PSA: Your Bar Prep Doesn’t Have to be Hell
(Plus a Case Study of Passing the Bar Exam After the First Try)
I took two Bar exams, in two different jurisdictions, one while I was working full-time. Why? Well, I was originally licensed in Maryland in 2015, but I scored three points short on the MBE to be able to waive into the D.C. Bar. My two-year judicial clerkship was coming to an end, I needed to find a new job, and I wanted to qualify for jobs that required a D.C. Bar license, so I had to take yet another Bar exam.
But why am I telling you all this? Because after my own experiences, and after coaching other Christian women to help them pass the Bar exam through my program Blessed & Barred®, I get why a lot of people feel like Bar prep is hell.
But also, after the experience of helping multiple women who had failed the test before learn a new system of study and practice that helps them actually pass, I can say with faith and certainty that your Bar prep doesn’t have to be an overly stressful, hell-ish several months of your life. I (and more importantly God) want a different story for you.
I’m going to introduce you to the system I used to pass the Bar exam (two of them!) and to help multiple other women do the same. This is for you whether you are still in law school, taking the Bar exam for the first time, or retaking the Bar exam.
Why Bar Prep Can Be Hell
First, I’ll be honest here: there are a lot of (real and valid) reasons why your Bar prep might feel so all-consuming and terrible. You’re not alone, and there’s nothing wrong with you if you’re feeling like this. Let’s get into the top three reasons it feels like hell, then go over what will be your new prep system and best friend during Bar prep.
1. The Negative Effect on Your Confidence, Expectations, and Health (Both Mental and Physical)
Bar prep is a special kind of beast because from the moment you enter law school, it’s positioned as this scary behemoth looming ahead of you.
People share stories about tons of students who don’t pass the exam their first or second (or more) time. You might even come across stories of multiple people giving up on their dream of being an Esquire entirely after not passing; these stories break my heart.
But, this happens because the mental and physical toll are real.
The years-long build up of suspense for this monumental exam, paired with the everyday stress and challenges of law school—plus additional stress present if you are retaking the Bar exam—can take a toll on your confidence in your abilities and expectations of your Bar prep and performance, which can lead to you not doing near as well as you could.
According to a study conducted by Mindsets in Legal Education for the California Bar exam, “Worries about ability, potential, belonging, and stress are commonplace among students during the transition into law school, within law school classes, and while studying for the bar exam. This psychological friction can prevent students from achieving their potential [. . . ], including by draining students’ executive functioning and cognitive resources and thereby lowering persistence and performance [. . . ].”
This seems to be especially relevant to law students and Bar exam candidates of color. The American Bar Association Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar released a breakdown of 2022 Bar exam passage results, which revealed the following about the 33,721 first-time bar examinees in 2022:
• The pass rate for Black examinees was 57%.
• The pass rate for Native American examinees was 60%.
• The pass rate for Hawaiian examinees was 69%.
• The pass rate for Hispanic examinees was 69%.
• The pass rate for candidates who were two or more races was 74%.
• The pass rate for Asian examinees was 75%.
• The pass rate for White examinees was 83%.
Section data also showed that the 2022 first-time pass rate was 77% for women and 80% for men.
The above stats are similar for 2023 Bar exam pass rates as well.
WHY IS THIS?! is what I wanted to know, so I did some research.
As reported by Bloomberg Law, according to a report by AccessLex Institute analyzing first-time Bar passage rates on the UBE in New York, “candidates of color were significantly more likely to fail the bar exam than White candidates . . . even when they enjoyed similar LSAT scores, financial resources, and other supports.”
The Bloomberg Law article surmised that “[p]art of the answer almost certainly lies in the nature of a high-stakes, time-pressured exam” as “these exams evoke stereotype threat: a phenomenon that dramatically depresses performance among individuals (especially high-achieving ones) who belong to a group that our culture stereotypes as low-performing at a particular activity.”
I think there is something to this notion that there is a psychological aspect to Bar prep that is especially important for examinees of color to master. Indeed, even as far back as 1989, it was said in an article in The Orlando Sentinel talking about the importance of supplemental Bar prep programs for candidates of color that “‘failure for many, if not most, minority Bar applicants can be attributed more to psychological than academic difficulties.'”
To me, the stereotyping threat phenomenon in high-stakes testing aligns with the findings in the California Bar exam study, which also noted that “making mistakes on practice exams or performing worse than others on them produced negative expectations in applicants and reduced their confidence.”
