Thursday, November 8, 2007

To plagiarize Yogi Berra, It's Deja Vu all over again!

A discussion on the California Bar Exam Primer Yahoo Group talked about the Community Property question from the last day of the exam. It's funny how I think that the memory of those days has left my brain completely, but then when someone asks a question I enter a time warp where I can see the question and do a pretty good job of recalling what I was thinking at the time.

The human brain is an amazing thing. I remember when I started school at the age of 45 and I wondered if I could handle the rigors of any type of school again, let alone law school. I was pleasantly surprised to find that my mental faculties still operated quite efficiently, thank you. When I was in my teens I wondered what life would be like for me after the millennium when I was an "old person". How funny that was. When you're young, you think that you'll feel older as you age. I do feel a bit older but it's only as a result of being physically older. Mentally, I'm just a wise and experienced 25 year old. And let me tell you, I'm glad to have the experience. It's of immense value. I just wish there was some way to get the experience without actually having to go through the "experience" part. (;-)>

It turns out that age in and of itself is not as much of an issue as I had anticipated. A couple of my friends from class passed the February exam, with it's 36.8% pass rate, and they were 7 and 12 years older than me. They'll make great attorneys but they'll not be doing the long hours for the big law firms.

Do you want to torture yourself? Vivian Dempsey recently posted her interpretation of what a model answer should look like for the CrimLaw/ConLaw question from day 3.

(time out)

I just spent an hour going over my blog posts and the accompanying comments from the week of the exam. Whatever confidence I may have ginned up in myself over the last three months is now officially gone. During the intervening months, I've attempted to recall how I answered the exam questions in discussions I've had with others who took the exam. And I've also looked at the questions a couple of time since they were released. Now, when I read my recollections about my answers from those days, I get sick.

Blah.

Fork a stick in me. Done, I am.

Please pass the tekillya.

24 comments:

calbar blondie said...

GP, I would be willing to bet there are very few folks on the CBX attorneys-in-waiting planet who actually feel confident they passed right now. Don't read those tutor-written model answers. They are completely unofficial and unreliable.
The wait will soon be over..

Anonymous said...

I do no envy you and your test-taking mates at this time. I was one of the passers from last February's exam and read Vivian's model answers just prior to the results and felt completely and utterly sick. Just hang on and keep your blinders on for 1 more week...I know its easier said then done but best wishes to you and all others!

biff said...

I'm not gonna look. I never looked with law school exams either. One of the key lessons I learn from law school is that in law, there is no one right answer.

Jonathan L. Kramer, Esq. said...

Brian:

If it helps, about this time in May of last year I was sure that I failed (again).

By the way, the dreams go away after you pass.

--Your employer (at least part of the time).

Annie said...

No matter what...Happy Birthday!

Anonymous said...

Our feelings are mutual, except all my feelings of confidence were shot when I read the following Evidence Model answer

http://studyfor.com/law/model-answers-july-2007-california-bar-exam-evidence-403/

Apparently, I should not have mentioned California Rules of Evidence. And to think that after the bar was initially over, I thought my Evidence essay was one of my stronger essays . . . I hate the bar.

Anonymous said...

www.clsj1994.com

they have all the "model answers" for July 2007 bar, which made me misrable. .....

Richard said...

i refuse to read that stuff - plenty of time once i find out i failed! Getting SERIOUSLY close now!!! :( You're right about how crazy it feels that the result is out there somewhere already...

Annie said...

i was not that nervous...now i want to poop...what a torture...

The Grand Poobah said...

Blondie: You're probably right. With all of the bizarre stories I've heard about the exam, I don't know how anyone who's rational can feel confident about passing. Unless, of course, you've taken the Honigsberg approach, that "Everyone passes!" What a maroon, he is.

Anon: Congratulations! And thanks for the good wishes and sound advice!

Biff: Now that you work for a big law firm you can have your secretary check for you. Yeah, that's the ticket!

Jonathan: Thanks for the support! And I hope you're right about the dreams!

Cutie: Thanks for the birthday greeting! I'll read it again next September when I turn 51! I know I talked about getting old but I was referring to my general state of affairs. The imminent arrival of the results is doing odd things to my thought processes! (;-)>

Anon: I think I'm going to have to stop reading other people's "model" answers. All they're doing is driving me crazy. Besides that, to the extent they're not like the answers I wrote, they're all wrong! (;-)>

Richard: Good Idea! Seriously! It's kind of like gazing on all of the presents under the tree in the days before Christmas. You know there's something good in there for you, you just can't get your hands on it for a few days. I just hope my stocking's not full of coal!

Cutie: I know exactly how you feel. I was okay until the countdown timer reached single digits!


Hang in there everyone! The scary ride's almost over!

Annie said...

I can't stop checking your blog ... i am addicted to the little evil countdown thing... it flashes...can you make it more adorable? ex. put a teddy around it or things which make it look more humane...

Anonymous said...

Hey Grand Poobah!

I saw you in Ontario Checking into the Sheraton and I wanted to say "hello" and "thank you for the entertainment" but I thought it might be odd to have a total stranger walk up to you. So I said nothing, I did.

I am writing now because you seem to be losing hope just before the dawn. Believe in yourself!

And thanks for sharing your experience with us!

Anonymous said...

I am tracking your blogs since the first time I found them. Very interesting and helpful. Thanks for sharing your experience in this never-racking and brain-tearing exam and wait.

One of July "Barrers" sent me a new link which analyzes all six essays in detail. I know you may not be interested in the aftermath analysis since you sound pretty sure of your passing the FFFF exam. But you can take at look at it just as an entertainment with your cocktail.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xs25L5MUSXI

I will drop in on Friday at 6:00pm (PT).

