The Bar
cautious celebration
August 5, 2010
Exactly one week ago today, I was finishing the last day of the bar exam. I left the exam hungry and exhausted, so I immediately texted Luis (he is gray, I’m green):
If you’ve read our blog for any particular length of time, you would know that Luis and I use pretty much any excuse to be able to go out. And this time was no exception. It didn’t take much arm twisting to get me to agree to go to Chili’s. Nor did it take much arm twisting to get me to the Cupcakery. But after spending 3 days making decisions about which answer choices were the most correct and which analysis to use on any particular question, I was done making decisions. Even the simple choice of which cupcake I wanted to eat was too much to handle. So I came home with all of this:
I had the raspberry with champagne frosting, red velvet, and rollo cupcakes (just so you know, I didn’t have them all in one sitting, I promise!). Luis was much more decisive than I was. He only got a rollo and a Boston cream cupcake.
Luis: The ROLLO cupcake is what dreams are made of, holy cow! … The Boston Creme? meh, not so much…
As indicated in Luis’ post about the bar, a ton of anxiety, stress, and tears have gone into this exam. I think I feel good about it, but am extremely cautious about getting my hopes up. Hopefully we’ll have a real celebration in October when the results are announced.
Oh, and one extra special surprise… I found our camera. After months and months of not being able to find it, and finally giving up hope assuming we had left it somewhere between Las Vegas and Provo, I reached into my backpack to pull out an outline for the bar, and lo and behold, there it was! And you know what this means, right? Less blurry cell phone pictures for your eyes to endure :)
05-06-10
May 8, 2010
I could hardly sleep the night before the dreaded day. I should have taken it as a sign when I woke up with knots in my stomach that morning. But I was still hopeful for the best. At 1:00 p.m. I finally saw that the bar results had been posted online. And my name was nowhere on the list. My first reaction? I thought, maybe my name is listed under Martins. But it wasn’t. Or maybe they got the spelling wrong altogether and it is listed elsewhere. But there was no Natalia, Natalie, Natasha or anything else like it anywhere on the list. So then I cried. I couldn’t believe I had put that much work into studying and preparing only to fail that stupid test again. All of my coworkers were shocked. Everyone expected me to pass. Heck, I expected myself to pass. But I didn’t. I can’t really describe the feeling of shock, disappointment, sadness, and failure that came over me at the moment.
I joked with Luis that I was going to go take a swig of the vodka that someone left in the freezer at work, but he insisted it wasn’t worth it. It helped that my boss kept coming in to my office to tell me that it was ok, that a lot of successful attorneys have to retake the bar, and that my job was not going to be at jeopardy over this. He then came back in my office with a huge smile on his face to tell me that he knew what would make me 100% better. He and the other attorney in the office were going to take me to a “really nice” dinner after work. (“really nice” = going to a place where the average entrees are $30-40). I felt bad that they were going to be away from their families for dinner just because of little old me, but they insisted on taking me out.
We ended up going to Vic & Anthony’s at the Golden Nugget. I had the roasted stuffed salmon filled with smoked gouda and crab. It was uh-mazing! For dessert my boss insisted we all get the crème brulée. Overall, despite feeling so down about the results, it was nice to know that I am surrounded by people who care about me and were willing to go out of their way to make sure I was going to be ok.
So now I get to start all over again. The next test is only a couple of months away. Ugh I hate tests.
necessary or not?
January 8, 2010
In your opinion, is it necessary to have an image on a screen if a person is doing nothing but talking? For example, in my night classes, there is no in-class professor. We simply hear a recorded lecture. However, we also have the image of the professor speaking.
He has no visual aids of any sort, not even a chalk board behind him. Therefore, is it necessary for his image to even be up on the screen? As I look around my class, I notice that people actually look up at the screen occasionally, and I’m not sure why they do that. Does it help them understand the concept better? Does it help with concentration? Maybe it is neither of those things and the students are merely attracted to the professor.
i know you’re wondering
September 17, 2009
Lest anyone ask, bar results were released today. Good thing I didn’t end up getting a job in Utah. I “celebrated” my failure by paying $50 for a Nevada bar application.
P.S. Just because I’ve told you that I didn’t pass, doesn’t mean I actually want to talk about it. I’m just letting you know so you don’t ask.
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