With all of these various negative factors at play for months (and really years, since law school), it is no wonder so many people are affected every single Bar exam season. I have seen firsthand people living with increased anxiety and depression because Bar prep feels like hell for them. And I know of other Bar exam takers who developed physical symptoms of stress, such as hair loss, weight gain, and high blood pressure (a story on that coming up a little later).
Law schools and traditional commercial Bar review courses on average do not meaningfully address the confidence and mental and physical health issues that can arise during Bar prep, which is why I wanted to create a supplemental Bar prep program that did (more on that later too).
2. The Intense Study Period and Huge Time Commitment Needed to Adequately Prepare for the Exam
The months-long study period is another big factor that contributes to Bar prep feeling like hell.
It requires hours of hours of study per week (often per day!) for months straight. And the type of studying required is intense, especially if you didn’t learn legal writing (or some of the Bar subjects) well in law school.
This study period is made even more difficult if you have to work, take care of young children or other family members, or have other life obligations while studying.
The time commitment can also lead to you being consumed by Bar prep, which ends up in you burning out, neglecting your health and other areas of your life, and feeling guilty whenever you do something that is not studying for the Bar exam.
That study I mentioned also noted that “[i]nsufficient time to prepare for the exam and associated stress or panic were common complaints” and “[a]pplicants reported sleeping poorly, having anxiety attacks, eating junk food, drinking alcohol, cutting back on time with loved ones, and being unable to exercise. This reduced well-being and the ability to mitigate stress and anxiety.”
While there is no way to avoid putting in time to study for the Bar exam, there is a better way to do it that will result in less of the above, and I’ll be sharing a little more about how to do that in the next section.
3. The Sheer Amount of Material to Review, Understand, Remember, and Use to Analyze and Write Answers to Questions in a Limited Amount of Time
The actual details of what you are studying and how you are supposed to answer questions also contributes to Bar prep feeling like hell because you often wonder if you are studying the right things at the right time in the right way and get frustrated when you feel like you are not making enough progress.
The study also found that “[l]earning a high volume of material never covered in law school created stress, especially among those who skipped material early in the bar study process” and “[d]ifficulty focusing for hours and days on end was another substantial stressor.” It certainly is!
It is A LOT of material to go through at once and impossible to know it all, so constantly searching for guidance on how to study can be exhausting and take time and energy away from actually studying.
Plus, while traditional bar review courses give you the material and practice questions to use to study, students are often still overwhelmed and confused by the amount of material provided. And these companies tend to only provide “one-size-fits-all” study strategies instead of personalized ones tailored to your learning style(s).
To avoid those feelings of being confused and overwhelmed, not knowing what you’re supposed to study next, and not knowing if you’re doing enough . . . you need a system for your Bar prep.
And when you have a system, which is defined as an organized framework or method, then you can feel competent, confident, and collected instead of defeated, overwhelmed, and anxious. And that’s exactly what I provide for you with the Blessed & Barred® Bar Exam Success System.
How to Have Bar Prep That’s Blessed Instead of Bar Prep That’s a Mess
After taking and passing two Bar exams, including one while working full-time, I created the Blessed & Barred® Bar Exam Success System, which is modeled off of what I did to pass both a state Bar exam and a Uniform Bar Exam with a score high enough to waive into any UBE jurisdiction (280+), and addresses many of the factors I noted above that contribute to Bar prep feeling like hell.
The Blessed & Barred® Bar Exam Success System consists of three steps:
1️⃣ Start With Your MAP (Mindset, Affirmations, and Prayer to get your mind right and build up your faith and confidence); ✝️
2️⃣ Tame Your Time (get a handle on time management and productivity so you can get your life together and study without everything else falling apart); 🎯
3️⃣ Strategize Your Studying (MBE study methods, Essay & MPT tutorials, and best practices for studying each section of the exam so you can hone the right skills, have the right study plan, and work smarter v. harder) ✅
There is also an overarching foundational “Step 0” where you Identify Your Bar Exam Blessing Blockers™ and Bar Exam Blessing Activators™ under each of the main three steps.
Read on below to learn about each step and listen to my “Stress Less and Score More on the Bar Exam” private podcast going over each step here! 🎧
1. Start With Your MAP
Your MAP is your Mindset, Affirmations, and Prayer. In this step, you focus on your faith, confidence, and mental and emotional health for the Bar prep journey.
