Rescuing my legal career
When you sign up for Barbri, they give you a stack of materials, and a “PACE” program. The Pace program tells you how much to study each day. Basically, you go to a class where you watch a video, and then are supposed to study 8 to 10 hours a night. I never studied like that. With the kids and all, I was averaging about 4. But I’m smart, and I was still testing well.
Then my house was struck with the plague. Last week, my son had strep and the girl had pink eye. We were up all night cleaning up vomit and consoling a screaming baby. Like I mentioned before, I tried to take on a part time job. By the weekend, I was about a week behind.
Then I got sick. And I mean sicker than I have ever been as an adult. I literally couldn’t lift my head or drag my butt to the t.v. without exhaustion. I felt like a heroine in an opera who had been struck with consumption. If this were the 19th century, I’d be quarantined.
I am taking antibiotics, but the strep test came back negative. That really freaks me out. Because if this isn’t strep, what the hell is wrong with me? At any rate, my fever broke, and I am feeling a little bit stronger. My throat is still wicked soar though.
I am now 1 week behind on lectures and 2 weeks behind on the pace program. It’s going to be a rough July. Our bed stricken heroine is just going have to get out of bed and start signing, consumption or no. The opera must go on. We have a big test to pass. It’s time to get busy.
July is going to suck.
Ugh. Get well soon. Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help.
June 25, 2010 at 4:17 pm
Thank you Adele. Right now, I am just trying to get caught up on all of these crazy lectures.
June 25, 2010 at 5:06 pm
Googie, if you want my outline from a couple of years ago, let me know.
June 26, 2010 at 12:15 am
Googie, if you want my outline from a couple of years ago, drop me a line.
June 26, 2010 at 12:16 am
Thanks Juliet. They put the lectures online, so it is really a matter of me finding the time to catch up.
June 26, 2010 at 6:15 am
Well, if you get stuck, just ask. Something tells me that Paula Franzese is singing the same songs. It takes two to make an easement appurtenant!
June 26, 2010 at 8:42 am
She did sing that song to us! And I, for one, was amused.
June 26, 2010 at 8:56 am
Yep, July will suck. But October will be awesome.
June 27, 2010 at 2:16 pm
good luck- it’s horrible enough dealing with bar exam stress without being sick. i can only imagine how you must feel. I hope you all get well soon so you can kick some bar exam butt!
June 29, 2010 at 10:51 am
Does the Facebook group titled Every Time Paula Franzese Sings, God Kills a Kitten still exist?
June 30, 2010 at 12:33 am
That’s hysterical Juliet. I looked it up, but I only found a fan page for Paula Franzese. I almost joined it.
June 30, 2010 at 9:35 pm
I got really behind, too … threw my back out, then got sick. Yay! I feel like at this point, it’s all about practice. I feel like I’m not covering enough essay and MBE questions catching up on these lectures. Do you have a plan to catch up? How is it going?
I don’t know how you do it with kids … my CATS are making me crazy right now.
July 7, 2010 at 6:19 pm
Hi Skeets. I’m sorry you have had so much trouble. I don’t really have a plan. A friend of mine has passed three bars including New York. She just focused on memorization and nothing else. She didn’t do practice tests, or the essays or even the MBE questions. She just crammed and memorized. That is now my plan of attack.
Good luck!
July 7, 2010 at 6:36 pm
You have so much going on! I am sending supportive thoughts your way.
July 7, 2010 at 8:08 pm
Wow! She didn’t do practice at all? I’m sort of taking the opposite approach. I am practicing more than anything right now. Memorization through repetition. I don’t learn well passively, though. I hope you are feeling better! It’s so hard to concentrate when you don’t feel good, especially with little ones not feeling good.
Barbri’s Study Smart MBEs are taken from the books, same questions, and you can do them anywhere (they have an online version and a software version). They tell you the breakdown of your questions so you can see where you need work — even within the topics — and rank them against other students. Those help a lot because you can really brush up on the things you miss.
Good luck to you, too!
Turns out, the cats were crazy because we were having earthquakes (I’m in San Diego).
July 8, 2010 at 2:23 am
How is it going!? I’m looking forward to your next post -
July 27, 2010 at 6:49 pm