Dealing with postponed bar exams
UPDATE: Since writing this blog post, the Law Society of Ontario has rescheduled the March 2022 Exams to in-person exams, in April. Read more about it here.
When the March bar exams were postponed 3 days before my exam, I was numb. When the numbness wore off, I felt devastated. It felt like I was running on a treadmill that was pulled right from under me. After months of studying (and stressing), I was at a loss at what to do. I took the weekend off to rest my mind and catch up on the rest of life, which I had put off for the bar exam. Ultimately, what helped me through the weekend was the thought that “I am on my own journey”. When unexpected difficulties come your way, sometimes what you need is to muster up the willpower in yourself to move forward.
In order to calm my anxiety, I turned off social media for a few days. I also took frequent walks around my neighbourhood. When I walked, I focused on my surroundings, instead of my flurry of thoughts. I listened to the birds, took deep breaths and paid attention to each step in front of me.
Focusing on the external environment helped me get out of my head. And as gentle reminder to myself, I recalled why I chose this path in the first place. The roots of your “why” can help sustain you for years to come.
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Bar exams are a huge commitment, and to say they are stressful is an understatement. Not only due to the daunting fear of failure, but also because of the overall difficulty and required level of comprehension. In my particular circumstance, this was my second bar exam within a year, since I had taken the NY Bar Exam the previous summer. Preparing for a bar exam feels like a gargantuan task of learning black letter law. It is an age-old tradition of proving one’s worthiness to the bar. The unexpected, such as a suddenly postponed bar exam, is a helpful reminder that sometimes the way forward is unique. Once you’ve rested, find the courage to pick yourself up and continue on!
No matter if you’ve failed the bar, or if you have recently been affected by the postponement of the March exams, I hope you find the time that you need to recover and continue forward, because you’ve made it this far!
“Never confuse a single defeat with a final defeat.” F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Christina Ma is an articling student in Ontario. She is also a content editor at Beyond the A.
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