Bar Exam Memories...
The last Tuesday and Wednesday of July and February hold special significance to me since those are the days the NY Bar Exam is given. Even though it has been 5 years since I sat for the exam, the dates are never lost on me when they roll around. I always pause for a minute at some point every time the Bar Exam is given to sympathize with the people who are in the midst of taking it and to appreciate the fact that I've been there, done that and never have to deal with it again. It doesn't matter how many years go by since I sat for the test. It still remains one of the most difficult and draining things I've ever done. Since I've been a practicing attorney for the last four and a half years, I can honestly say that the ability to pass the exam has absolutely no bearing on a person's ability to be a decent attorney. Sure, you have to be "book smart" in order to pass, but you have to have common sense in order to succeed at the practice of law. For all the hours I put in to get through law school and to prepare for the exam, there isn't one thing I learned or studied that has helped prepare me to be an attorney. The only way you really learn how to be a good lawyer is to just do it. Personally, I don't think the Bar Exam is an adequate tool to measure whether or not someone is competent to practice law, but, on the other hand, I feel that since I've had to go through the experience then everyone who comes after me better damn well go through it too. It's more an archaic rite of passage than anything else, which is why I think it's still the capstone to a legal education.
While I don't think the exam is very relevant, I'll still take pause at some point today while I'm working on the order to show cause I'm finishing up for one client and the Social Security appeals I'll be starting for 2 other clients and I'll appreciate what I had to go through in order to do what I need to do today. While I think the exam is pretty useless in the scheme of things, the validation of passing it is immeasurable and remains one of my greatest educational and occupational accomplishments, making the hell that accompanies it totally and completely worth it. It was an experience I hated more than anything I've ever had to do, but it's easy to look back after passing it and know that it was an experience I wouldn't have wanted to be denied.
While I don't think the exam is very relevant, I'll still take pause at some point today while I'm working on the order to show cause I'm finishing up for one client and the Social Security appeals I'll be starting for 2 other clients and I'll appreciate what I had to go through in order to do what I need to do today. While I think the exam is pretty useless in the scheme of things, the validation of passing it is immeasurable and remains one of my greatest educational and occupational accomplishments, making the hell that accompanies it totally and completely worth it. It was an experience I hated more than anything I've ever had to do, but it's easy to look back after passing it and know that it was an experience I wouldn't have wanted to be denied.