Day One is Done

I'm one-third of the way finished munching through the meadow. I'm completely exhausted but feel very good about the test sections I took today. First up this morning were 3 one hour long essay questions. The first was a Professional Responsibility one, not really one of my favorite topics because, as I've mentioned before, duties just seem to appear out of thin air and I never can find them all. Anyway, it was kind of a relief to have that question first since we are guaranteed to get a PR one somewhere during the 3 days, so nice to get it over with. I think I discussed 8 different duties, so hopefully that was enough to be a decent answer.

Second question was the bizarre one of the day- a cross-over of Con Law and Crim Pro. Not the typical Con Law Equal Rights, Due Process or First Amendment stuff, so I really have no idea on that one. I wrote for an hour though, so maybe I hit enough issues???

The final essay question was a Contracts one. I just worked my way through that one, but I didn't feel like I was quite as organized on how I analyzed that one. We'll see.

The most annoying part of the day is after each session, you must stay in your seat, silent, until the exam proctors pick up all the different papers (used exams, scratch papers, exam covers, etc.) from each applicant in their area. Most of these proctors move very slowly and most of the applicants don't seem to care to get their papers in order before the proctor is standing in front of them, so this process takes about 20 minutes. So, after just completing a 3 hour exam, you have to just sit there and do absolutely nothing for 20 more minutes while this collection process takes place. You can't surf (no internet access), can't send text messages (no phones allowed), can't get up to use the restroom or get a drink (have to stay in your seats). You are just so anxious to get out of there, walk around and eat something and it seems like they drag that out more than necessary.

Anyway, after lunch was the 3 hour performance test. Generally, they are just a matter of following directions and being organized, but sometimes if the directions are ambiguous or weird, they can be puzzling. Thankfully, today's was straight forward and the document we were asked to create was nothing strange. There were a lot of things to comment on, so I just did as much as I had time for. I feel like I at least touched on all the main points, though I would have written more if I had had the time.

The location itself is kind of odd. The building feels like a big warehouse. There are just rows and rows of tables, and they have us seated 2 to each table. At first I thought it might be too squishy, when you get your laptop and all your papers spread all over the place, but it was fine. I have no idea how many people are taking the test at this location, but I wouldn't be surprised if it were over 1000. We have assigned seating and I like my spot. I'm in the third row from the back, in the first section from the door. Makes it close to the restrooms and water, and faster to get out.

It would be nice if there were more lunch options closer. At first you think you are getting an hour and a half for lunch (12-1:30 when you are supposed to get back), but because the paper collection process takes so long, you don't really get out of there until 12:30, so you have to rush to get anywhere and eat quickly. Not exactly helpful if you are trying to stay in a de-stressed mood.

Tomorrow is MBE day- 100 multiple choice questions in the morning and another 100 in the afternoon. I normally take about 2.5 hours to do 100 questions, so if I repeat that pattern, I will be able to leave early for lunch and at the end of the day. (The days you use your computer, if you leave early, you are not allowed to take your computer. You have to come back at the end and get it, so hardly any point in leaving.) The MBEs are not on the computer, so I don't have to haul my laptop over there, worry about any technical issues, and don't have to wait to pack it up when I'm done. All of that plus MBEs aren't as high stress as the essays. You already know the 6 subjects that will be on the questions, and if you have done enough practice ones, you know the type of questions to expect. It's just a matter of sitting there and working through them. It almost seems like having a day off to only have MBEs tomorrow.

Thursday is a repeat of today, with 3 essays in the morning and a PT in the afternoon. They generally don't use a single topic for more than one essay, so the topics still available for essays on Thursday are: Property, Torts, Evidence, Crim Law, Wills & Trusts, Civ Pro, Community Property, and Business Associations. My preference would be for Thursday's line up to be Evidence, CP and W&T, but that is highly unlikely. Civ Pro is apparently highly likely to make an appearance, but I did well on the last practice essays I did on that subject, so I guess that shouldn't be too bad. Maybe none of them really look too scary right now.

Ok, I'm tired and I've gone all for way too long. Time to relax...