Winner: Tale of Triumph!
For the record, the bar exam saga has ended, and it turned out to be, to my great relief, a "tale of triumph against overwhelming odds." Both Meg, my lovely sister, and I received the good word on Friday that we passed.
So now I can forever tell the story of leaving my bar-review course early, packing the house, driving two days to Fargo, unpacking the house, spending the weekend at my judge's clerk reunion, studying for two days, flying to my brother's wedding in Texas, flying back to Maryland, studying for one more day and then taking the bar exam with a smile on my face, rather than a grimace.
The bar's a funny thing; it's like my grandmother's adage about housework – people only notice when you don't do it. It's not that passing the bar is such a terrific achievement; it's more that failing it is such a giant pain.
The Eighth Circuit is sitting in Omaha, Neb., for a week in December. On my way there, I have to fly in to D.C. a few days early to put the finishing touches on my Maryland bar application. On Dec. 7 and 8, I'll be submitting to my character interview with a lawyer in Bethesda (which has to be in person), and taking my daylong ethics class in Baltimore (which has to be in person).
This trip is actually free to me, thanks to an odd but not unwelcome quirk in the federal government's travel rules. The feds will pay for up to the full, unrestricted Sunday-out, Friday-back, fare. From Fargo to Omaha, that's a whopping $904. My Fargo-to-DC-to-Omaha-to-Fargo nonrefundable fare, which includes a Saturday stay, is $440, which does not whop. It's called a "triangle trip."
I could actually have done a "rectangle trip," and flown back to D.C. for Christmas and then back to Fargo around New Years' after the week in Omaha for less than the $904. But on second thought I decided that perhaps it was not such a good idea to have Jen and the kids drive two days from Fargo to D.C. in December and back again in January without me. Not that I'd be a lot of assistance if something dire came up, but I'd feel kinda bad if they froze to death in Wisconsin and I weren't around.
So now I can forever tell the story of leaving my bar-review course early, packing the house, driving two days to Fargo, unpacking the house, spending the weekend at my judge's clerk reunion, studying for two days, flying to my brother's wedding in Texas, flying back to Maryland, studying for one more day and then taking the bar exam with a smile on my face, rather than a grimace.
The bar's a funny thing; it's like my grandmother's adage about housework – people only notice when you don't do it. It's not that passing the bar is such a terrific achievement; it's more that failing it is such a giant pain.
The Eighth Circuit is sitting in Omaha, Neb., for a week in December. On my way there, I have to fly in to D.C. a few days early to put the finishing touches on my Maryland bar application. On Dec. 7 and 8, I'll be submitting to my character interview with a lawyer in Bethesda (which has to be in person), and taking my daylong ethics class in Baltimore (which has to be in person). This trip is actually free to me, thanks to an odd but not unwelcome quirk in the federal government's travel rules. The feds will pay for up to the full, unrestricted Sunday-out, Friday-back, fare. From Fargo to Omaha, that's a whopping $904. My Fargo-to-DC-to-Omaha-to-Fargo nonrefundable fare, which includes a Saturday stay, is $440, which does not whop. It's called a "triangle trip."
I could actually have done a "rectangle trip," and flown back to D.C. for Christmas and then back to Fargo around New Years' after the week in Omaha for less than the $904. But on second thought I decided that perhaps it was not such a good idea to have Jen and the kids drive two days from Fargo to D.C. in December and back again in January without me. Not that I'd be a lot of assistance if something dire came up, but I'd feel kinda bad if they froze to death in Wisconsin and I weren't around.
posted by Tom at 7:25 PM
3 Comments:
Congrats on passing the bar dude! I'm sure my character reference will put you over the top. The last question on the form was something like, "Do you believe the applicant's character is good enough to be admitted to the bar?"
And my answer was something like, "I am reminded of Arlo Guthrie crying out in rage and bewilderment when, having been once convicted of littering, he was asked by an Army recruiter if he considered himself to have the character necesssary to kill people. The question sir, is not whether Tom's character is sufficient to join the bar but rather you can raise the bar, as it were, high enough to meet Mr. Moore's character."
Good luck dude.
-dave
Heartiest congrats on passing Mr. T., now don't throw all that bar stuff away just yet -- you've got that DC Bar application to fill out!
Congratulations Tom!
Not only on passing the Bar, which certainly is a great personal achievement that you should be very proud of, but also on all of the hard work that you and your family accomplished during the past several years to even give you the opportunity to take the exam.
It seems just yesterday that you and Jen told us of your plan to begin Law School. Making that decision then, and sticking with that commitment through all of the challenges of raising three kids, doing well at Georgetown AND still having a wonderful together (and still sane) family, is a great family achievement!
Therefore, congratulations to you, Jennifer, Katie, Joey and Ellie (and your DAD for his many hours of babysitting)!
Judith & Ken
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