96 out of 200

That was my score on the MBE yesterday - a 48%. And I'm actually pretty pleased with it. I didn't get to listen to the con law lectures in time and I never took it in law school, so there went 34 of 200 questions. And I haven't read over anything in the outlines I've filled in between pauses and while doing household chores (I have a snazzy little clipboard I carry with me all over the house - JP makes fun of it, and my even snazzier pen, but it keeps me from going crazy couped up in the study). The average test taker at this point last year got a 109 so I'm not far off. It's just low enough to scare me into studying but not low enough to make me freak out. I feel like I'm in a good place and I'm ready to take on the month of July, which is exactly what I hoped to get out of this workshop.

Another benefit of sitting on a hard metal chair for 8 hours the past two days is it has made me immensely grateful for the iPod self study option. It is SO much better than sitting in that class room (or really warehouse, our classes were canceled last weekend for the Gun Show. Yeah, I'm in Texas now!). It's in a crappy part of town, 45 minutes away, and I'd have to pay for the gas and a lunch each day. I also definitely like being separated from all the crazy people who have all their flash cards made, color coded, and memorized and who have finished a whole book of practice exams. I'm just not in their league right now and given how much fun I had at the pool the other day with Landon, I'm okay with that. Also, I really don't think you gain anything from hearing the lectures live. For one, the instructor is just reading off their notes and isn't using visuals or even many hand motions. This is fine because you're bent down over your handouts frantically filling in the blanks, generally two or three blanks behind, and not looking up until the instructor calls for a 10 minute break. I don't think video, life, or audio would make the slightest bit of difference - everyone is just hunched over their paper. And the ability to pause and rewind a lecture on the iPod is invaluable. I know I won't have the time or inclination to listen to these lectures a second time so when we've gone through a tricky section, I often rewind and replay, just listening and not writing, and I think that's helped me learn a few things without actually studying yet. Plus you don't miss anything- there were so many times today that I wanted to pause or press rewind, it was driving me crazy!

The MBE workshop has been really helpful though. A lot of people skipped today because the instructor was just going over answers that were already explained in detail in the exam book. But this guy went way beyond the answers and gave us summarized tests and approaches, as well as the frequency certain questions have been asked over the years. I left with 19 pages of hand-written notes, my hand felt like it was going to fall off. And I feel like I've already learned enough to do substantially better on another exam. I also think I may have been talked into registering for the Texas Procedure and Evidence workshop (we have a separate Texas civil procedure and evidence short answer exam that is 10% of our overall score - if anyone has thoughts or knowledge of that workshop, let me know- should I do it? I may be too late to sign up, but it seems like barbri deadlines don't really exist even when they pretend they do).

What's freaking me out right now is the essays. Damn, that's going to be a TON of information that needs to be on total recall. It's not like the multiple choice where you can narrow down and guess, this is staring at a blank document. I have a lot of work to do. But I feel ready to do it.

It's now pouring rain outside (rain we desperately needed) and because I did Bar stuff all day I gave myself the night off, guilt free. We already watched the swimming Olympic Trials. Based on the first night alone the U.S. is going to have an unbelievable team this year - 2 world records broken already! The current world record holder in the men's 100 Fly is one of our best friends and my roommate last summer; I think we'll end up knowing about half the Olympic team again, which makes it so much fun to cheer them on. It's on every night through Sun. from 7-8 CT on NBC or USA. Now I'm going to drink too much wine, cuddle on the couch with JP, and maybe even be crazy and watch a movie! I'm savoring my last bits of June.