Studying for the second time

I've started a blog to discuss the ups and downs of studying for the Michigan Bar Exam for the second time after failing it in July 2012.  As some have discovered, Michigan had the lowest pass rate than any year in July.  I, unfortunately was one person whose name did not show up on the "pass" list in October.  I thought it may be helpful to other readers, who may or may not be in the same situation, to discuss what I'm doing differently this time and the outcome to my efforts in April, when results are released. 

After finding out I failed, it took me a lot of time to pay the $240 to retake the bar exam again.  I am getting older, turning 30 the year I graduated, and being an attorney seemed like it was less important with all the time and sacrifice I have already made.  I just want my life to start.  It takes roughly six months to study (3 months) take the exam and wait for the results (3 months).  It is a huge sacrifice to retake the exam. 

In October, I ended up working at Nordstrom for two months, making about $12 an hour.  However, the money all went to paying credit card debt I had racked up paying for things like gas, food, and movies every weekend to drawn out my sorrow after taking the bar and not having a legal job.  You see, I forgot to mention, but my ex-boss had fired my the day after I took the bar exam, and on the phone no less.  She did not call me, I called her and told her I was ready to work a minimum of 40 hours a week since I had taken the bar exam and way no longer needing study time.  Well, she shattered my dream of gainful employment at that point when she said it wasn't working out and no longer needed me.  Frantically, I searched for a legal job August through October, before I received my results.  I knew that I couldn't get hired as a law clerk easily since I had graduated, but I was no licensed to practice law so I knew no one would hire me for an attorney job either.  I was stuck!

Long story short, by the time I received the devastating news about my results I was working at Nordstrom.  I have a masters and a JD and I felt that I had lost all my dignity.  But, hey, a paycheck is a paycheck.  I had to pay off all my credit card debt.  It wasn't a lot of debt, and I have great credit, so I felt my control was slipping away from my for the first time. 

Bottom line is that I started studying for the bar exam again in December full-time.  All of December I was studying for maybe 4 to 6 hours a day.  I would read my outlines, and do essay problems.  The essay is where I lost a lot of points.  This blog will be a chronicle of working on studying for the bar exam the second time around.