La Copa Vida

Just wanted to add a shout out to my new campground for the next 17 days--Copa Vida Coffee in Durham.  I'm probably an odd coffeeshop customer during bar exam time--I want good coffee, loud enough background music to drown out conversations that I would otherwise be tempted to listen in on, good coffee, good lighting, and...no internet.  Big coffee chain that shall not be named, but rhymes with Daddy Warbucks, usually has no free wireless, but, their coffee is...well, it's not from locally roasted beans, can be bitter, and comes in a coffee cup that has become a new status symbol.   

Why don't I like it when there's internet?  If I don't have it, then I'm not tempted by it.  Pretty simple.

Now, before I have people correcting me about Copa Vida's wireless access, I will note that they actually do have wireless.  It's just password protected.  So, when very friendly barista asked if I wanted the code, I declined, knowing that I could get it at any time, should I need to.

Lo and behold....guess what happened?  I finished Mortgages in 3 hours flat.  

Durhamites, please go support this cafe.  In doing so, you support a local business in 2 ways, since they use Counter Culture coffee.

Needless to say, I've found my non-alcoholic watering hole.

Got my Ticket

It's official.  I'm taking the NC Bar Exam in 18 days.  I admit that, until I received the admission ticket in the mail, I secretly hoped that one of the letters from the Bar Association would say that they had made a mistake in grading my exam, and that, indeed, I did pass.  It's a good thing I've been studying because I don't see that happening.

It's another Friday night that I will spend with my books.  For "fun," I will go to a coffee place and study.  The wonderful beau is having fun this weekend and I will be having fun with....property.

I'm back to drinking Emergen-C every day just to keep the sickies at bay.  

Today was my last full week of work until after the bar. 

18 days.  

Torts, done!

Topics left: Property, Contracts, Secured Transactions, Civil Procedure.

Reminiscing on July, I remember that I was still making posters of outlines a few days before the exam.  By typing up the BarBri outlines and adding NC distinctions and my own mnemonics, I am essentially doing the same thing I did in July (making posters).  However, this time around, I will have a full 2 weeks to review, review, review, review.  Last time, I was looking at some topics for the first time (other than the 3 hours from Barbri class where I had a very hard time sitting still to watch a videotaped lecture) just days before the exam.  Add my July study to this study and I am finally feeling quite comfortable with most topics.  Once I do memorization drills and essay practice, I'm sure I will feel even better.

I will pass the bar.

Frustration of Purpose and Confusion of the Issues

Two legal phrases that best describe my mental state right now.

Last night, after scoring 78% on an Evidence practice set, I decided to go to bed. I was late anyway, but I did finish Evidence. For some reason, I decided to take my July 2008 Bar Exam essays to bed with me. Bad idea.

My undergrad degree is Education, so I learned how to test students and also how to give feedback. I was reminded last night that the bar examiners who write (and grade) those exams are lawyers, not teachers. For one, having essays with no writing on them to indicate where I did get points left me wondering where I really went wrong, especially when my essay covers the same things as a "model" essay. Was it my knowledge of the law that didn't come through as coherently? Did I not say the magic phrase? Second, knowing my score on an essay is almost useless if you don't know the overall range of scores---if average was a 5, then my 3 wasn't so bad after all.

I was also reminded of the range of my scores and that reminded me that different people write each question and grade it. So, it's obvious that the person who graded my Wills essay gave no points for about 10 things I mentioned that were also mentioned in the model essay. I could have written a letter to Santa on that essay and received as many points as I did actually writing about the issue (that would be 0 points). Yes, I got 0 points on an essay. It is a myth that if you identify the issue and write some basic, applicable rules, you'll get at least a point. Not true.

One point is all I have to recover, but I am aiming to recover a lot more. As for coverage, I am now down to Torts, Contracts, and Property (and their respective NC topics). I'm also down to 23 days until showtime. From today on out, it's at least 6 hours of studying a day until I take off time from work. At that point, it will be 8-10 hours a day. But, I will only be reviewing, which will be different than last time. Right now, I am feeling confident about the MBE, but not so confident about the essays. But, that is kinda where I expected to be at this point in the game---I wanted to get the MBE topics under my belt so that I could focus on memorizing NC law and writing essays in the home stretch.

I will pass the bar. I will pass the bar. I will pass the bar.

Scooters

So I'm sitting at a local cafe, typing up a Barbri Evidence outline, and drinking decaf coffee.  

