I'm more than a bit discouraged about the Bar

[Mr Awe]

propita, ah, thanks for the additional info. Because you were that close to passing, I have no doubt that you'll do so this time. The health issues sound like they won't be a problem this time around.

I'm still not entirely sure about doing this for mainly self-confidence reasons. I suspect that you could use your talents for things other than jumping through hoops that will be fairly irrelevent to your life. But, I do wish you the best of luck. I agree with the others, take a day off.

Trust me, thoroughness and good writing won't prevent you from succeeding. They'll only help you.

Mr Awe

 

[propita]

I do not mean this in any way to attack you, propita, because you seem like a fairly decent person, but I have noticed that you have a very high opinion of yourself while blaming any shortcomings you have on health issues. In essence, you excuse yourself from your personal failings by attributing them to factors you can't control. It seems to me that you aren't taking responsibility for the situation, and instead you just want to shield yourself from what you see as an inevitable failure.

See, now that's exactly what I'm afraid of! That it was me that couldn't do it. Thaaaaaat close. What if, despite my grades and supposedly being able to pass, I cannot?

Yeah, I have a tendency to blame health issues. My Bar answers did not read anything like what I did in school. All my profs said that I should've passed, that had I performed as I did in school, it would've been a slam dunk. Heck, one prof said that I was one of the top 5 students in thinking and writing ability she had had.

I think I'm trying to prop myself up and covince myself that, despite failing it last year (which is proof that I can fail it), I do have the ability to pass. I'm not known for having self-confidence. A shrink actually laughed at my concern of becoming overly-self-confident--he said I should develop some actual self-confidence before I worry about having too much of it. That was meant in the right way and you had to have been there, so no comments needed about "what a lousy thing to say".

 

[bluedana]

propita, I took the Bar in the summer of 1992. At the time, I psyched myself up in a way that was paralyzing. My boyfriend (now husband) called me one morning the week before the test to check up on me. I was watching Regis and Kathie Lee. I remember he asked me some damn thing, like, what do you want to do for dinner. I ended up prostrate on my living room floor sobbing, How am I ever going to pass the Bar if I can't even figure out what to eat for dinner?!!

That afternoon, boyfriend shows up, says, pack a bag, and we drove down to the Cape for the weekend. I really needed that break.

All this to say, perhaps you do need to close the books for a day (or two - the exam is at the end of July, right?) and just do something else. What you know isn't going to fall out of your head, and perhaps your stress level going down will actually help you as you finish up studying.

Clearly, this is what you want to do -- you wouldn't have invested the time and energy otherwise. And clearly, it does matter if you pass or fail. But the first step to passing -- which I believe you will -- is to unknot your mind and spirit so that you can think and write persuasively.

 

[Misfit Toy]

propita, I took the Bar in the summer of 1992. At the time, I psyched myself up in a way that was paralyzing. My boyfriend (now husband) called me one morning the week before the test to check up on me. I was watching Regis and Kathie Lee. I remember he asked me some damn thing, like, what do you want to do for dinner. I ended up prostrate on my living room floor sobbing, How am I ever going to pass the Bar if I can't even figure out what to eat for dinner?!!

That afternoon, boyfriend shows up, says, pack a bag, and we drove down to the Cape for the weekend. I really needed that break.

All this to say, perhaps you do need to close the books for a day (or two - the exam is at the end of July, right?) and just do something else. What you know isn't going to fall out of your head, and perhaps your stress level going down will actually help you as you finish up studying.

Clearly, this is what you want to do -- you wouldn't have invested the time and energy otherwise. And clearly, it does matter if you pass or fail. But the first step to passing -- which I believe you will -- is to unknot your mind and spirit so that you can think and write persuasively.

This. This. THIS!

 

[propita]

OKAY!

Hubby has tomorrow off. We're going to run errands and have lunch. Then I'll do some "light" studying while he takes care of his Mom.

I so screwed up yesterday's studying that today, ignoring timing, I just focused on doing the process correctly--to go through the steps. Last year, I actually did okay on this portion. Not great, but okay. I'm hoping to do at least the same. If I do the same on this and the multiple choice questions, that leaves the essays. I fell down big time there and have focussed on them.

It's supposed to be "answer the question, showing you can explain quickly but sufficiently, start to finish." The essays are what I did kinda smash and grab. So I'm working on that.

Thanks all. I swear, next month, you're going to be "seeing" one much calmer propita.

 

[Lookingglassman]

I have a buddy who has taken the Bar five times and failed each time, but he still is plugging along. He says he is going to take it until he finally passes or dies.

 

[Alpha Romeo]

I have a buddy who has taken the Bar five times and failed each time, but he still is plugging along. He says he is going to take it until he finally passes or dies.

You couldn't pay me to do it that many times.

 

[Misfit Toy]

You couldn't pay me

^I thought passing the bar meant that you weren't allowed to say that anymore.

 

[propita]

Well, Hubby and I went out for part of a day.

We ran a couple of errands, then went to a shopping center.

He bought me a couple of pairs of shorts; I mostly only have jeans. I'm short 5' 1" and wear size 18, so it's hard to find clothes. Yeah, I'm "chunky" but it gave me boobs Hubby likes, so....

We went to Nordstrom Rack and he got a cedar "shoe tree"--to put in his shoes to keep the shape, stretch them a bit, and make them smell nice. And he insisted, literally insisted, on buying me a watch. I have watches. I didn't need another watch. "Do you like it?" "Yes, it's really nice." "Do you want it?" "You've bought me watches. I have lots of watches." "Can I buy it for you?" "If you want to buy it for me and that makes you happy, you can buy me a watch."

We went to Pismo's Coastal Grill for lunch. I had wild Monterrey King Salmon. OMG! It was THE best salmon I have ever had! Sooooo butterly in texture and the flavor was sooo smooth. Supposedly, it wasn't allowed to be caught for years, and might not again for a few years after this season. Hubby had fish and chips, but the chips were sweet potato with salt on them and an aioli sauce. Perfect dessert to me.

I did some study and printed out a question, the Bar's sample answer, and my answer for Hubby to read. He pointed out where I could add a bit--a sentence here and there to explain things better. Yeah, good ideas. But he didn't understand the sample answer--he didn't believe someone could do that on the Bar. I told him that sometimes, the sample answer is the only good answer from that person, that they spend too much time on it, blow the others, and fail the Bar. He thought it had too much filler and repetition.

So....the mostly-day-off was great. And I got an idea how to improve what I'm doing. And that, since I literallly cannot figure out how to do filler, I'm going to direct my writing as best I can to what I think they want and see what happens.

As for filler, well, I had a technical background and then went back to school as an English major. I got an A on every assignment and every one was shorter than the minimums required. I asked my profs why I still got A's when I never hit the minimums. They said that I had never put in filler, and number of pages in the assignments were because people usually put in 2-3 pages of filler. This was 4 different English professors, so I'll take their words for it. I don't do filler. I don't know how--unless I'm talking. Then it's mostly all filler.

 

[RJDiogenes]

Filler is filler. It's put in by people who don't know or who are unsure of the answer. The answer is all you really need.

 

[propita]

Thanks, Great Grape.

I got a call from a classmate. He took and failed the Feb Bar and is taking this one. He said that neither of us did filler in school and that, if that's what was wanted, we'd likely never get there. We should just answer the questions the best we can, add what we can if we're short, and not worry about it.

So...10 days away.