And I thought I was nervous before my first trial

Dear Bar Examiners,

Can you say anything of importance in under 400 words? I can barely introduce myself in such a short amount of space. IRAC becomes IR and maybe some A, but no room for a C. Look I understand you don't want to read a lot of crap, but I don't want to write a lot of crap. The time limit is a more than effective means of preventing me from writing too much. Giving me a character limit just frustrates my ability to spot all of the issues and say anything intelligent about them. I realize judges will impose page limits on me in the real world, but judges won't give me 45 minutes and NO NOTES with which to prepare my pleadings.

Is figuring out whether I can learn a bare minimum about twenty some subjects of the law for a couple days really a good way of determining whether I will be a good lawyer? Because I haven't learned the law, I've learned what to say when I encounter certain subjects so I can pass. I don't really have any understanding of what a negotiable instrument is. I just know that if I see a check I should put down the requirements of an NI and then try and figure out if someone is a holder in due course. Or secured transactions, I know to talk about a purchase money security interests or when something attaches, not sure why, just know I need to do it. (For Secured Transactions the lecture said, here is what you need to know to get the minimum score to pass and then move on to easier subjects, he didn't even try and pretend like we could learn it well enough for the bar exam.)

Sincerely,

Petition

Currently I'm supposed to be reviewing criminal procedure. I'm skipping this review (two classes in law school, plus two internships applying criminal procedure leaves me over confident). Instead I'm going to focus on corporations because that subject makes no sense to me.

The final piece of advice from my bar review schedule is to get to bed by 9:30 p.m. He goes on to say "If you feel restless and cannot sleep soundly, this is normal and caused by nervousness, but you should still stay in bed and relax as best you can all night long." That is some thorough exam prep.