You usually begin a journey with a map so you can follow the right route, so we are starting off Bar prep by making sure you’re using the right MAP.
As I like to say, you need to get your mind right before you can get the answer right, so the first step to being Blessed & Barred® is to Start With Your MAP and make sure you’re operating in a sound mind instead of a spirit of fear.
See 2 Timothy 1:7 (“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”) (KJV).
People often skip this step of getting their mind and faith right because they think they don’t have time to focus on this intangible stuff during this limited study period and need to focus solely on study strategies or finding that “perfect” study plan instead.
But this step is important because 🗣️ it doesn’t matter if you have the perfect study plan and all the study strategies you need if you don’t stick to the plan and implement the strategies because your faith (spiritually, mentally, and emotionally) is shaky! When the faith foundation is shaky, it can start to feel like no matter what you do for Bar prep, something’s always missing.
And now, all of a sudden you’re feeling so anxious you can’t focus while studying, and you’re scared to get anything wrong . . . so you avoid doing certain study tasks altogether because you want to avoid that feeling of “failure.”
The research supports this as well: “confidence in one’s ability to pass the [bar] exam positively correlated with performing well on the exam. Conversely, participants who held low levels of self-efficacy—believing that they did not have what it takes to study for the exam or to perform well on the exam—were less likely to pass the exam.”
Having the right MAP is especially important if you are a first-generation college student and/or member of an underrepresented minority community (like me! Shoutout to my fellow first-generation college/law students, first-generation Americans, and Nigerian-Americans! 🇳🇬).
According to the above research study published in 2020, the California Bar Exam Mindset Intervention Program “improved pass rates among underrepresented minorities applicants (control = 39.1% vs. treatment = 55.1%), an estimated difference of 16 percentage points” and “[t]he estimated probability of passing the bar exam among first-generation applicants was much higher in the treatment condition (70.3%) than in the control (31.8%) condition.”
Yo, that’s huge! 🤯 You now have scientific evidence that you should start with your MAP (Mindset, Affirmations, and Prayer) for Bar prep.
And, here’s some testimonial evidence about starting with your MAP too: a Blessed & Barred® alum who SUR-passed the July 2023 UBE with more than a 280 when she prayed for a 270 and only needed a 266 to pass (glory to God! 🎉) said this about what she thinks made the difference in her Bar prep: “I absolutely developed a different mindset which I think is key and approached studying and taking the test in a faith-based way.” Amen to that!
By following the right MAP for your Bar prep, you will be able to better avoid the self-sabotage that many of us subconsciously give in to and instead have the mental fortitude to move forward in your journey to attorney in one piece—praise God! 🙌🏼
2. Tame Your Time
After you Start With Your MAP, it is time to Tame Your Time. The Tame Your Time step is all about managing your time (and your life!) effectively so you can have enough time to study without neglecting yourself, your health, or the other most important parts of your life.
This is so important because if you are working full-time or have another significant responsibility while studying, you need to be very good with managing your time to have adequate time to study and do what you need to do. This applies even if you are still in law school or studying for the Bar full-time. Being able to Tame Your Time is an essential skill that is beneficial for school, Bar prep, and beyond!
This was the case for me when I was studying for the UBE while working full-time as an attorney, serving on the Pastor Search Committee for my church, applying for jobs, and starting a new dating relationship with my now husband (who is a licensed psychotherapist and part of the Blessed & Barred® team!). We had recently started dating when I was studying and I did not want to ghost my new man for several months, so I had to Tame My Time lol. 🎯
But, it’s all too easy to get caught up in Bar prep and end up spending too much time on it (yes, that is a thing too!). And, just because you spend 12 hours “studying” in a day doesn’t mean you actually studied effectively – we’ll touch on that in the next step in the Blessed & Barred® Bar Exam Success System).
It is also easy to run yourself into the ground mentally and physically if you don’t Tame Your Time during Bar prep, so this step is another one that should not be skipped if you don’t want your Bar prep to feel like hell. This applies to school and work as well.
You cannot properly focus while studying or think while answering questions if you are rushed or exhausted.
