Tag: #BarPrep

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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!

Categories
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!

Categories
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!

Categories
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!