The July 2011 Bar Exam - Here Is Your Invite To The Party. Suggestions to Consider for mid-March until mid-May.

Hello 2011 Graduates. I am back and I have returned to share with you certain information that I know will help you prepare for the bar exam. None of what I will write in today's post will have anything to do with a multiple choice question, or an essay question, or a performance test.

However, I consider everything I will discuss in this post as something useful to help you prepare for the exam. So, let's begin. When you are "throwing" a party, you must provide food and drink and eating utensils, etc., for your guests.

1. Drinks. You should purchase 10 cases of 16.9 or 20 oz. containers of water and store this at your home. The exam study period is about 10 weeks. A case of water consists of 24 bottles. If you drink three (3) 16.9 or 20 oz. bottles of water a day, then you drink at least a case of water a week. You do not want to stop at a store or at a vendor to purchase water. That is a waste of valuable "wait in line for no reason," time. Of course, from time to time, you will forget to bring enough water with you, and you will wait in line to purchase water. But that is because you did not bring enough water with you or you forgot to pack the water, not because you wanted to wait in line forever.

2. Cooler. You should purchase a small cooler to store in the trunk of your car. Every party needs at least one cooler. Coolers keep all beverages cold, and a cooler will also keep sandwiches and fruit and other items cold in the summer, too. Some of you may be dynamic enough to make your own lunch during bar prep; if so (and you drive), then a cooler will be very helpful.

Oh, I forgot about the ice. Do not buy the ice from a grocery store. Why? Grocery stores have lots of lines and lots of people who are not taking the bar exam. Those people may be in a hurry, but not the kind of hurry you are in. Also, not all grocery stores make allowances for dumping ice in a cooler in a parking lot. Get the ice from a service station. You can run in and purchase it (shorter line) and dump the ice in the cooler and not worry about water or excess ice getting in or on anyone. Just keep the cooler lid closed, so as to preserve the ice (coldness). It lasts much longer than you think.

3. Food. You must bring food to the party, or who else will attend. This is a must. Now preparing food for yourself while studying for the bar can be problematic. Often the person who needs the food (also known as the applicant) starts off in the first two weeks of bar study packing food for herself. The next four weeks the applicant is buying muffins in some "bagel with cream cheese, and jelly," store. On top of food, the applicant, who used to have "something" to drink every now and again, now has become a Starbucks (frozen drink) fanatic. A little bar exam pressure is beginning to show up in the applicant's choice of food, especially breakfast. Breakfast is the killer meal because it is the on-the-go-meal, and the first meal of the day. Because you have to be on time for bar prep, you have to eat something. Eating "something" can add 15 pounds to your waistline within a month if you are not careful.

Let's solve this problem. Buy lots of dry cereal, individual oatmeal packets, pears, apples, bananas, individual packs of raisins. Anything really, that is dry, that you can grab onto and leave the house within minutes. Dry cereal begs for milk. You can purchase milk when you get where you are going. Or, you can munch on the cereal in just the manner in which it is packaged (right out of the box). Mix individual oatmeal packets with yogurt if you have some in the refrigerator; if not, purchase the yogurt in the very expensive cafeteria that will be serving you this summer. Or, get some hot water (yes, hot); or cold milk with some raisins and oatmeal will satisfy you.

Do I hear the men screaming, yogurt?!?!?!? Dry cereal? Is she crazy? Yes, I am and no, I am not. You must have options when this bar thing gets into full swing. You should stock up on food items that you know you will eat. Why? You are preparing to enter a battle where words are very important. In this battle, you want to be equipped with the items that will save you the most time, and give you the best bang for your buck This doesn't mean that there is no room for traditional fair from the egg and bacon group. However, you will need food, right now, but you just might not always have time to stand in several lines to get the food.

Let's talk a little more about how to prepare on my next post.

Thank you,

Prof. Smith