MBE score

Thank you to my readers who posted comments to congratulate me on passing the bar!! Hopefully I can return the favor when the remaining states release their results!! Especially California.

I finally received my scaled MBE score. I scored a 144 in February 2008 – 5 points above my last (and previous best) score of 139. Not bad! At least I know my MBE strategy wasn’t a one-time fluke; it really does work.

I know I mentioned taking the Texas bar exam, but I think I’m going to retire from taking any bar exams ever again. I would rather just take a federal attorney job in Texas and then waive into the Texas bar when I become eligible for reciprocity. I used to live in Texas and I have family still living there, so that was my reason for considering the Texas bar. However, after the stress and agony of taking four bar exams in a row and waiting several months at a time for results to be released, fully convinced I’d failed, I’ve definitely had enough.

There are lots of things I want to do with my life now. I want to travel and I want to snowboard (almost) every weekend this coming winter. I want to go fishing, hiking, backpacking, and camping in the summers. I want to swim in long-distance open-water races again. I want to participate in my favorite activities and hobbies, pursue new interests, and try new things. I feel like I’ve given up so much and put so many things on hold the last two years as I took bar exam after bar exam, and I’m tired of that. It’s not worth taking yet another bar exam. It was SUCH a relief to find out that I passed this bar exam, because if I hadn’t, I’d probably have to take it again next February if I couldn’t find a federal attorney job or move back to Colorado. Plus, my sister and I are planning a backpacking trip to Europe next year and that would have been completely wrecked if I hadn’t passed. I feel like I haven’t seen as much of my family and close friends in the last two years because I was always busy studying for the bar. I miss them and I plan to see them much more often now. In fact I am planning to take at least one week off between my jobs to go visit my family. It’s things like that which I don’t want to give up for the bar exam. There is more to life than the stupid bar exam, and I feel that I lost sight of that along the way.

For those of you who must continue this cruel dance, you have my complete sympathy. I have been in your same exact shoes, but there IS a light at the end of the tunnel. You will be on the “other side” someday. Just don’t give up. Change your strategy, even change states. All you need is your license in ONE state. Then you can become a federal attorney and practice in your home state. There are tons of federal attorney jobs out there. Check out http://www.usajobs.opm.gov. Sign up for the e-mail job alerts to learn about federal attorney opportunities. Consider becoming a Paralegal Specialist for the federal government – I understand it is just like being an attorney, but without the license.

As for this blog, I’m still going to leave it up, and I’m sure I’ll post on here every now and then. My next step for now is to go through my entire blog and clean it up, reorganizing some parts. Then I will try to post most if not all of my bar prep materials on here. Some materials will be MBE-related, but others will be CO-specific. I don’t think I have much to offer for this state’s essay portion because I totally winged that. I don’t really know how I passed that portion, so I’m definitely not in a position to offer advice.

I’ll try to do all the above within the next couple of weeks, just in time for the next round. In the meanwhile, please always feel free to e-mail me at frustratedbarexaminee@gmail.com!

Oh yeah

I forgot to mention that I just found out I have to have surgery on my shoulder in TWO WEEKS. I just KNOW they’ll release bar results while I’m in surgery, and when I wake up in the recovery room someone’s going to tell me that I failed the bar. At least I’d be under the influence of mass quantities of drugs, right?

I feel like I’ve sort of jinxed myself now that I’ve accepted the public defender job offer. I guess they assume I’ll pass this bar since I passed Colorado, but I didn’t exactly let it slip that it took me three tries to pass Colorado. I’m still applying for federal attorney jobs in this state “just in case” because I DO NOT want to take the bar again this summer, or anytime soon for that matter. I would rather bail on the PD job and take a federal job than endure a fifth straight bar exam this summer.

Still waiting

Well, the stakes just got higher for this stupid bar exam. I just got offered a job as a public defender here. Of course I’m totally psyched and excited about this job, but at the same time it also scares me even more than usual because bar results still haven’t been released yet. It’s so frustrating waiting for results when it seems like a lot of states have already released theirs.

Ow

I tried yoga for the first time ever on Sunday. Afterward, I was nearly paralyzed with pain and soreness. I had no idea yoga could be that tough. I want to try Pilates to see if I like it. My doctor recommended Pilates for my shoulder injury, so we’ll see.

I’ve been busy applying and interviewing for attorney jobs, but I’ve started applying for federal attorney jobs in this state as well because I still feel like I failed the bar exam here. And frankly, if I failed, there’s no way in hell I’m taking it again. I didn’t realize how limited the number of attorney jobs were here. Never move to a place with a small legal community. I’m not sure what will happen. Even if I get a job here, what if I failed the bar exam? And there’s a chance, however slight, that I could pass the bar but still not be able to find an attorney job here. I’d rather just move back to Colorado or take a federal attorney job. Ugh. Back to USAJobs I go.

I’m not sure when results come out. Sometime in early to mid-May is what I’ve heard.

Post-bar coma

I’ve basically been asleep ever since I finished the bar, but I’m somewhat bouncing back now. I am definitely not taking any bar exams this summer though.

I have no idea when results come out, but I’m not exactly anxious to find out, and I’m going to try to not think about it until whenever it happens. I’m starting to hit the job search hardcore. I’ve had one interview, and I have another interview next week. I’m also applying to jobs in Colorado and Texas. I’ll be out of a job at the end of August since my current job is a one-year gig. So, I need to line up a permanent job. I refuse to work for any law firms, however. It’s just not my thing, and I don’t want to work 80 hours a week in a sweatshop, accounting for every 30 seconds and being someone’s assboy.

Anyway, I’m not really sure what to talk about here now that the bar’s over and I don’t really want to obsess about it for the next couple of months. I don’t want to take any more bar exams. If I ever have to take another bar exam in my life, it’ll be the Texas Bar Exam, and nowhere else, but I’d really like to avoid that too. Thank goodness for federal attorney jobs, right?

I’m still alive

After a long hiatus, I’m back on Blogger, albeit temporarily. We just arrived in our new home state and have been busy looking for a place to live, just because I ENJOY STRESSING MYSELF OUT AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE.

I’ve been too busy the last couple of weeks to think about those two days of hell back in July. I’m still indifferent. I’ve pretty much convinced myself that I failed again, just so I won’t get my hopes up again like I’ve done the last two times. I’m just not going to think about the bar until October, at which time I’ll start obsessing over results and checking the CO bar website incessantly.

It looks like I may have to take my new home state’s bar exam in February.  Ideally I’d like to stay here for at least a couple of years, get some attorney experience under my belt, and then move back to Colorado. We would have moved to Colorado by now if I would’ve passed the damn bar in July 2006 or February 2007, but alas I had to take a paying job elsewhere to cover my butt for another year while I put myself through this recurring nightmare. I’d really like to obtain a federal job though so I can avoid ever having to take another bar exam again.