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I took the bar exam in Ohio in July 2002. It was at Vet Memorial which was big convention center in downtown Columbus by river. As I walked from my hotel, I noticed a bunch of wreckers in parking lot. They kept them on call because people would be nervous and lock keys in car.
Then I got to the waiting area outside of door and looked over and there was a guy smoking two cigarettes at the same time.
They let us in. It was giant space with concrete floor and filled with tables. Two people to a table. About 1000 people in room. They announced that should we need it, the proctors had smelling salts.
As we were sitting there waiting, I felt all the blood leave my head and rush into my arms and then back again.
A guy passed out and took a header on the concrete floor. He whipped off his shirt and held it to his bleeding face and was like "i'm okay, i'm okay!" and took test
A guy passed out and took a header on the concrete floor. He whipped off his shirt and held it to his bleeding face and was like "i'm okay, i'm okay!" and took test
The two and half days were a blur. The first night I decided to get out of hotel and go to Bob Evans since I hadn't really been able to eat solid food since July 4 weekend. (I lived on UDF milkshakes.) I accidentally ran over valet guy at my hotel. He was very gracious about it
After it was over, my dad met me at my hotel and we drove to the Lake Erie Islands to go fishing for a quick break. I had to come back and take MPRE which I failed first time I took it in March. Then I took long vacation.
By some miracle I passed which is when I knew it was all a scam. I was a horrible law student. (I'm smart, my brain just doesn't process info the way it's tested/taught in law school.) I also realized that I had NO IDEA how to be a lawyer but I was now allowed to do it?
I don't know if I could have made myself do it again if I hadn't passed. It's a lot of $$$ to register plus I had spent literally 12+ hours a day for previous 2 months preparing. It was a horrible traumatizing process that I remember clearly 18 years later
So that's what it was like for me, in what was basically the best of circumstances. I could afford to not work and just study, I just had to take care of myself, the date for my exam was set months in advance and there's wasn't a pandemic. I feel so bad for this years' grads.
Again, I don't know what the answer is, but the way we're doing things now is stupid.
