My Journey to the New York Bar - The Realization

For those of us who were preparing to sit the exams in July 2016, there was a simulated MBE exam booked for Saturday 7th May. I opted to do this at home instead of traveling to London,  which those of us doing the home study program could do,  as long we set aside undisturbed time, set a timer and sat the Simulated MBE (3 hours for 100 questions in the morning, and the same in the afternoon).

The practice exam was a good early indicator of our progress with the materials already studied and a learning experience for the real exam which was 9 weeks away.

I remember being told that getting 100 out of 200 questions correct would be a satisfactory score on the Simulated MBE at this stage. So, when I didn't reach at least 100,  I did feel as though I was still behind and  thought, 'would I be able to catch up?'

I thought that I would have the rest of May, the whole of June and part of July to focus on the areas of law I was struggling with; to get a sound understanding of the substantive law and improve my scores. But by the end of May, we had only just finished the 7 core areas of law for the MBE exam, which is the multiple choice questions. We still had a further 5 areas of law to cover for the MEE exam, which is the essay part. And never mind the MPT section that I still had to learn LOL.

I really don't know why or how I didn't realize that we still had to do this...I remember thinking to myself, 'i've still got to learn about family and matrimonial law, wills and trusts, corporations, agency, partnership and security interests, 7 weeks before the exam  and still grasp contracts, real property, constitutional law, evidence, torts, criminal law and procedure!!'

In all honesty,  I had not fully understood how much I was actually required to know or study for this exam until now. At the beginning,  I just jumped at the opportunity to do this as a 'now or never' opportunity because I had postponed it several times before and didn't want to postpone it any longer.  Maybe if I had allowed more time to think about what I was actually getting myself into, I may have been put off by it all and not gone for it! 

Well, I only had 7 weeks to do whatever I had to do to make sure I was ready for the exam and to pass. By the end of June, we had covered all the subjects for the bar exam and we had a full day mock exam on the first Saturday of July,  which I attended in London. 

With the actual exam 3 weeks away, I really wanted to see how much I really knew and how much I still needed to know for the exam. I did better than I did on the simulated exam in May but I felt like I still had so much more to learn. 

By then I was only working 22.5 hours a week so I had an extra day and a half to study! The time went so fast and before I knew it,  I was flying to New York to sit the exam! 

My Journey to the New York Bar - Serious Doubts

Six weeks into the bar review course (which was mid April), I was starting to have serious doubts about whether I was ready for the exams in July. I felt pressure because in order to sit the July exams, we had to submit our completed application by April 30, and pay the $750 fee as well. I had already invested a lot of money to join the course, so was I really prepared to spend a further $750 to apply to sit the exam as well as put money aside for flights and accommodation for the July exam?

I had a catch up call with the mentor that Bar Bri International had assigned to me. The call was helpful to some extent, she encouraged me keep doing the practice questions and learn the substantive law. But honestly, it did not erase the doubts I had at the back of my head. I was really struggling with Constitutional law, Real Property and Torts which were 3 of the main subjects to appear on the exam without a doubt and my scores on the practice questions for these subjects were relatively low. But, because I had been waiting for this opportunity for so long and had already got this far, I decided to apply to sit the exam.

I reasoned with myself that as my working hours were going to be reduced from 30 hours to 22.5 hours a week closer to the exam dates and I still had 10 weeks before I flew out to New York to sit the exam, I could do it! I had no choice but to believe right? All the sacrifices I had make surely would not be in vain right? What did I have to lose? Not sitting the exam would cost me £500 to defer until the following year which was around the same amount as paying the fees to sit the exam when converting into British Sterling so either way my pocket would be a little lighter! At least I got a little trip to New York choosing to sit the exam LOL!

By this time I had not even heard back from the New York State Board of Examiners about my eligibility to sit the exam, so it was a bit of a gamble but I was advised that once I had applied, they would probably respond quickly about my eligibility and they did!

Following the application to sit the exam and eligibility confirmed, I had the task of finding a notary public to attest to my handwriting sample that had to be sworn and sent back to the Board of Examiners. There are not many in my city and the one I found wanted to charge a rate that I felt was extortionate just for me to write a few lines in front of them! LOL! I was able to find a solicitor close to my workplace who charged more the half the price!

Now that all the administrative stuff had been sorted out, it was back to books..focusing most of my time outside working hours and weekends to study.

My Journey to the New York Bar - My Own Cheerleader

When the bar review course started, an email was sent to all those who had enrolled on to the home program, encouraging us to set up a Facebook group and/or a WhatsApp group for us to keep in touch with one another and provide support while we were preparing to sit the exams in a few months.

It was not the first time I had chosen a home study program, but it was the first time doing one on this level, having invested a lot of time and money into it and studying the law of another country! I knew I needed extra support and I was happy this was being offered. It was great to know there were others I could reach out too when I needed help with my studies and to just talk about what we were doing...and I did. The group was so diverse with candidates from different parts of the world...the UK, Poland, South Africa, Dubai, Belgium, Bahrain, Lebanon, Mozambique (that's all I can remember).

I joined the gym on Good Friday too. I remember watching one of the introduction videos for the course and one of the speakers mentioned that we should have enough time to rest; make sure we ate well and exercised regularly to help us prepare for the exam.  During my time studying for the exams, the gym was my 'go-to place' to escape when I had done hours of revision and needed to give my mind a rest and unwind. When I was feeling frustrated that I was not understanding what I was reading. I went 3-4 times a week and it was refreshing. Also, I had stopped all extra curriculum activities and things I used to do to keep busy; to invest more in my studies. So, going to the gym was one of the only few things I was doing, a part from working, studying and going to church!

Although I had a new virtual support network through the WhatsApp and Facebook group, it was just that...virtual. Physically speaking, I did not have a study partner or anybody around me to share my journey with,  have lengthy conversations about what I was learning, struggling with etc, because it seemed like they would not understand. But that was the beauty of it all. It was MY journey! It was not meant to be lived or shared with or for anybody else. It is something I had to do for me and grow personally and professionally through it!

So, I became my own best friend! My own cheerleader and motivator on the days when I did not feel like revising, or when I did not get the results I expected! I invested more in my relationship with myself and with God through this!