing. It’s a difficult task, to shut off that part of your brain, but it is possible with practice. My downtime will now involve study tip videos. If there’s a topic you’re struggling with, or maybe a Bar Exam or law-school related question you need answered, shoot me an email cerebellumchef@gmail.com and I’ll be sure to respond ASAP.

Happy Studying!

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Advice Law School

Where You Study Matters.

Week One of Bar exam prep is in the books. I’m proud to report that [thanks in LARGE part to a certain red-headed friend of mine], I finished the week ahead of the curve. I also managed to spend a bit of time with family, enjoyed making Sunday lattes (more on that later) with the hubs, and provided some much-needed pets for my furry besties.

First Latte! Happiest Girl. Very Thankful For This Gift.

This week allowed me time to think about my desk placement and whether I should move my study space to my husband’s home office [which also doubles as his gaming space]. I know some of you are thinking “NO!” but his office has much better natural lighting, is larger than my current study locale, and since he really only uses the space in the evenings, it will give me a chance to work [mostly] distraction-free. On the days he does work from home, he can keep me accountable for study time and also offer me the chance for breaks…you know, the ones all of us law students notoriously forget to take once we get “in the zone.”

With week one down, and all the friendly advice my peers and I exchanged on plans regarding studying, I thought it might be nice to share my own favorite study spaces in Dallas. Since I fall on the Paris Gellar side of study zones and the need to have 1) accessible outlets, 2) good, clean bathrooms, 3) great coffee and water options, 4) a friendly, inviting atmosphere, and 5) decent wi-fi speed; my list is pretty specific to these needs.

With all that in mind, here are my favorite places to study in Dallas. Check a few of these spots out! Pick a spot that suits your study style. Stay motivated and keep working diligently. The Bar exam is less than 9 weeks away!

White Rock Coffee

I’m a HUGE fan of WRC. The original location on Hwy 12 has two stories, which means you can study up high and avoid the hustle and bustle of people ordering or walking in and out of the cafe. The staff is incredibly friendly and the location is not super loud. An added bonus? The brownies here are pretty much my favorite dessert in Dallas! Order one, thank me later. My go-to order is a medium iced White Rocker, half sweet.

Crooked Tree

This is an extremely minimalistic study space. This teeny house of a place has parking up front on the street. Their coffee is not my favorite, but I very much enjoy their laid back vibe. There’s a variety of seating types from counter top and tables to wing back chairs. Once I’m in the zone, it’s easy to ignore the no-frills space. Plus, because of its small size, this location is not usually packed.

Toasted Coffee + Kitchen

Another Dallas FAVE! This spot also has a second story, which is tucked away above and behind the kitchen. You can also study on the patio, which is dog friendly! This shop is bright, open, and carries a full menu of eating and drinking options. I recommend the Cardamom Rose Latte and the Bananas Foster smoothie. The prices a re bit steep, but many of the items are worth it! Avoid the avocado toast though. 1 slice of toast for $9? NOPE!

Ok, it’s Texas Toast but still…on the expensive side.

Mudsmith

This coffee shop is along Greenville Ave, so parking is a bit scarce. If you’re willing to park on a side street, or walk a little ways, then you’ll be just fine. The coffee and outlets are most certainly worth the trip. The ambiance of this shop is a bit on the darker side, the music isn’t too loud, and there are laptop stations! I enjoy the Mocha and the Mudslinger, as well as the breakfast sammies. YUM!

Half Price Books

You can’t really pass up Half Price books when weighing study options. All the books, a great cafe, and plenty of great lighting make a fantastic combination for a productive study experience. Take a study break, grab yourself a Vanilla Latte and go look at all the hand-crafted sculptures. Kiki over at KikiDidIt Designs makes some phenomenal art. She even crafted this gorgeous creation for our wedding (which now sits atop one of my bookshelves)!

Happy Studying!