Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Starbucks Encounter Results In Some Valuable Bar Exam Outlines

One thing I have noticed is that when you carry the telltale signs of a bar exam hopeful--the Barbri books or other study aids--you get noticed. Those who know you are doing something important but have no idea what will ask you what you are studying for. Those who have taken the bar review courses before will commiserate or share their war stories. Some will even offer to share their materials.

That happened to me--I was studying at Starbucks, when a man sitting next to me kept glancing at my book. Finally he asked me if I was studying for the bar. I said yes. We talked a while and he told me he had taken it the year before. He had made up outlines for every section of the Tennessee essay book. Did I want them, he asked. Yes, I said with utter amazement at this stranger's kindness. He emailed me a bunch of outlines later that day. Turns out that last summer I didn't have time to read them. When you are inundated with material and on deadline, you have to make fast cuts at what to tackle. Those outlines did not make the cut. They should have, as that is the part of the exam I screwed up. Well, they made the cut this time. I am reading the first outline today. And many thanks to that stranger in Starbucks.

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