Random observations/thoughts to mention while at a stopping point between relevance and authentication of writings:

• I've often thought that the word "scooters" was an odd word to use as an example for labels (tags) on this blog template.  But, now I'm finally writing a post that I will tag with the word "scooters."  Sadly, my uncle died this past Friday, of complications related to multiple sclerosis.  He was diagnosed when I was very young and his wife left him because of it.  He always had a dry (and sometimes obscene) sense of humor.  Well, in his last years of his struggle, he relied on a scooter for mobility.  He would ride his scooter down to the farmer's market and hand out Tootsie Pops to everyone.  His scooter was his independence and consequently, the source of many battles between him and his well-intentioned caregivers.  I do hope that he is now able to walk around in heaven (or hell or in the afterlife or whatever) and that any scooter he might have with him is a diversion, and not a necessity.  On earth, his scooter was donated to the facility where he resided for the past 10 years.  I only hope that someone as spirited as my uncle Mike is riding it and that it gives him or her the same joy and sense of independence as it gave my uncle. RIP Uncle Mike...I hope that nothing pisses you off anymore, including multiple sclerosis.

• I debated flying up to NY to be with my family because of the studying I needed to get done.  But, then again, some things are just more important.  I will find the time to makeup any study time I lost because of my visit.  Hell, if I fail again, I can always take it again, but occasions like these only come around once.

• On a random, lighter, note, while observing a pair of young (probably college-aged, but that *is* young to me) kids chatting with and texting on their phones, I wonder how long it will be until we all have microchip-like devices that can be scanned to add people as friends on Facebook.  What made me think of this was that the kids were talking about someone who was a "friend" of one, but not the other.  They then proceeded to get onto Facebook on their phones, log in, find the person to be added, and then send the friend request.  What a hassle (please note sarcasm here)!  Wouldn't it be easier to just scan a person and then be able to add them instantly as a friend or add all of their friends?  That way, you'll never miss a precious moment in the lives of your 1000s of "friends"!

• I like that our new president is so laid back---drinking beer and eschewing the suit jacket. 

• I hate studying.  Wait---didn't I say that already?

I hate studying

Have I said that already? I really do not like it. I've never been much of a studier anyway. In high school, I was one of those who got good grades despite minimal effort. In college, I got by, though I definitely partied more than I studied. In my last year of college, I did see that my grades were better if I studied. Go figure. Law school wasn't too much different, but I justified my lack of studying with the fact that I was working full time. I studied enough to get a good enough grade.

Studying for the bar exam the first time around wasn't so bad, mainly because all of my classmates were in the same stressed out boat I was. And, I knew that I only had to know enough to pass. It was only a test of minimal competency. Well, obviously I either didn't learn enough to *just* pass it or I'm not minimally competent.

This time, honestly, has been pure hell so far. One thing that is different is that I don't have that same support group that I had last time. The other thing is that more people are telling me what I should do differently to pass. While I know their intent is good, I have to bite my tongue so as to not remind them that, in actuality, there may have only been 1 point separating us, so their way likely isn't going to be the magical salve to my success this time around. I am tweaking some things and doing some things differently (writing out answers to multis, reading outlines out loud, etc.)

I have completed Con Law and Crim Law/Criminal Procedure. I will tackle Evidence this weekend. As for NC subjects, I'm down to Civ Pro and the remaining MBE topics (Torts, Contracts, Property). I am only a day behind on my schedule, which will still leave me 3-4 days to "review" and write essays ad nauseum.

I hate studying. Hate it. Have I said that already?

Con Law Done!

The good thing about Constitutional Law is that there's not really a NC-specific set of laws that are different than the majority.  So, in other words, if Con Law comes up on the NC essays (which it usually does), then most of the knowledge about Con Law needed for MBE will be sufficient to, at least, get by on the NC essay.  That's different that some of the other MBE topics because there are substantial variations in NC law that conflict with (or distinguish us from) the majority.

So, topic tally:  Con Law, Agency/Partnerships, Corporations, Wills, Trusts, Liens and Suretyships, Professional Responsibility, Family Law.  Not bad, at least not for the second time around.

While I was studying tonight, I was thinking about how much different the study of law probably is from other disciplines.  The laws are always changing.  Sometimes, no sooner the ink has dried on a new textbook, the SCOTUS hears a case and rules in such a way that invalidates half of the case law you've just read.  I can't imagine the study of science would involve such variance in principles and basic fundamentals.  I mean, a plant is a plant, right?  I doubt one day you're learning about chlorophyll and then you get a news bulletin announcing that the highest ranking biologists have now decided that plants don't have chlorophyll. Studying for the bar exam and for any law school exam means knowing the current law, in addition to the common law, minority law, and the majority (which may or may not be the law in your state).  And just when you think you've got that all figured out, you wake up and read the news to see that SCOTUS has ruled a bit unexpectedly, like they did the other day in Oregon v. Ice.  At least I can feel sigh of relief that that new twist on the law will not be on the bar exam in 5 weeks.

5 weeks?  Seriously???  Where's my wine?