Summer Series: Delicate Balance of Family, Bar, and Sleep.

Our Summer Series continues! This series highlights different Latina students and law grads as they embark in their summer jobs and/or bar prep all across the country. We hope to provide a variety of work experiences, options for a healthy work-life balance, and general motivation through different guest contributors to help you to take charge of your summer and professional goals! Today we hear from Bertha, a law school graduate studying for the Bar, and her advice on staying motivated to study while living with family (in beautiful Nicaragua no less!).

I’m Bertha and I just graduated law school this past May after completing the four-year part-time J.D. program at American University, while also working full-time. In September, I start my first post law school job working as a Trial Attorney with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Philadelphia Regional Solicitor’s Office. So what does a young lady, who had virtually no free time the past four years because of law school and work, do after she graduates law school and quits her job a few months before she starts her new job? She lets bar prep (bar exam studying) take over her life.

I graduated law school on Sunday, May 17, and three days later my bar prep course program commenced. Unfortunately, I could not start my prep course on time because I was in middle of packing and storing all of my belongings to get ready to move to Nicaragua for the summer.

I made the decision to quit my job, and move back to Nicaragua to live with my parents this summer so that I could focus on just studying for the bar. I made this decision after following the advice of many recent graduates and practicing attorneys, who had passed the bar, who suggested that I take on bar prep like a full-time job.

Like many other graduates, I barely had time to soak in the accomplishment of graduating law school because of bar prep. The day after arriving in Nicaragua, I commenced my bar prep course. I had to play catch up that first weekend because I started the course a few days late. I think the fact that I had to work overtime the first few days of the bar prep course really set the tone for the rest of the summer. I started the course feeling stressed and exhausted.

I was able to catch up on bar prep studies within the first week, but sure enough, I fell behind again. This time it was because I was not managing my time well. I felt guilty (and still feel guilty) neglecting my family as I study for the bar, especially because I do not get to see them often throughout the year. Consumed with guilt, I spent more of my free time with family the first few weeks and weekends, compromising my sleep. I was prioritizing bar prep over family, and family over sleep; I was not balancing all three appropriately. I would take long breaks to spend time with family during the day, and then I would stay up really late to make up for lost time, only to get up early the next day to do it all over again. I was not getting enough sleep. I noticed that my effectiveness in studying for the bar decreased exponentially. I realized I needed to allocate myself enough time to sleep, even if it meant spending less time with family. It is still a struggle to keep the right balance. One thing that helps, however, is to keep things in perspective and to remind myself to look at the bigger picture.

As cliché as it sounds, I feel that looking at the bigger picture has helped me cope with bar exam stress. It is easy to lose motivation or feel stressed when you treat bar prep like a burden or obligation. As one of my bar prep course instructors pointed out, we should look at bar prep not as something we have to do, but as something we get to do. It is a privilege. Very few have the opportunity to attain the education that we have. Very few are in the position to study for the bar and take the bar. Even fewer Latinos have the opportunity that I have right now. When I put things in perspective, I remember why I am sacrificing my summer, neglecting my family, and putting my social life on hold… to get one step closer to my dreams. When I keep things in perspective, I am able to look at bar prep as a gateway rather than an obstacle, motivating me to keep studying without stressing out.

Keeping things in perspective, this is a blog post, and what kind of blog post would this be without a list? Therefore, to sum up the lessons learned from my own bar prep experience, I have provided below a list of bar prep tips for future bar examinees:

One. Start your bar prep course on time. This requires you to plan ahead to ensure that whatever you do right after your law school graduation does not interfere with your bar prep course. Start on time. Starting behind on your studies can set the tone for the rest of the summer. Don’t do what I did; don’t drain yourself the first week working overtime just to catch up.

Two. Prepare yourself mentally. You have to start bar prep knowing that it should be a full-time commitment; think of bar prep as a full-time job. Prepare yourself to neglect others while you’re “at work” (bar prep hours) and make sure others are fully aware of the type of commitment you are taking on.

Three. It’s okay to fall behind. If you’re enrolled in a formal bar prep course program, it is perfectly fine to fall behind. Everyone falls behind at some point or another. The key thing is to study smart. Depriving yourself of sleep to ensure you never fall behind is NOT the solution.

Four. Sleep. You might be tempted to deprive yourself of sleep to make room for more studying; don’t. It’s a marathon, not a sprint. The bar exam is NOT a law school final. You can’t just pull a few all-nighters to cram everything in a few days before taking the exam. You will be studying for three months and you will be studying A LOT; you learn more with a well-rested mind.

Five. Remind yourself: It’s a privilege not a burden. Keep things in perspective. Whatever it is that motivated you throughout law school or motivated you through the tough times is what you want to think of when you start to feel stressed. Remember your end goal, and look at bar exam studying as a privilege rather than a burden.