Distractions

Yesterday I found it rather difficult to focus on anything bar related. I started out at 6am reviewing my Con Law cards to get a grasp on the law once again so that I could easily move into my review questions. Turns out the move wasn't quite as easy as I thought. I went for a walk in the morning, before it became too hot outside, to clear my head and try to regain my focus. By the time I got back, the last thing on my mind was focusing on bar review questions.

I made it through 29 of my 50 questions, but wait for it, I did those 29 questions while being eternally distracted by past episodes of House. I found myself going from one episode to another, just skipping around and enjoying House. Now, understand that I have already watched all of these episodes before, but the distractions was just too great. I couldn't get myself back into my study groove and finally at 10pm I gave up and went to bed.

This morning I woke up at 6am rested and refreshed and ready to tackle some Con Law and Torts. I started working at my remaining questions and it took about 50 minutes to get through the remaining questions. I know have to listen to my lectures, but before I can get settled in for three hours of lectures, I need to remove my distractions.

I cannot afford to spend another day lolly-gagging around watching episodes of shows I have already watched or movies that I've already seen. It's hard enough with the collection of videos available on Hulu, I don't need my own library to get in the way. I am packing up my external HDD that has all those videos in an attempt to rid myself of the distraction and again refocus my attention on this increasingly important bar review. This online bar preparation is turning out to be harder on the old willpower than I originally thought . . . I'll let you know how it turns out.

Important points that keep coming up ...

It would seem there are a few important points that keep rearing their ugly heads during the course of this review. For starters, it is important to keep in mind that law trumps fact every single time. It is also important to remember that reading comprehension is vastly important. When you get to a really long fact pattern, I have the urge to just blast through it and try to pick out the important pieces. WRONG answer. When I slow down and actually take the time to really read through the fact pattern, getting to the correct answer is a lot easier. First of all, when you really read the facts, you don't have to go back and re-read it when you get to the answers. With only 1.8 minutes per question, you really can't keep going back and re-reading everything you've just read. I have also found that even with 1.8 minutes per question, when the real property questions pop up - Diagram them - it will help you more than you know. When you are dealing with numerous parties, conveyances, mortgages and so on, it really helps to diagram things out ... particularly if you are a visual learner.

Another thing - so far I have done over 400 questions, and my success rate is roughly at 48%. There are some areas that I can recall from my classes, and there are others that are completely new to me. I am finding that the new areas are the ones where I am actually doing better because I am not confusing the exceptions with the general rules as aptly as I am with the older material. Those darn cases that stick out in your mind, yeah - you know which ones I'm talking about, they are a pain in the ass that continue to mess me up. The only thing that will help me is rote memorization. I have to know the law, and I have to know it cold.

Glitches and glumps

Well, after a day spent watching online videos for various subjects I became overly frustrated at the glitches. For starters, the videos in and of themselves are quite nice. The toggle works quite well allowing you to skip ahead to wherever you left off, but the problem is this . . . at times, out of nowhere, the video will start buffering. Normal you would think - but instead of playing, it will restart at the darn beginning. Not exactly the buffering you come to expect with online videos. At first I thought it was just with one video, but this problem has cropped up with at least four different videos and subjects. Mind you, the toggle works great so when it restarts you can just skip back to the portion you were on, but really, is this what we have to deal with for bar preparation? Glitches in the products that we pay thousands of dollars to use for this exam?

On another bit of a rant regarding the online products, why or why do they have to be flash based? There are so many other technological alternatives out there that are actually better than flash, yet the companies stick with a product that can't be used on a lot of mobile devices ... so frustrating. I wish I could get in there and change the coding to make it non-flash. Oh well, maybe later years will have the ability to see a product come out that is not reliant on flash.

Those lovely little nuanced points

Today I find myself not so subtly reminded of the nuanced points of the law. While going through practice problems and some online quizzes, I find myself second-guessing myself with certain problems while trying to recall details from the outlines.

Memorization is going to be the key to making it through this exam. If I can memorize the nuanced points of the law, I won't waste precious moments on those practice problems trying to remember if it is a public or private nuisance, or what is required for a private person in a defamation action.

I just have to remind myself that the time I am putting in to learn this stuff will be well worth it in the end when I pass this thing. People do actually pass this, right?

Beginning of the End

After receiving the materials and looking through them I realized just how daunting this process is going to be. People do this twice a year and pass, right? I've started with the foundational course, and that is the brief re-introduction to the six MBE topics ... Torts, Contracts, Evidence, ConLaw, Property and CrimLaw/CrimPro.

The first day of the foundational course started with Torts, and wow, I realize just how little I remember, and how much we failed to cover in the course. I really have to learn all of this stuff again? I've definitely got my work cut out for me on this.

I'm doing the online lectures for the course because I am moving in a few weeks, and it will definitely take every ounce of willpower I have to sit in front of my computer and listen to the lectures. Getting into the swing of things for studying, well, it has been a bit of a challenge. I was able to "snap into it" when it came time for finals, and this is far greater than any final I've ever taken ... yet the "snapping" isn't quite happening just yet. I really hope that I'm able to snap into my studying mode before too much time passes. I do have one thing to say though, this is going to be a very LONG summer.