Law Students

“You Passed!”  My boss squealed in delight.

I was speechless.  Absolutely stunned.

Then, to my own amazement, I cried.

Sure, there were many reasons for tearing up.  For one, the tension was building up for the past three months and it felt great just getting the weight lifted off my shoulders.  But the truth of the matter is that I was relieved that I will never, EVER, EVER have to take the Vikingland bar exam again. EVER!  And the very thought of that moved me to tears.

There were a lot of screaming and hugging…and this insane zeal of calling family members and e-mailing my favorite professors thanking them for their support… I was still worried that the Bar Examiners had made a mistake so I checked the result several times over the weekend just to make sure that they have not changed their mind.  But after rechecking for several days and receiving the actual certification in the mail (plus receiving my MBE scaled score), I am finally convinced that I really DID PASSS the (freaking) bar exam.  Really!  Thus, it is SAFE to post this news on the blawg.

I waited until the public list came out before calling up good friends to congratulate them on passing.  Otherwise, I would be embarrassing if I had jumped the gun.  To my surprise, some of the really bright people who worked really hard did not pass, and I have no idea why or how except passing the bar exam must require something more than working hard or having a high IQ.  Luck?  Following everything that the bar prep tells you to do?  Having mind of steel but not get burnt out?  I am not sure.  I would not say I had a mind of steel.  Yes, I was determined to pass but admittedly I did cry once during week 5 of bar prep, and I worked freaking hard until 2 a.m. almost every morning even though other attorneys told me that they finished around seven or eight (I found it impossible to concentrate that long without taking a 2-3 hour break in between end of afternoon practice session and dinner).  I slept 5 hours every day and thought I was going to go insane.  I thought it would never end!  I thought Torts would be the end of me (and it nearly did, since the very first essay question I had was Torts, and I almost forgot to list the four elements of negligence).

But you know what?  I passed, and the mystery of how and why I passed could go unsolved.