So today I sold my HP Pavilion dv6405us laptop to some dude from San Jose for $500. It felt really great!

Why? Because the Pavilion was one thing and one thing only to me: a PC laptop on which I could run the software to take the California Bar Exam. Getting rid of it, then was ( cathartic. )

I'm also finally ready to talk about the Bar Exam itself (oooo!). It's been three weeks since it began. And I can understand now why it has the reputation that it does as this monumental, anxiety-inducing event in the lives of would-be lawyers. It is, more than anything, an endurance test, the marathon you have to finish after already completing the marathon that is law school. Two months of study is a long time (and it is indeed necessary). Plus the test itself is grueling, six hours a day. By the afternoon of the third day of the exam I found myself exhausted and wanting to go to sleep in the middle of the final Performance Test question.

At the same time, from this side of the fence, I can also say there is a lot of dread and fear around the Bar Exam that is not warranted. Law students are neurotic creatures by nature, perhaps by definition. The stakes are high, true, but you can take the test as many times as you want. And it's easy to forget that, at heart, it is a minimum competency exam. You are seeking to pass, not get the highest score. And on the six issue-spotting essays, at least, the Bar Examiners are not trying to trick you. The issues should be obviously if you were diligent in studying. (The multiple choice MBE's, on the other hand, were a different matter entirely, and were quite tricky.) An objective way to look at the exam is by the numbers: although the overall pass rate is 40%, most ABA-accredited law schools have an 85-90% first-time pass rate.

A bit of advice I got from a previous exam-passer back in April proved to be the most helpful: prepare yourself as much you need to feel comfortable about the test, but don't stress yourself out. I feel, hopefully, that is what I did.

As for the venue, San Mateo was pretty chill. The test was indeed in the gigantic warehouse with the rainbow flags. Surprisingly, nobody freaked out, nobody got up and left in the middle exam, nobody was outside retching in the bushes. The weather was beautiful, bordering on perfect, with the cool Bay breeze flowing in the whole day. And the hotel arrangements with Joel and Henry worked out very well.

So, there you have my high level post-mortem for the exam. I hope never to take it again, but I will not jinx myself by talking about it.