But, you guessed it: people often skip this step too because they think that only hours upon hours of straight studying is the key to passing the Bar exam without realizing that 1) it takes more than just studying for hours on end to pass (if that were the case, everyone would pass no problem) and 2) you need to be at your optimal mental and physical level to have the best chance of learning, retaining, analyzing, and synthesizing during Bar prep and on exam days.
In the Blessed & Barred® Bar Prep Bootcamp (an interactive introductory workshop available inside the Blessed & Barred® Bar Exam Success System), I teach a framework to help you Study With E.A.S.E. (I’ll even give you a sneak peek at what the first “E” in E.A.S.E. stands for — Early!). Starting your Bar prep early can help you avoid the time pressures the research study said students complain about when they start studying just two or three months before the exam (“[i]nsufficient time to prepare for the exam and associated stress or panic were common complaints”), and gives you enough time to get your bearings and go at a more feasible, comfortable pace.
But don’t be scared that following this system will lead to burning out from starting early Bar prep!
While starting substantive Bar exam study too early can lead to burnout, that is not what I am suggesting you do (please don’t try to study for the Bar exam every day for 40+ hours/week eight months out from the exam or anything extreme like that!). I consider many aspects of Bar prep to be separate from full-on study of substantive law and rule memorization (which has its place in Bar prep, but is not the entirety of it), so many of the methods provided in Blessed & Barred® are applicable whether you are still in law school and have months or years to go until you take the Bar exam, or you have already started studying to take or retake the Bar exam (such as ways to Start With Your MAP (Mindset, Affirmations, and Prayer) and increase your faith and confidence in yourself and God, Tame Your Time and improve your time/life/health/energy management skills, and yes, Strategize Your Studying and fine-tune your approaches to learning, studying, legal writing, analysis, and issue spotting both in law school and for the Bar exam).
So it is never too early to start this holistic approach to Bar prep. Because Blessed & Barred® is more than a program you do but is something you are, a way of life, a movement, a new way of thinking and operating as a Christian woman in the legal profession (I explain this a bit more later in the PSA)–it applies before, during, and after Bar prep and the Bar exam and beyond.
If you take the time to Tame Your Time, you will be able to adequately study and have time for yourself and what is important to you.
3. Strategize Your Studying
The third and final step of the Blessed & Barred® Bar Exam Success System is to “Strategize Your Studying,” or approach your Bar prep study with intention and applicable, effective strategy, instead of studying without a real plan that works for you specifically.
This step is super important because your study strategy and how well you implement it determines how much you learn, retain, and recall during Bar prep and during the Bar exam. If you rely on study methods that work for others but not for you, then you do yourself a disservice by not tailoring your study to your specific needs so you can learn how you learn best.
This step is also essential if you are not/did not graduate at the top of your class in law school. The California Bar exam study noted that students who “were in the bottom half of their law school classes” “especially” “ruminated on failing the exam.”
But in the Strategize Your Studying step, this is where you truly master how to “think like a lawyer” (which everyone says we’re supposed to do by the time we’re done with law school) and analyze like an attorney (which is what I like to say, especially when it comes to legal writing), even if you didn’t learn how to do it well in law school–and even if you did! This step will help you be that much stronger in these skills.
P.S. I am a legal research and writing adjunct professor at The George Washington University Law School if you didn’t know 🤓, so I’m really into legal writing and analysis.
This step also addresses an area where people think they are being strategic in Bar prep study but they are not.
Typically, they follow the study schedule provided by a traditional commercial Bar review company without considering their own circumstances, which may require them to study on a different timeline, for example.
Or, they skip certain study tasks in the name of being “strategic” when really they’re being skimpy because they find the tasks scary (I see this a lot especially when it comes to practicing writing essays and performance test answers. I get it, I get it, they take way longer to practice than the multiple choice questions. But you only get better by practicing!).
One Blessed & Barred® student said that the resources in the Strategize Your Studying section of my program were “gold” because before them, her study felt like “a free-for-all.”
That is what the Strategize Your Studying step is for—to get you on an effective, organized study regimen (which Merriam-Webster dictionary defines as a “strategic plan”) so you’re not aimlessly throwing spaghetti at the wall trying to figure out what to do that works for you. ✅
Identify Your Bar Exam Blessing Blockers™ and Bar Exam Blessing Activators™
As I mentioned at the beginning of this section, identifying your Bar Exam Blessing Blockers™ and Bar Exam Blessing Activators™ is a foundational process that applies to all the steps in the Blessed & Barred® Bar Exam Success System (inside of Blessed and Barred®, I help you discover how your Blockers and Activators can show up during each stage of Bar prep).
