Halftime
I truly believe that the lunch break during the bar exam is one of THE MOST critical times in taking the bar. How you spend your lunch break will really set the tone for how you do in the afternoon. It’s easy to get jazzed up for the morning session put all your energy into it. If you do not approach the lunch break properly, you may end up really being lazy and making careless mistakes because you have no energy in the afternoon.Some people choose to go back to their hotel rooms to sleep. Others go out and eat. Some just sit outside and nervously try to look at their outlines to see what they SHOULD have wrote on (which I really don’t understand). Needless to say, I need my food.
The convention center where we took our exam is across from the Paseo Colorado. That place really doesn’t have a wide selection of “bar exam” type of restaurants. What do I mean by that? Food that can be delivered fast, cheap, and with little chance of screwing with your body. There’s basically a Rubios, Chinese takeout, and that’s about it. My perfect “brain food” or “study food” is actually a burger, fries, and coke. It doesn’t make me sleepy, it’s easy on my stomach, and has enough calories to fuel my brain at a relatively high level.
For day 1, it was Rubio’s for me (more on that later). Got my food, and I ran into about 4 different people I at least recognized or knew. One of the most subtle evidences of grace was the weather that week (well, the weather in general for this whole summer). It was a perfect day in the low 80s. Perfectly pleasant enough to sit outside and relax a little. After lunch, I had some almonds, popped a few chocolate covered expresso beans, and downed half a bottle of coke zero. I call that cocktail my “mind steroids.” I was pretty much good to go.
Game 1: The Second Half
As I’ve said in an earlier entry, the afternoon session of the bar exam consists of a performance test. Essentially we have to write a memo. It’s a skills test to ensure that the examinee is competent and can research and write well enough to be an attorney.
I open up the packet, and the call asks for a persuasive memo. The assignment is, write a persuasive brief to a court in support of our client’s position. It’s a real property fact pattern involving violation of CC&Rs (covenants, conditions, and restrictions) and whether our client could enforce them. The task memo asked for us to address four different issues. There were four difference cases in the library.
To keep things short, I wrote well and completely. The performance test was an exceedingly fair test. I don’t think anyone could walk out of that saying “I got screwed” or “I’m not going to be an attorney because of THAT?” It was straightforward. You had to argue a position. You had to argue why the facts in this situation were similar or were distinguished from caselaw. To be perfectly honest, if I couldn’t do that, I really have no business being a lawyer.
You know how I said that I try to avoid foods that would be easy on the stomach. Rubio’s was a bad choice. Near the end of the session, my stomach was growling. You know when you hear the air inside of you shifting around, even though you really don’t feel gassy? (I know, I know, TMI). Well, that was the case with me. I could hear me growling. I’m pretty sure the people around me could too. I wasn’t going to make that mistake again day 2 and 3.
When that session finished, I really felt good. Day 1 was done with me not only surviving, but doing as well as I could have hoped. Packing up and leaving, I felt a real sense of peace and even…relaxation that I haven’t felt in a long time. Going out, I had to spend some time in thankful prayer to God before going out to my car. Once I got to my car, there was tremendous traffic getting out of the parking lot. 20 minutes to earn the right to pay my $9 to get out. Oh well.
I immediately went to uploading my test and grabbed another coke zero (that will be a recurring theme) to chill out. Had dinner with Drew (which was lovely) and proceeded to attempt to locate the 24 Hour Fitness in Pasadena which led to me driving around for a while. I gave up and decided to go back and watch some Hell’s Kitchen and Masterchef.
Notice one thing that I didn’t do: study. That was by design. I really needed to have time to recharge mentally and physically after the long day. And second day wasn’t so bad anyway; it’s the multiple choice section. Day 1 was complete. 1/3 of the way to freedom!
