Open Thread: Bar Study Procrastination
A chance run-in with a college acquaintance who happens to be studying for the bar at my alma mater sums it up: After an exchange of a few words, I turned to continue to the library, and he said, "This is the worst summer of our lives." The statement stung. It was true. It is true. This summer sucks beyond words. And it sucks, of course, because of the studying.
How the hell does anyone study all day? I've had no luck studying for the 25-hours-per-day that BarBri has scheduled. The "Paced Program"--a marathon at full sprint. This isn't what I wanted to do this summer. It isn't what any of us wanted to do this summer.
We're spending the last free summers of our lives taking notes from men and women who fancy themselves comedians, who yell law at us every day for four hours. We try to study. We move from library to coffee shop to home. We condense our notes, make flash cards, re-read the material. Or, at least, we make plans to do such soul-draining tasks.
The distractions fight for attention: the pool and the gym are open, and this might be the summer we get a tan and get in shape; there are groceries to pick up--now that we have time for cooking experiments; gossip draws us to insignificant Internet blogs; team trivia is on Wednesdays at Mellow Mushroom; and a presidential election--that will go down in history, history!, they tell us--draws our attention with a modern Siren, the flashing siren of the Drudge Report. Oh, and with each headline the world seems to slip further down the tube with no end in sight--Oil to $190? Recession? A third season of A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila? How can anyone study with all that going on?
How do you procrastinate? How do you escape procrastination to study for even a few moments?
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I've tried to study at the library. Without my computer. No blondes--I mean "law school 10s"--in sight. No distractions. That should get me through a tough section of Wills, right? And after about fifteen minutes of doing that, I go home. I've nearly resigned myself to failing. Perhaps there will be fewer distractions in January.
(13) Comments
Mr. Guest,
Don't worry; I'm sure you've been told this many a time, but we've all been through this and passed. Isiah never studied or did any Barbri assignments until after July 4, and Isiah still (behind-the-back/no-look) passed the NY and Detroit Bar's.
As long as you went to class each day and took notes, you're fine. Just relax now, since two weeks before the bar, your body will not allow you to procrastinate and you will study 18 hours a day, and you'll pass.
Of course, if you're in Cali, you're dead.
hate to break it to you, but this will be best summer left in your life. barbri, in hindsight, was a $#!toad better than actually being a lawyer.
i cannot seem to concentrate for more tha 8 minute increments. i don't do the reading. i don't do practice questions. i haven't really opened any of the books at all. as for handouts, someone sent me last year's which are already filled in. i shortne them, i condense, and then i go on ATL and waste time. this is no way to nstudy for an exam.... man that's the most productive thing i've typed in hours. time to get another coffee?
Don't worry, you'll have plenty of time to relax after you fail the bar exam. Unemployment makes every day a vacation!
every 1st and 2nd year at my firm has said not to get serious until july 4th weekend. so i have been doing most of the practice MBE questions and reviewing the occasional outline. I have done maybe 3 essays. I am doing way less than everyone else, for sure. I guess I should start panicking, but the fear just has not set in yet.
You will hear plenty of people talking about how they didn't do anything until July rolled around but still passed. Remember those people in law school who used to brag about not doing anything for CivPro until about 12 hours before the exam and still got an A- but you know that they have been secretly studying the whole time. Well those are the same people who claim to not have done anything until July but still passed the bar with flying colors. Sure, there are some people who manage to do minimal studying and still pass, but if you really want to pass this test the first time around, you shouldn't take comfort in the fact that some people say they studied for 3 weeks and aced it... truth is 90% of those people were probably studying all along but feel compelled to make passing sound like a breeze. The only people that I know who took the bar last July and truly procrastinated both failed. By the way, just grow up and take it seriously. If the prospect of failing the exam (which will have an adverse impact on your career) isn't enough to motivate you to perform, then I don't want to be working with your lazy ass in the real world... grow up.
What exactly do people mean when they refer to "getting serious" after the 4th?
I hear it all the time, but what do people consider it?
7/5 1:01 AM, by "getting serious," people mean that they stop surfing the Internet, killing time on ATL, and writing long comments such as the one posted by 7/4 12:03 PM (in which he or she knocks those who aren't taking their bar prep seriously). Clearly, 7/4 12:03 PM is not taking the July bar.
I didn't do bar bri and studied about two or three hours a day during June. After July 4, I started studying 9 to 5. The two weeks before the exam I studied every waking minute but still got 8 hours of sleep every night. I passed.
I took it again this past February in a different state while working. Now that sucked. Not only did I do nothing but work and study, but my hours also suffered as a result. Now I'm making up for it. Trust me, having no responsibilities besides studying for the bar is joyous compared to what you are all about to face. Suck it up and deal.
This is 7/3 12:03pm. No, I'm not taking the July bar. Because I took it seriously a year ago and passed.
Dropped a 151 on the BarBri MBE without cracking the BarBri books. You kids are weak.
The original poster needs to suck it up. Worst summer of your life? Then you're pretty lucky aren't you? Sure it's stressful, but in Iraq it's always summer and it always sucks. Talk about worst summer.
Study 8 to 10 hours a day and you still have plenty of waking hours to have a life. Those 8 to 10 hours are on your schedule (with the exception of the four hour lecture), but that still gives you time to work out, see movies, grab a beer with friends, etc. Do you think you'll have that sort of flexibility when (if) you get a real job?
Start studying you f'n sissy and don't $%#@ up UF's numbers.
Help!! I just cant focus. So many distractions. This is so important to me but for some reason, my mind and my body are fighting this, this is the second time doing the bar. If i start doing 10 hr days will i be fine- what if i study 20hrs A day will that help? AAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHkill me now