Thursday, April 26, 2007

My lap(top) is certified

I received the letter from the State Bar today that says my Examsoft certification process is complete and I have been permanently assigned to the Ontario test center. I've already made my hotel reservations so that letter signified the last piece of the puzzle falling neatly into place. I guess this thing is really going to happen after all.

Law school has been a long road. There have been many (many) personal challenges along the way. Some only difficult. Others, both long and difficult. I kept telling myself that I just had to hang in there until July 2007. Now I wish I had more time.

I'm usually the king of analogies but I can't find one now that explains how I feel. I'm a little anxious. A little nervous. I guess 'scared' would be a proper adjective but I refuse to let that feeling gain a foothold. I AM going to pass this thing on the first try. I can't let myself believe otherwise.

This is where I usually say, "Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead!" The problem is that I don't feel that bold at this moment, and the torpedoes look awfully big (and numerous).


Ah... screw it... Baton down the hatches. It looks like we're in for a blow!

TGP

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

The California Bar exam is very difficult but not invincible; I took it at 49; foreign trained lawyer, South American who lived in many places around the world; passing the exam really comes to write good essays, I had a great essay preparation; having worked in multinational banks, the US Law was totally foreign to me; I prepared myself with the Study Group, it was a great preparation; language was an issue to me, even though my mother is american, English is my second language and I suffered a lot with the MBE. Some people asked me "what are you doing here?" well, in my Country whites are assumed to be filthy rich and we get kidnapped; when my son's friends started being kidnapped I said this was the time to use the American Passport my mother generously provided for all of us 5 monsters (my siblings and I) and leave our wonderful but hostile Country; when I said I was taking the CalBar Exam people told me horror stories about a Stanford dean who failed the exam, governors, mayors, getting kicked out, etc. But when I checked that the passing rate was around 50% I said to myself "you will make it", I had to beat 10 guys to get into law school in my Country so I thought this fight had to take place no matter what; coming from a different legal system I had to work really hard; I finished the exam almost sure that I had failed, I freaked out while taking the MBE, it was damn difficult, I guessed a lot, while doing practice exams my average was 60% and I could not get better marks then I fully concentrated on the essays; the essays determine if you pass or not; I found a friend (lawyer) who directed my practice and marked my essays, he was very harsh and that helped me a lot in improving; he told me to review the model answers released on the website and try to copy their format, that is what I did and I think it paid off. I never knew my marks, I was only informed that I had passed: celebration! my 2 kids were also admitted at UCLA and they are doing great. I consider that people like you are an inspiration to others; you gotta be courageous to start a new career at 50; wish you all the best.

The Grand Poobah said...

Thanks very much for the good wishes. It sounds like your challenge was greater than mine. And if you can do it, so can I! My friends have told me that I'm crazy for making such a huge change at such a precarious time. Most of them are trying to save money for retirement and wouldn't risk their savings on something like this. I look at this as an investment of a different sort that will pay larger dividends down the road. Both professionally and personally (and financially, I hope!).

Anonymous said...

Of course you can; the best advice I could receive was to memorize the structure of the model answers and practice a lot the MPT and tonns of essays; the MBE is a bitch but it weights only 35% of the exam. One would need a 180 MBE to pass if he does not do fairly well in the esays. Ah! what made me finally understand the MBE was PMBR, that books are great; the BarBri conviser was of great help too for the big picture; BarBri software for the MBE is good for starters but it is too easy when compared with the real MBE, Study Group and MicroMash softwares did help me in the timing; Graders mark very low (so I heard) if you miss the point you can get blanked (no word should be ignored) they assue they are grading lawyers not law students; good structure, timing and useful info at the essays is the key (in a word: strategy); 3 very stressful days but it is worth. Hard work and a strong will will make it. Retiring at 50? no way! we are way too young for that, we still have a life ahead. I am now working in adjusting illegal immigrants with an NGO project and have to go a lot to immigration courts. Not as "chick" as being the banking lawyer I was but it makes me feel much better as a person and a very big project is under way when congress finally agree in a solution. It seems that I will be transferred to Texas to coordinate a project for hispanic immigrants(another bar exam no please!) Well again all the best for you; you look like a winner and you will make it.

The Grand Poobah said...

Thank you very much for the kind words and encouragement, and the good advice. They are very much appreciated. It sounds like you're doing the kind of work that satisfies the soul. I hope I can do something as fulfilling.