Sorry Tom P., The Waiting Sucks, But It Is Not The Hardest Part
A few rants about this whole bar exam process...
There was a recent post regarding the MPRE being a harbinger of Bar anxiety. Well, look... The MPRE is the proverbial mole hill, and the Bar exam is...no, not a mountain, it is just a freakin' ass-h*le. There's no getting around it.
They said that the waiting would be the worst part of it. ("They" = Bar/Bri). I don't totally agree with that, seeing as I had months of vacation in that time, and Bar/Bri is, essentially, 6 weeks of FUD. Don't get me wrong, it is effective. But diabolical. Basically, after three years of being babied, it hits you like a bad Foreigner song. Or a Fusilli Chemerinsky to the rectum. Bar/Bri instills the fear of Chuck Norris in you, and you study. You study neurotically. You study something fierce. Then it is over and you forget it all and go to Thailand and maybe are lucky enough to still have a job when you get back....
So, I don't think the waiting has been the worst part. But, there are certainly some things about the waiting that I rank right up there with kidney stones, laundry, and Dane Cook. This is what you have to look forward to (and I'd love to hear others' comments on this topic):
- People who insist on comparing what you went through with their own, different experiences, right after you took the Bar exam. For example, doctors and their board exams, or PhD's and their whatever-you-call-whatPhD's-do. Look, we get it. Everyone gets it. You studied, you took hard tests, you persevered. You're brilliant. But don't tell us about your tests in comparison to the Bar exam RIGHT AFTER we finish. I had a doctor tell me about how bad the tests he/she had to take in order to get a license, saying that it made him/her less sympathetic for what I went through. WTF? First of all, just give us a little time to decompress and let off some steam. Second, I sure as hell hope that doctors have a tougher time obtaining a license to do their work, which literally involves responsibility over life and limb, than I had getting a license to practice law. C'mon.
- People who call you "big shot lawyer." So much wrong with this label, I'll just let it be.
- People who ask you "well, how'd it go"? Not only do I not want to go over this, I really couldn't if I tried. My mind has repressed almost all memory of the test, as a coping mechanism. I highly recommend it.
- And, the worst: People who say something like, "Oh, you definitely passed!"/"Oh, c'mon, you KNOW you passed!"/"Oh, you're fine, you passed for sure." This is the most common annoying thing people say, and I vow NEVER to do this to future generations. All this really accomplishes is add one more element to the disappointment of failure. Not only does the test taker I have to go through the whole damn process again, he/she also gets to think about the 500 people who were WRONG about his/her fate. For some, it will feel like they let those people down. Some will forever in the future question why others have confidence in them. Maybe others won't care at all. But I have heard this complaint from many..... Basically, never, never, ever tell someone who is waiting for results that you think he/she passed. Be sympathetic, say you wish them the best, but don't make a freakin' prediction.
Alright, I am going to go pick a fight...
There was a recent post regarding the MPRE being a harbinger of Bar anxiety. Well, look... The MPRE is the proverbial mole hill, and the Bar exam is...no, not a mountain, it is just a freakin' ass-h*le. There's no getting around it.
They said that the waiting would be the worst part of it. ("They" = Bar/Bri). I don't totally agree with that, seeing as I had months of vacation in that time, and Bar/Bri is, essentially, 6 weeks of FUD. Don't get me wrong, it is effective. But diabolical. Basically, after three years of being babied, it hits you like a bad Foreigner song. Or a Fusilli Chemerinsky to the rectum. Bar/Bri instills the fear of Chuck Norris in you, and you study. You study neurotically. You study something fierce. Then it is over and you forget it all and go to Thailand and maybe are lucky enough to still have a job when you get back....
So, I don't think the waiting has been the worst part. But, there are certainly some things about the waiting that I rank right up there with kidney stones, laundry, and Dane Cook. This is what you have to look forward to (and I'd love to hear others' comments on this topic):
- People who insist on comparing what you went through with their own, different experiences, right after you took the Bar exam. For example, doctors and their board exams, or PhD's and their whatever-you-call-whatPhD's-do. Look, we get it. Everyone gets it. You studied, you took hard tests, you persevered. You're brilliant. But don't tell us about your tests in comparison to the Bar exam RIGHT AFTER we finish. I had a doctor tell me about how bad the tests he/she had to take in order to get a license, saying that it made him/her less sympathetic for what I went through. WTF? First of all, just give us a little time to decompress and let off some steam. Second, I sure as hell hope that doctors have a tougher time obtaining a license to do their work, which literally involves responsibility over life and limb, than I had getting a license to practice law. C'mon.
- People who call you "big shot lawyer." So much wrong with this label, I'll just let it be.
- People who ask you "well, how'd it go"? Not only do I not want to go over this, I really couldn't if I tried. My mind has repressed almost all memory of the test, as a coping mechanism. I highly recommend it.
- And, the worst: People who say something like, "Oh, you definitely passed!"/"Oh, c'mon, you KNOW you passed!"/"Oh, you're fine, you passed for sure." This is the most common annoying thing people say, and I vow NEVER to do this to future generations. All this really accomplishes is add one more element to the disappointment of failure. Not only does the test taker I have to go through the whole damn process again, he/she also gets to think about the 500 people who were WRONG about his/her fate. For some, it will feel like they let those people down. Some will forever in the future question why others have confidence in them. Maybe others won't care at all. But I have heard this complaint from many..... Basically, never, never, ever tell someone who is waiting for results that you think he/she passed. Be sympathetic, say you wish them the best, but don't make a freakin' prediction.
