My Summer Plans

While I am excited to graduate this year, the sentiment is bittersweet. Graduating from law school feels like the culmination of a big chapter of my life. For years, when people asked me what I did for work, I would respond with something along the lines of “I’m a ____ year student at ______ school.” This would usually be followed by some kind of praise or congratulations and well wishes. Come May, I will no longer be able to call myself a student, take advantages of those coveted student discounts, or be a full-time learner.

Even though I will have completed all my classes as of May 17, I cannot call myself a lawyer quite yet; enter the California Bar Exam. After extensively researching different bar preparation courses, I decided to sign up for Themis back in November. I had used the company for my MPRE preparation and felt that their teaching style aligned with how I learned best. After paying for the course, I didn’t really think about it until a few weeks back when I received my Bar preparation materials. Only then did it suddenly become real: in less than 6 months I would be taking one of the most important exams of my life.

Although I am nervous, I find comfort in knowing what a great foundation I have created during my time at Loyola. From the core 1L courses such as Contracts and Criminal Law to the Fundamentals of Bar Writing class I took with Professor Bakhshian last semester, Loyola provides students with all the tools necessary to succeed on the Bar Exam. The school’s dedication to turning law students into great attorneys is reflected in its impressive Bar passage rate. While the exam is daunting and preparation is bound to be intense, I am ready and eager to take this next step in my legal career.