How do you spell relief?

FINISHING THE BAR EXAM! Really, I guess it would be more like passing the bar exam, but one step at a time, right? I can honestly say that the last two weeks might have been the worst two weeks of my life. Constant studying, little sleep, high stress, constantly on the edge of full blown panic, exhaustion, crabbiness, terror, you name it. I didn't leave my chair let alone the house for days! Gross. If I fail, I think I might just take that as a sign that I'm not supposed to be a lawyer and move on; I'm not sure I can do this again.

The experience was quite surreal. The exam was held at the Mpls Convention Center, and all the test takers using computers were housed in a GIANT warehouse type room. We had a assigned seats, had to wear badges everywhere, had to use secure restrooms, couldn't drink anything during the exam, etc. At one point, I went to the bathroom and forgot my badge. When I returned to my desk, the proctor came up and said, "do you have a badge?" I said, yes, here it is. She said if I left my desk without it again, I could be thrown out. Sheesh - how does going to the bathroom without my badge compromise the integrity of the exam or allow me to cheat in anyway? It was seriously quite odd. Also, the air conditioning vent was blowing so hard on me that my papers actually moved around and I was freezing; I wore a sweatshirt and jeans the second day and was still shivering. Honestly, I think they want to make the experience as awful as possible. Why I continue to be surprised by these things is beyond me, as law school was exactly the same. Let's take tons of high strung, overachievers, threaten them with constant failure, and then stick them in a room together for an exam. Awesome!

Regardless of the experience, I survived and I completed the exam. Yay! Now let's just pray I passed...won't know til October. Again, if I don't, I think it just might be a sign! :)

Thanks to everyone who supported me throughout the miserable ordeal. Even if I didn't return your calls/texts/emails, I felt grateful to get them and they buoyed me throughout. I'm blessed with terrific friends and family - thank you! I couldn't do it without you!