The Grand Poobah said...

Cutie: I'm afraid that I can't make that timer any more cute than it already is. (;-)>

Anon: So, checking in, saw me, did you, eh? (;-)>

I was kind of hoping that someone would talk to me out there. Everyone else I know was taking the test elsewhere. However, having said that, it's just as well that you didn't say anything because the time I reserved for social-type socializing was extremely limited. As in, nil, zero, zip, nada, 1 minus 1.

Let's hope that we don't get the opportunity to meet out there again. Whaddya' say?


Anon: I started to watch that video and my stomach turned over a couple of times. I had to stop it. I might watch it again if I have to take the test again. But for some reason, the mere thought that there might be some answer out there that's more correct than the one that I wrote just makes me ill.

Seriously though, who doesn't think that?

I mean, we all read the facts and wrote our best answer. Imagining that there might be a better answer than ours means that we fell short of perfection. If we don't get to see our answers again, we can each rest comfortably with the knowledge that our answer was so good that the Bar dared not publish it because to do so would reveal too much about their process. (;-)>

Annie said...

it seems you have many anon fans. you're a celebrity now.

and i think i will not disclose my result ( no one cares anyway...except my boss)... i will check yours, biffie's and those sexy blondie bar girls' websites and, of course, say congratulations to you all. :) time to poop...

The Grand Poobah said...

Cutie, you crack me up!

And I think that there are many of us out here who care how you do. You are part of us, this whole blogger class of July '07. We all care about how our friends are doing. And I consider you a good friend. So, even if you don't post your result on your blog, please come here and let me know how you did. Because, after all, if we're going to be doing this again, I need to know who's in the leaky bar exam blogger boat with me! (;-)>

Annie said...

kindly provide me the list of class '07!

i am not confident but i am not not confident. we'll see.

Anonymous said...

I found your blog and it's actually a comfort to read about how other people are dealing with bar results coming out in 2 days.

I've been freaking out and been a ball of nerve since I read the model answers. I'm gonna have a row of petrons lined up next to my computer and start doing shots at 6pm.

Anonymous said...

Hey, GP

I am glad you did watch the video even though you did not finish it. I did the same thing. I started with great interest and good hopes that my answer would be the same or almost the same as the ESQQQQQQQQ gave in the video; and then I thought "let's come back to this if have to do this again". hehehee....

It's a great thing that you provide this forum for all of the 07'Barrers to spite their anxiety and to some extent their frustration about the California, which is a real torture. Isn't it?

I saw you in at the entrance to the Convention Center. I could see that you already passed the exam.........

I will send you the already-prepared congratulations on Friday!!!!!!!!!!! Get the Champain Ready...

Anonymous said...

I just came across your website and its nice to know that everyone else is feeling the same way that I am. I'm having a hard time focusing on work and my bosses keep telling me how sure they are that I passed. How do they know?! Everyone keeps telling me that but how stupid are they going to feel when I tell them that I didn't. I'm not being negative, just realistic. I definitely feel sick about it.

Annie said...

"and my bosses keep telling me how sure they are that I passed. How do they know?! "

OMG! OMG! Anon, that's exactly my situation....... HOW DO THEY KNOW??????????? ( and are they sincere??????????????? they better are)

i especially hate those smiling HR folks.......

Jonathan L. Kramer, Esq. said...

Please, all, take a moment and know that your lives don't begin...or end...tomorrow night. It's just a step along the path that will ultimately lead to you becoming members of the club.

Look, I was where you are now more than, ah, several times. It's horrible waiting, and it's (in)human nature to beat yourself up KNOWING WITHOUT A DOUBT THAT YOU DID NOT PASS, AND THAT YOU WILL NEVER PASS.

We lawyers have a one word answer: Bullshit.

The only people that fail the bar are those who give up before passing the dammed hazing.

I hope all of you, especially Brian, find that you've passed the July 2007 bar. If, however, you don't, then DON'T is the word...

DON'T give up.

DON'T let the Bar Examiners win.

DON'T let your hard work be for nothing.

DON'T listen to those who have never faced a challenge like you have, and who will never have the guts to try like you did (and some will, again).

Best,

Jonathan Kramer, Esq.
Brian's part-time Boss and full-time Friend.

The Grand Poobah said...

Thanks Jonathan,

Sage advice, indeed. And timely as well. No matter our disposition at the end of this day, life goes on. And as a consolation prize, we won't have to worry about doing any CLE hours until next year! Is that great, or what!!! (;-)>


When I started this journey back in '03, I hoped that it wouldn't end badly. And it hasn't (so far), (knocking on my wooden head yet again.) (;-)>

In fact, it has "ended" very well up to this point. I've found a good friend who is also my employer; in a technology field that's different (and more interesting) than what I used to do; in a work environment in which I am made to feel very comfortable. It doesn't get much better than that!

The icing on the cake would be to get positive results this afternoon! But regardless of the outcome, I'm a very fortunate person indeed.

I know there's a moral to this story somewhere, but my brain's a little frazzled at the moment and I can't pin it down.

Best of luck to everyone, and prayers all around!

The Grand Poobah

Anonymous said...

I stumbled across your blog - while looking for any comforting advice for dealing with "the wait for results".

It is nice to know that so many people are feeling what I am feeling - soooo many people are telling me, "don't worry, you passed". I want to scream at them - "HOW DO YOU KNOW!" - but I know they are just trying to comfort me. This waiting is brutal-We need to change the grading system. It is pure torture to wait for months for something so important.