day one's musings and oddities

i did some practice mbe questions tonight. not for very long, though. then took a break for a late dinner. might try to tackle some more pretty soon. in regards to the mbe, some subjects are stronger for me than others. but at the same time, each subject should be automatic for me by now. i've done enough practice questions each of the times i've taken this exam -- i should not have to be practicing any more . . . but i want to, to help me get prepped for tomorrow.

a week or so ago, one of the st@ff counsel offered to read my essay answers from the most recent bar exam i took -- from last july 2008 -- and give me feedback on why she thought the essays scored so low. i thought it was most kind of her to offer. but the timing of it was just rather off; i'd much rather have that kind of input a little earlier in the month than that. . . . but nonetheless, i'm still grateful. she gave me great feedback, and it was her words of advice that i tried to keep at the back of my mind while i wrote my essays.

i don't know how well i did with the first half of today -- but i did the best i could and i've got to be content with that. i forgot to watch the clock during the last hour and thus didn't finish up my answer to question 3 as well as i should've. i just barely managed to dash off a couple of things to address one last piece of evidence before time was called. shit. but hey, gotta let go and hope that everything else will make up for that.

the mpt was a little more difficult than usual. i'm good at not being distracted by the things in the file and case law materials that are obviously there to be distractors. but it was the construction and organization of my answer that took me a little longer than usual. when there was only 20 minutes left, i hurriedly made a change to the structure of my answer. i finished the whole thing with, like, 30 seconds to spare. i clicked the "Exit Exam" button just as the proctor called time. i think i'm good with my ultimate answer.

the first day of exam day is always the most exciting. i go in wondering where i'm going to sit; how close i am to the front or the back of the room; whether i'll see any familiar faces of other bar exam repeaters; who my desk buddy will be; who my proctor is. it's all such a brand new adventure that first day. by day three, though, of course, you're sick of everyone and just ready to blow the joint and never see any of the ever again.

the head proctor that i remember from last time, dolores, is not there. instead, the new head proctor is rose marie. dolores was an ancient, crusty, little lady. she had attitude and was snarky if the bar examiners got too loud during the dissemination or collection of test materials. i wonder if she's kicked the bucket . . . . rose marie is (relatively) younger. not as stern. pretty efficient. she got it done, and i feel she let out us earlier than dolores would've.

my desk buddy is a scrawny young kid who looks like he barely just graduated from high school. for the first time, i feel dated. i've always been the fresh-faced, young 'un. now that is no longer the case. i'm now not as fresh as i used to be. my desk buddy and i did not talk or look at each other all day.

on my other side was an annoying dude. disheveled. overweight. sloth-like. gross-looking. shrieky, high voice. i think he's gay; his pink mac book is his give-away. he was annoying the hell out of me today because, during the exam, he had these ear plugs in, and when he needed to talk to the proctor during the intense moments of the exam, which occurred quite a few times today, he seemed to forget that he had ear plugs in his ears and would bark out to the proctor quite loudly in his high-pitched, screechy voice. i jumped every time; he was just so damned loud.

he is now on my shit-list. soo not cool. i started giving him the evil eye after the third or fourth time he did that.

on to more adventures tomorrow. i will report on anything else that strikes me as interesting or as otherwise frickin' annoying.

the night is young -- on to just a few more real property practice mbes, and then i'll call it a night.