You sign onto your computer at 6:00 pm sharp. Your heart is racing. The internet traffic won’t let you log in. You try again. You type in your name. You wait. Your palms are sweaty, and your heart is racing faster. You finally get your results, but they are not at all what you expected. Your name is not on the pass list. You check again. Your name is really not on that list.
Let’s face it. We all have failed (at least once or twice) since we were born. Most of us miserably. We repeatedly got up to stand and fell down before learning to walk. We got on a bike and could not balance at first. And the list continues. You also may know that some of the most successful people have failed repeatedly before succeeding. Henry Ford’s businesses failed 5 times before he successfully founded Ford Motor company, Stephen King’s first book received 30 rejections before he finally resubmitted it and succeeded in getting his story published. Finally, Michael Jordan, a man often referred to as one of the greatest basketball players of all time was cut from his high school basketball team, but Jordan didn’t let this stop him from playing and was quoted later as saying: “I have missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I have lost almost 300 games. On 26 occasions I have been entrusted to take the game-winning shot, and I missed. I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” [Read more…] about Mentally Preparing To Study For The Bar Exam After A Failure (Or Two)
When I studied for the bar exam in 2003 it was pretty much Barbri or bust for the essay portion of the bar exam. The Barbri reps were on campus within the first couple of months of law school asking everyone to lock in a price for their bar exam preparation course. The sooner you signed up, the less expensive the course. I remember wondering why I needed to think about the bar exam when I barely knew how to outline. When I eventually took Barbri, I was provided with books including outlines and sample essays on each topic with answers. Technology has changed since then and many competitors have come out of the woodwork. Several internet tools have been created to help law students prepare for the essay portion of the bar exam.
Have you ever had one of those days where you can’t find your keys in the morning, and then you finally locate your keys just to realize that you do not know where your cell phone is (and you really need your phone because it is synced with your schedule on your computer or holds all your contacts)? As a result, you are late to class or an appointment because you have to look up where you are going. To top off your morning, there is extra traffic on the road or you get stuck behind the slowest driver or a large truck which makes you even later.
I still remember my rigid bar exam study schedule. Wake up, go to Barbri lecture, come home and outline, eat lunch for no longer than 45 minutes, practice essays, go for allotted 45 minute run, do MBE practice, eat dinner, review practice, go to bed, repeat. Merriam-Webster dictionary defines 