Alright, I am going to go pick a fight...
Labels: Bar Exams
posted by Danny Zee at 10:01 PM
28 Comments:
Lucky you got to go to Thailand. I "decompressed" in about three minutes and headed for the beer bar (in honor, so to speak). Look, BAR/BRI taught you to chill, didn't they? That means before, during, and after the exam. Think of this little exercise in anticipation--sorry, Carly S.--as preparation for practice, when waiting sucks no less, but is a permanent burden of professional obligation. And have a little empathy, give a little break to folks who resort to cliche and convention to express their own good wishes and subconscious anxieties.
Besides, you probably passed.
Ha- Kudos to 8:30 for a brilliant post if designed to hit on nearly every pet peeve described above. If only you had said "Besides, you probably passed, you Big Shot Lawyer...", you could have hit them all...
Otherwise, I don't really see the point of the comment.
This just in: construction will be noisy. All those efforts to convince you that it wouldn't be were, well, wrong.
"Fusilli Chemerinsky."
BRILLIANT!
haha 8:30! I agree with tj and hope that was intentional brilliance, although I appreciate the unintentional as well. I mean, Newton accidentally invented calculus, right?
I do have empathy for those who resort to cliche and convention. I don't lay all this on them, I say thanks. (So, thank you 8:30 for your kind probability assessment).
I can't agree with the sentence "Look, BAR/BRI taught you to chill, didn't they?" No, Bourbon taught me to chill. BAR/BRI just TELLS you to chill, all while going to great lengths to instill Fear, Uncertainty, and Despair. See, e.g.: "failing" almost every essay; having ridiculously well-crafted example essays for the simulated exams that I couldn't write even without time restrictions; everything Richard Sakai ever said.
Also, 8:30... I have no idea what type of practice you are in, but I cannot comprehend how you can say that the "anticipation" involved in practicing sucks no less than the anticipation of bar results. For latter, you are anticipating the decision on whether you can practice, period. How can that compare to the everyday patience that working life requires?
8:30 here. The intention was to be clever, by no means brilliant. None of my best intentions ever suffice on that count. DannyZ, in good lawyerly fashion you have distinguished a practitioner's perennial anticipation of sundry professional outcomes from the dread of the life-altering switch that gets thrown when the bar results emerge. "How can that compare to the everyday patience that working life requires?," you lament, not unlike those "people who insist on comparing...," the ones you condemn. Your gripe ostensibly is about timing, but I don't see how anybody interested in expressing sympathy is supposed to think, "Gee, I better wait a year before I share what it took for me to become an architect." (Your doctor, on the other hand, is a jerk.)
C'mon. It's not a matter of "period." At worst, it's a matter of "crap." In the grand scheme, it will turn out not to have been that big a deal. Thus, the point of my comment was to prod you out of a self-inflicted FUD, not the inevitable one induced by BAR/BRI's boot camp. Sure, BAR/BRI merely tells you to chill, but they do it incessantly. Yes, they hold the bar (damn that pun!) a bit high for six weeks or so, but your firm (or you or somebody) paid them to do that! Your everyday patience as a practicing attorney is going to be tested mightily in the years to come, I'd be willing to bet. You will want to pick fights with clients, colleagues, opponents, judges, and other big shots. But you won't. You'll chill.
It is truly perverse that bar results appear around Thanksgiving, I'll grant that. But Thanksgiving is a good time for a nice hearty tumbler or two of Bourbon, so who's complaining?
In unrelated news, I wish more people chose not to post anonymously.
Cravath to . . . $17,500 can we discuss???
5:27,
Yes. There's a thread here.
Hi Danny and all other 08 classmates,
I really nervous too. It's hard to concentrate at work. Not much more to say. I'm not sure where I want to check--at work--or sneak home before they find out. I just hope our class has a much better pass rate than last year and that I am included in the pass side. Good luck to all.
Theresa
Obviously i'm so nervous that I can't type or proofread!
T
I am definitely leaving early and checking my results at home. There is no way I want to be at work with everyone looking over my shoulder. I am hoping for the best, but prepared for the worst. Good luck everyone.
If we start a thread about this stupid Cravath shit, I will punch said thread starter in the gonads next time I see them.
anyone know armen's password?
What's going on with Cravath?
I feel sick - I don't know how the hell I'm going to stay at work all day. It doesn't help that everyone keeps dropping by asking me how I feel. Whatever happens, I'm drinking heavily this evening.
as others have said, leave work no later than noon. take a long walk, or ride a bike, or some other low stress, long duration exercise.
Here it is encouraged for us to do nothing all day, and leave early. I'm going to Nordstrom (big sale!) to pass the afternoon...
Good luck bitches, I'm drunk alrdy
You and me both. I love scotch....scotchy scotch scotch...going into my belly...
life is good. check your friendly facebook to see all yoru friends that passed. -drunken passer
Yay! I don't know what I was so worried about. Just kidding.
There is also a fascinating (not really) memo on the cal bar site about how they did some regression analysis to determine how many extra points to award to compensate for the earthquake.
Also, who decided that the failure message should be the same message as the you typed the wrong number message. Give me a heart attack why don't you. Much more satisfying to see "The name above appears on the pass list for the July 2008 California Bar Examination."
The list is out and it looks like Boalt did better this year than last. Congrats to all that passed.
This comment has been removed by the author.
I wasn't exactly sure who did and did not take it in CA, but I agree - it looks like Boalt did pretty darned well this year.
From what I can tell, Boalt did really well this year (of course, still have to wait til the pass percentage comes out). Maybe the freak-out email worked!
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