My Journey to the New York Bar - Arriving in Buffalo

I flew out to New York six days before the bar exams so that I would have enough time to shake off the jet lag and have some sort of normal sleeping pattern before exam day arrived!

This time round I was sitting the exams in Buffalo, New York, which is upstate New York, close to Canada. I checked the weather forecast before flying over and saw how cold it was! I took my brother's ski jacket with me! Buffalo really lived up to it's subzero temperatures lol. I spent most of my time in the hotel room and only went outside on the Saturday to find a church nearby that I could attend on Sunday morning and to get food!

When I am visiting a new place, I usually like to do a bit of touring around the neighbourhood and do a bit of retail therapy (and shopping for others) but this time I didn't do any of that! My focus was to nail this exam and spend as much time as the day permitted me to, to study. I was also doing a social media detox at the time so I was not on social media or watching TV. I did watch a few Christian movies in between study breaks but that was about it. I actually spent most of the eight hour flight to New York doing multiple choice and essay practice questions and revising.

On Sunday, I attended a church service about 10 minutes walk from the hotel. It was in a nice close knit suburban area. I was the only person of colour in the congregation which was new for me as my church is the complete opposite. We have people from all walks of life and nations that attend our church, which is very diverse. But I guess the church represented the type of neighbourhood it was located in. The people were very friendly and invited me to have coffee and cake with them after the service in the church hall. I had some really good conversations with them. They were a much older and mature crowd but lovely all the same. From speaking to them, I saw that the congregation was made up of middle class families, most people working in the legal, teaching, medicine, healthcare  profession. They were faithful members who had been attending for over twenty to thirty years. They shared their experiences with me which was nice! I still have the welcome gift they gave me which is a mug, and I use it a lot :)

When I arrived back to the hotel, I started studying again and then realised that I had done NO preparation for the Multistate Performance Test (MPT) which is a section of the exam worth 20% of the overall mark and consists of two 90 minute exercises!! LOL!! By then, the exam was only two days away! I had no choice but to use some of my study time on Sunday evening to go through the MPT. I am going to be honest, I just looked through two MPT example answers and practiced one or two exercises myself and that was it! It actually worked in my favour because the exercises I practiced and looked through, actually came up on the exam, so I sailed through that part! I couldn't believe it, I was so happy. Thank God for that!

Here's a little bit of Buffalo my phone captured and a lovely lady I met called Audrey, after the church service.

Modern Sis Adventures: Walk at Wollaton Park

There's something about being outside in the midst of nature that I find quite calming. I spent most of my days around a lot of people and where there's a lot of noise. My days are quite busy and I anticipate they will only get busier, so at least once a week, I like to escape somewhere for the afternoon by myself. Somewhere quiet where I can just chill and reflect on recent events.


This afternoon I went to one of my favourite places for a nice walk, Wollaton Park. There's so much to see there and it really is beautiful. I was in awe with the scenery around the lake and as I was walking towards the hall. Although there were quite a number of couples and families with their children, walking around the park, it was still very peaceful.

I spent some time talking to God and He brought to my attention a situation that I had recently gone through. Without realizing, the way that I was looking at certain things and even holding back doing certain things, showed that I was still carrying hurt within me from that situation and that I had not really let go, even though I had convinced myself that I had. God made me to see that my actions and reactions as well as the feelings I was harboring inside of me, was a sign it was still affecting me. I had to really let go. At that moment I decided to do just that, a simple decision and action that blessed the rest of the day.

It wasn't just simply praying about it and thinking it was done and dusted, but after the prayer, changing the way I saw the situation, acting against my feelings, doing the opposite to what I wanted to do which was to continue holding on to the feelings and justifying myself!

Here are some pictures I took whilst on my walk.

Modern Sis Adventures: Walk at Bestood Country Park

 Welcome to a New Year!

Many people are excited about entering a New Year. They see it as an opportunity to make new goals and resolutions, kick bad habits, invest in a healthier lifestyle and start a new chapter in their career. For others, it's just another event in the calendar!

During the last week of December, I took time out to reflect on the year; things I had achieved, things I didn't achieve and looking at why that was.

I really looked deep within me to see what baggage I was carrying that caused problems for me in 2015 and which attitudes and behaviors I was holding on to that could be detrimental in achieving some of the goals I have planned for 2016.

I also analyzed certain environments and friendships that I needed to let go of, which were not doing me any good or not adding anything to my life in any way! It was a painful truth I had to face but making the decisions I made will surely make way for new things, new attitudes and behaviors, new friendships and experiences in 2016.

During the holidays I have been spending time at my mom's house with my siblings. While they were sleeping I decided to take a walk to the local country park. I ended up spending 2 and a half hours there, by myself; walking, talking with God, and having that moment of solitude that I needed to reflect on my life.

I was reminded of childhood memories of cross country running at the same park while at school as my high school is just behind the country park.

Here are some pictures I managed to take while I was on my walk.