Brian, Author at Make This Your Last Time

July 23, 2024July 23, 2024 - 2 Comments

Admire the Buttcrack (and 9 Other Last Minute Tips for the Bar Exam)

Ahh shit… You utter the first word of the day as a dying declaration.

Because it’s time. Is it really that real? Let’s do this!

Implementing, practicing, and doing. I hope, by doing those things consistently, you’ve made solid progress!

Maybe you don’t feel ready. The good news is that the more prepared you actually are, the less you feel prepared. The bad news is that the other way isn’t necessarily true. You don’t know what you don’t know.

Not all hope is lost, ye weary traveler. It’s time to put your training to the test.

For now, go in with a “might as well, even if I don’t feel ready” or a “you never know until you try” attitude.

You’ll be able to say, “I’m glad I tried.”

You’ve worked hard these past weeks and months. You’ve come all this way. Let’s finish it without any hiccups at the very end.

We don’t want a “failure of the last mile” to undo all we’ve done up until now. Here are some final tips for bar exam week.

July 20, 2024July 20, 2024 - No Comments

Tired of Bar Prep? Guarantee Motivation to Beat the Bar Exam with These 5 Reminders

How often do you see motivationals like this?

You’re doing totally fine!!!
You’re going to pass!!! BELIEVE IT!
My all-time favorite: YOU GOT THIS!!!!! (“I needed to hear this today!”)

I wanted to pass the bar exam.

So instead of actually preparing for it, I made an image of a bar license card with my name on it using Microsoft Paint. You know, for visualization and manifestation like random people suggested online.

I’m not even kidding. Look and cringe:

July 19, 2024July 19, 2024 - No Comments

Scoring 85% on AdaptiBar in the Last Two Weeks of Bar Prep

Grace took the California Bar Exam in July but only passed in February after forming a strategy.

💬 “Despite my bad 1L grades, I still had secured a job in biglaw. Maybe as a result of that, the threat of something not working out didn’t really set in. . . . My heart wasn’t in it and I had no strategy.

After July 2023 results came out, I was hurt but not surprised.”

She approached bar prep on her second attempt differently and even ended up reaching up to 85-90% on AdaptiBar!

How did she do it?

July 13, 2024July 14, 2024 - 7 Comments

Stop “Studying” and Start Learning: The Underrated Practice of Practice in Bar Prep

You’ve sat still during lectures and tried to stay awake. You’ve taken notes. You’ve read outlines. You’ve even answered practice questions.

Then nothing works. Has this happened to you?

Back in college, I gave a copy of my cheat sheet for our engineering midterm to a girl. How do you say no to a girl? Answer: You can’t.

And then she got the lowest score in the class.

It had all the equations needed, but she didn’t know how and when those equations applied. She hadn’t seen those rules applied to similar problems. She assumed that just having the rules there would be enough. (Same reason open-book bar exams would change very little.)

It’s like when someone says, “b urself” or “learn to love yourself.” Okay… what’s that mean? Could you explain that a bit more, bro? Any specifics?

Same with your “black letter law”… What does “related” mean in your rule statement?

You get a better sense of what that means in the context of examples of how that rule is used. You gain an intuition.

You’d think these rules would be plug and play, but they’re not always. Context matters. Knowing when and how to use them matters.

July 12, 2024July 12, 2024 - 1 Comment

Face Your Weaknesses to Pass the Bar Exam

Passing the 2024 February CA Bar Exam on her second try allowed Esme to put this nightmare behind her forever.

💬 “I passed the February 2024 CA bar exam on my second try! Can’t tell you how thrilled I am to never have to take that test again and finally get on with my life.”

How exciting. But there’s a price to pay for this ultimate reward.

First of all, there’s way too much to know.

*Pls tell me you recognize this classic meme template*

You also go through a range of emotions.

You go from being anxious, overwhelmed, panicked, unmotivated, stressed, incompetent, ashamed, HAPPY YOU GOT SOMETHING RIGHT, depressed, embarrassed…

Not only is there a mental toll and an emotional toll, but there’s a financial toll as well. Each attempt involves exam fees, subscription fees for study supplements (which is why my study tools come with updates for life), and opportunity costs.

That adds even more stress!

Mental fortitude is key to bar prep. “The mind is 50% of this exam.”

Esme had to learn about these tolls the hard way on her first attempt. Then she conquered herself and the bar exam by facing inconvenient and uncomfortable emotions.