National Jurist - February 2009 - (Page 27)

am diary o George M f Mariya Sta ason Unive rchevsky rsity Schoo New Jerse l of Law 20 y/New York 08 gradua bar exam Bar/Bri has te become my see anyone best friend. in my fam I see it more ily. Bar/Bri often than call it. But I calls me con our relation stantly, an ship is a stra tells me wh dI ined one. B at to do. ar/Bri’s boss The “Pace P y– ro day one to th gram” outlines all sort s of assign e night befo ments from re the first ex between nin am day. It e to 14 hours requires of work each I’ve been com day. I’m a ba ing up with d friend – my own idea from practi s. I merely ce essays in outline issu stead of wri refuse to han es ting out the dwrite notes whole thing , and instea my laptop. .I d type them directly into The lectures are boring, exciting, ex impressive. cruciating Some profes and sors should affective slee bottle and se ping agent. ll it as an Others, like so engagin Professor S g that I wak chechter, ar e up in the m the next lect e orning look ure. ing forward After over a to month of st udying, I am Two weeks le confused. ft and Bar/B approximat ri lectures ar ely 135 hou e over. After rs of videota reduced my ped lectures, notes to abou I gingerly t 300 pages — all for th ready for m e privilege of emorization becoming a burned out lawyer. I am and now th completely e real work handwrite th begins. My e notes, my failure to neglect to w York Practic rite out som e essays, an e of the New d my utter Multi-state disregard fo Performance r practice Tests absolu failure. tely guaran tees my Out of great insight, I al a three-day so enrolled review, star with Kaplan ting after th /PMBR for approximat e Bar/Bri le ely ten day ctures are ov s before the is my secon er, Bar. The firs d full-day t day of Kap MBE practi above averag lan ce exam. Ag e, and agai ain, I am a n, that’s just unsettling bit not good en turning in ough for th my stomac e h. The bar ex It is the night befo re the exam – why didn’t I waste tim reviewing things e I already knew? Fo r the past week, I been dividing top have ics by most inter relation and outli many, many essa ning y questions for th e New York bar. Pr mortgages, secured operty, transactions, com mercial paper an contracts all go we d ll together. The first day of th e Bar is the New Yo first day was grue rk Bar section. Th e ling. The room sa t over 2,000 but ha only three bathro d om stalls in the la dies room. The ca of typing was so scade mething fierce. I put in a pair of ea whipped out my hi rplugs, ghlighter and go t to work. The Mul Choice section wa tiple s intense, but the first three essays straightforward. were fairly I answered the pa rts I knew, I piled and deeper on the it higher parts I didn’t. I wa s shocked at how topics I spent week many s slaving over we re barely tested. On the second da y, I took the MBE in New Jersey at Meadowlands Ex the po Center. New Jer sey is a second ba and those in New r for many, York opt to take th e MBE section in home state. I was their just happy for th e free parking. Th 100 questions fo ree hours, r the morning se ction. Rinse and evening. repeat in the The third day wa s the breaking po int. This is the st but taking New Jer ate I need, sey and another exam means New the “second exam Jersey is .” New Jersey prim arily tests seven the multi-state su topics – all bjects and civil pr ocedure. Also, the New Jerse y Bar consists of seven essays, one topic. I was one of for each the lucky ones – the 400 - who won to use a laptop in the lottery stead of handwriti ng the exam. A word to the wise . Whatever worked for you in law sc work for you durin hool will g bar preparation . If you need to do practice questions a lot of , do it. If you need to read the texts, need to work in a do it. If you study group, do it. However, if bein does not work for g nervous you, state the follo wing mantra rep “partial credit; on eatedly: ly need to pass”. It’s the only way most of us make it. THE NATIONAL JURIST 27 February 2009

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of National Jurist - February 2009

National Jurist - February 2009 Contents Entertainment: Get Organized! The Firm Report: The Part-Time Lawyer News: Keeping Ethics Intact, New Law Deans, Latest Survey Findings Seattle Law Students Secure Asylum for East African Women Laptops in the Classroom Attorneys Dissect Health Law Law Students Contribute to 2008 Election Process Remembering Professors Obama and Biden Bar Exam Diaries How Well Balanced are Law Students? How to Choose a Summer Program Career Hotline Linguistic Gymnastics Disturbing the Peace

National Jurist - February 2009

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