You can hear all about it in Episode 2 of my private podcast, Stress Less and Score More on the Bar Exam, accessible here. 🎧
A Bar Exam Blessing Blocker™ is something that is blocking your Bar exam blessing and hindering you (or could hinder you) from passing the Bar exam. When you notice these things pop up in your Bar prep you want to make sure you don’t give in to them and instead use a Bar Exam Blessing Activator™.
The opposite of your Bar Exam Blessing Blockers™ are your Bar Exam Blessing Activators™, which are things that are going to help you activate what it is that you need to pass the Bar exam.
Knowing what your specific blockers and activators are and operating in your activators instead of your blockers is really, really important because doing otherwise is what trips up a lot of people.
For example, one of the biggest Bar Exam Blessing Blockers™ (that also make bar prep feel like hell) is fear (and its related cousin doubt). You could have fear of failure, fear of criticism—whatever the fear/doubt is, it could be affecting your confidence and holding you back from doing what you need to do in your Bar prep.
Unchecked fear/doubt can cause you to avoid reflection and evaluation, not ask for help or do what you need to do to get the help you need, not practice your legal writing, not set aside enough time to study, delay starting Bar prep and put off preparing yourself to start this undertaking, and skip out on the “scary” study tasks that you should (actually need) to do to get out of Bar prep hell and pass this exam.
But if you recognize your Bar Exam Blessing Blockers™ and instead operate in your Bar Exam Blessing Activators™, you can avoid the negative consequences of letting your Bar Exam Blessing Blockers™ go unchecked.
—–
Okay, now let’s look at an example of a Blessed & Barred® sister who overcame her Bar Exam Blessing Blockers™ and operated in her Bar Exam Blessing Activators™ instead, so she could pass the Bar after two previous attempts!
Blessed & Barred® Testimony and Case Study:
How This Wife and Mother of Young Children Passed the Bar Exam and
Overcame Stress-Induced Health Issues Through Faith
Myeedah is one of my Blessed & Barred® clients who felt like she went through hell with the bar exam before joining Blessed & Barred®.
When she joined Blessed & Barred®, she had already taken the bar exam two times and there were a few different things that she was trying to work through.
First, she didn’t feel like she learned legal writing well in law school, which happens for a lot of people actually.
Maybe you feel like this too? It’s not your fault.
If you didn’t have internships where you got to do a lot of your own original writing and get a lot of feedback on it, and most of your classes weren’t classes where you wrote a paper instead of taking a final exam, then you wouldn’t have had a lot of opportunities to practice your legal writing.
So by the time it comes to the Bar exam, you have to all of a sudden go from 0 to 100, real quick. Meaning: you go from not doing legal writing often to writing all these essays and performance test responses back to back, timed.
Again, if you feel like this, it is not your fault—it’s the way legal education is set up (which is a conversation for another day).
But don’t be scared. You can do this. You’ll just want to make sure that you really do learn the foundations of legal writing, which is something that we do inside of Blessed & Barred®.
In fact, I have a whole thing called the Blessed & Barred® Bar Exam Writing Workshop Series where we go through essays and performance tests and I teach you legal writing using the framework I created.
Like I mentioned before, it’s why I chose to teach Legal Research and Writing at GW Law . . . legal writing is my thing, and I love to teach others how to do it.
But, back to Myeedah.
First, she had some legal writing concerns when it came to the bar exam.
Second, she had even more time concerns/time restraints than the average person studying for the Bar exam because she was a wife and mother of young children as well.
Third, Myeedah had experienced health issues while studying for the bar exam. Due to the stress of Bar prep, her blood pressure got to a point where it was so high she could have passed away.
She had to go to the hospital due to these complications. They prescribed her with medication that didn’t work. Her blood pressure was still dangerously high.
But, through our system (and even more so the grace of God!), she was able to learn about Starting With Your MAP (mindset, affirmations, and prayers), and was able to get herself calm and peaceful through the power of God that was working through her even during this stressful time.
And guess what? I don’t even have to tell you probably. She reports that working through her MAP had more of an effect on lowering her blood pressure out of the danger zone than the medication.
No shade to medication! Still use it. But for some of these health issues, they are manifesting physically because of what is going on with us spiritually and emotionally (ex: having all of that stress and anxiety and doubt that can come with the Bar).
P.S. As you may know, this is all scientific—stress shows up in a variety of ways and that is a reason why your blood pressure goes up, because of all of these emotions and feelings that you have on the inside.
A doctor with Kaiser Permanente said that “Patients come in with real physical symptoms, but they aren’t caused by any illness . . . Stress is the underlying problem that needs to be addressed.”
That is why I really focus on how to help you stress less and score more on the Bar exam in Blessed & Barred®.
If you remember what the three steps in the Blessed & Barred® Bar Exam Success System are, you’ll see that each of the things Myeedah was working through falls under one of those steps.
How Myeedah was able to overcome her stress-induced health issues with faith falls under Step 1: Start With Your MAP, your Mindset, Affirmations, and Prayer.
How she was able to pass this bar exam even though it was her third one (while she had a household to run as a wife and a mother of young children) falls under Step 2: Tame Your Time, which is about both time and life management.
And how Myeedah learned the foundations of legal writing and was able to perform so well for the bar exam (and beyond as an attorney!) falls under, as you’ve probably guessed, Step 3: Strategize Your Studying.
This is why I address the emotional, the mental, the spiritual, the physical, the practical, and the academic in Blessed and Barred®.
Traditional commercial Bar review companies do not address all of these factors.
Life is still happening as you’re taking the Bar exam, which is why all the steps in my program are necessary (not just the steps traditional companies share).
As you likely know from other areas of life and other big things you’ve accomplished, it’s not just the studying and “getting” the material that you need to get together to pass the Bar in a healthy way . . . it’s your life and your mind and your spirit that has to all come together as well.
And thank God it was all able to come together for Myeedah, and she is now #BlessedANDBarred! ⚖️
Approach Bar Prep as a Time of Transition and Transformation Instead of a Time of Hazing Hell
On a practical note, I recognize that it can be hard to get excited about preparing for the Bar exam if you’ve been dreading it (although I hope this PSA will or has already been helping you see another perspective!).
Do I agree with how the Bar exam is currently structured, administered, scored, etc.? No.
Do I think the Bar exam is an accurate representation of a person’s ability to be an attorney? Not entirely–it’s not like judges are asking attorneys to fill out scantrons in the courtroom to win a case or violate professionalism and ethics rules by relying only on memory of the law from the last time they read it instead of conducting legal research to look it up to write something that is actually accurate.
The history of the Bar exam being used as a biased mechanism to keep people from underrepresented groups out of the profession is not lost on me either.
But, until we have an updated Bar exam (slated for July 2026 in some states and later for others – we’ll see how it goes!) or more widespread diploma privilege or something else, this is what we have before us to take.
Even if you feel like the Bar exam is archaic, discriminatory, arbitrary, not an accurate reflection of a person’s ability to perform as an attorney and a host of other things, there is still something good to be gained from your experience sitting for and passing this exam.
As the Word says, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.” – Romans 8:28 (NIV).
I am not telling you to put on rose-colored glasses and not question the exam if you have concerns. Your opinion is needed! You are a trained advocate, after all. 🙂
But, I am telling you to reframe your thinking on this while you are studying to take the exam so you can do what you need to do and get through it without it feeling like hazing hell.
Here is how I suggest you think of the Bar exam instead:
Studying for the Bar exam is a time of transition and transformation that can be used for profound personal, professional, and spiritual development if we let it.
And if you don’t want to take my word for it, researchers also agree with this approach: “applicants who perceived the experience of preparing for the bar exam as a ‘challenge,’ rather than a ‘threat’ were more likely to pass the exam.”
On the topic of perception, I think this verse about transforming and renewing your mind is very relevant:
“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—His good, pleasing and perfect will.” – Romans 12:2 (NIV).
The pattern of this world and how the world approaches bar prep is with stress, anxiety, overwhelm, etc. But you can decide not to conform to this pattern and instead be transformed by the renewing of your mind!
With a renewed mind, we know God’s will is not for you to be defeated by this exam or approach preparing for the Bar exam the way the world approaches it. This means that just because everyone else is scared and miserable and feeling like they’re going through hell with bar prep, doesn’t mean that you have to be as well. You can choose not to conform to this.
And if you allow yourself to be transformed and your mind renewed in Jesus Christ, you will be able to see what you are supposed to be learning–not just the law that you’re supposed to be learning, but also what you are supposed to be learning about yourself and God through this experience.
With all of the different emotions that come up and all of the different things that you have to navigate as you take the Bar exam, the Bar prep process causes you to learn so much about yourself, how you think, what you believe, and what’s important to you. And God can use this time to prepare and mold you for the next assignment that He has for you as an attorney and beyond.
Remember Myeedah and her story? Her being able to go through that experience was a testimony in itself to all of us about the impact that Bar prep stress can have on our physical body and the power of faith and prayer and how it can help with that.
And not only that, but her being able to sit for this bar exam and pass it on the third time ended up being a testimony to one of her younger sons too.
He wasn’t doing well in his reading class so he didn’t want to study for it. So Myeedah reminded him that she kept studying for her big test even when she didn’t pass it, and because she didn’t give up, she was able to pass.
Myeedah was able to bring her husband and her children to her swearing-in ceremony as an Esquire, and when her son remembered this, he was motivated to keep on studying.
And as a result of that, he actually ended up going from not doing well in the class to getting A’s and B’s and being on the honor roll. Amen! 🙌🏾🥳
What a reminder:
Your purpose, your destiny . . . is often tied to someone else’s.
The wins that you experience are a testimony to someone else to be able to go forward and do what they have to do. Through taking and passing the bar exam—no matter how many times it takes you to pass—you’ll have a testimony for yourself, your friends and family, the future clients that you help, your colleagues, future attorneys coming up behind you, the world!
You don’t even know how big this goes and how many people are affected.
With Myeedah’s son for example: maybe his friends were motivated after seeing what happened with his improvement. His teachers could have been inspired about what happened. And maybe you were even inspired too just from reading this!
And this is all from allowing your mind to be transformed and not conforming to the ways of the world, and realizing that Bar prep is not all negative, but is actually a training ground for you that can help prepare you for the next assignment.
So as you can see, Bar prep doesn’t have to be hell. In fact, it can help you get closer to heaven and a better version of yourself and those around you, if you let it.
Become Blessed & Barred®
You’ve heard about Blessed & Barred®, what it is, and the philosophy behind it. Now, I’d like to formally invite you to join us and experience being Blessed & Barred® for yourself (because Blessed & Barred® is not just something you sign up for, but it is something you are). ✨
Through the Blessed & Barred® Bar Exam Success System, you will:
- Identify your Bar Exam Blessing Blockers™ and Bar Exam Blessing Activators™ so you can know what to avoid in your study and what to do instead
- Decrease your fear and anxiety and increase your faith and confidence in God, yourself, and your ability to pass the Bar exam so you can be in the right frame of mind to do what you need to do in your study and on exam days
- Tame your time so you can study without neglecting yourself or other parts of your life
- Start issue spotting, analyzing, and writing like a practicing attorney on the MBE, MEE/essays, and MPT
- Build a study and exam-day strategy based on Biblical, practical, and scientific methods and principles
The Blessed & Barred® Bar Exam Success System is taught inside the Blessed & Barred® Christian Bar Exam Coaching Program, which will transform the way that you approach studying for the Bar exam and empower you to strengthen your faith and improve your confidence, better manage your time (and your life!) so you have a study schedule that works and works for you, and write and analyze like the practicing attorney you are training to be. ⚖️
By joining this program, you will:
- Learn proven study strategies that will allow you to stress less and score more on the Bar exam ✅
- Have access to the comprehensive Bar Exam Success System created by a legal research and writing adjunct professor and Bar exam coach who passed two Bar exams (and passed the UBE while working full-time, scoring high enough to practice in any UBE jurisdiction, Glory to God!) 🎉
- Connect with a community of other Christian women taking the Bar exam for support, accountability, and study partners 💜
- And much, much more!
Click here to get all the details on how the program works and how you can join.
And act now! You have access to the Blessed & Barred® Bar Exam Success System modules and the private community to ask questions in YEAR-ROUND so if you want to get started with your Bar prep early (which you should do to best set yourself up for success), you can!
If you want to approach law school and your Bar prep with faith, peace, and strategy—instead of fear, anxiety, and overwhelm—join us and become Blessed & Barred®.
Bar prep doesn’t have to be hell.
You’re already blessed, now let’s get you Blessed & Barred®!
