My Experience as Bar Exam Taker in the Best Bar Ever 2020/2021 | EfPrime Finance
- The bar exams were suspended at least three (3) times before it was finally concluded;
- The bar exam applicants totaled 11,790 with an actual turnout of 11,387 on the first day - highest in bar exam history since 1900s;
- It is the first time that the bar examinations were conducted in more than 30 regional locations in the Philippines;
- It is the first time that the bar examinations utilized laptops in answering the questions;
- It is the first bar examination that compressed the eight (8) subjects taken in every Sundays of November to four (4) area subjects to be taken in just two (2) days with one-day interval instead of six (6) days gap in the old modality;
- The bar examination was made amidst the pandemic with thousands of daily Omicron Covid 19 infections; and
- Lastly, the SC required that in order to be able to take the bar examinations, the examinees must first present a negative antigen test or PCR test results.
The dream of becoming a Lawyer from a prestigious private university had been always part of my plan. It just took me more time than usual or necessary. Just to share a little information about my journey, I finished my double degree pre-law courses called Bachelor Science (BS) Financial Management and BS Accountacy last calendar year 2012. I also passed the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) Board Exam in the same year.
As a provincial graduate who dreamt to become somebody, I started looking for a job in the city to sustain myself. Lucky enough, I found a job and maintained my residence at Makati City. At that time, the dream to start law school was there, however, my salary cannot afford the cost of law school so I put my dream in abeyance indefinitely. Last 2013, instead of going to a prestigious law school, I decided to take my Master's Degree at Polytechnic University of the Philippines, Sta Mesa.
Another two years past, at last I finally found a good company to work i.e. National Home Mortgage Finance Corporation (NHMFC). It was only in year 2015 when I successfully started law school at Jose Rizal University (JRU).
In law school, I committed myself to a policy i.e. to learn the law and to not move to the next level unless I really learned the language and the spirit of the law. Part of my policy as well is to do all the required activities in law school on my own because no help will come in answering the bar questions in the future. Needless to say, it is better to suffer now than to fail the bar exams. Circumstances lead me to decide to leave JRU and transfer to Arellano University School of Law (AUSL) which I considered to be the best decision I made.
To be honest, I am not a very intelligent person, I classify myself as a person with average intelligence. My advantage as to the others is that I am industrious, persistent and I work hard. Those qualities propelled me to finish my law degree at the Arellano School of Law last July 2021. Just like an ordinary law student, I failed some subjects, at least five (5) of them. No justification is acceptable for my failure but I just continued the fight. I considered them lessons that helped me in answering the bar exams.
To be more honest about it, law school was very difficult. But as for me, I struggled more in getting my finances to work for my tuition, house rent, condominium, water, telephone, internet, car expenses among other bills. All these things combined, made law school very difficult and challenging.
As unsolicited advice, if you are an independent working law student like me, try to minimize your unrelated expenses to law school (if possible). One strategy also that you can adopt is to enroll in a law school that has always open subjects to enroll in case you failed in one, so as not to wait the lapse of one year to be able to enroll again in that failed subject. Failing in law school is a normal thing for ordinary students just like me. Further, do not engage in having a jowa that is demanding in time and material things because the law is a jealous mistress.
Bar Examination Preparations
The general rule is that bar preparations should have started from the moment anyone started law school. As for me, real bar examination preparations started upon graduation.
Aside from reviewing for the bar exams, I followed the instructions of mandatory isolation to avoid getting infected. Unfortunately, last September 2021, I was infected and it nearly caused my death. I had severe Covid 19 symptoms despite observing extreme precautions. The virus made me ill to the point that I cannot breathe air so I had to consume more than 10 oxygen tanks to survive. I stopped reading for one week because severe Covid 19 would not let me understand what I read. This is called brain fog (source: news). At that time, I never thought that it was the end of my life, what I was thinking about was passing the bar exams. Luckily, the bar exam that was supposed to be held on November 2021 was postponed to January 23 and 25, 2022. At this point, the SC released a pro hac vice examination syllabi composing four (4) subjects instead of eight (8) subjects. The subjects are the following:
- The Law Relating to the State and Its Citizens;
- Criminal law;
- The Law Pertaining to Private Personal and Commercial Relations; and
- Procedure and Professional Ethics.
Two (2) weeks before the scheduled bar exams, the SC once again rescheduled the bar exams to February 4-6, 2022 due to the continued rise of Omicron variant of Covid 19.
To my mind (pre-bar exams), these circumstances made the bar examinations harder because we had to technically take the bar exams in more or less than one (1) month with the new syllabi at hand aside from the fact that we have to take the exams with one (1) day interval which is too short as compared to the old modality that was at least six (6) days gap. My anxiety level even went higher, when the SC made it a pre-requisite to show a negative antigent test taken within 48 hours before the bar exams. This gave me much more anxiety to the point that, my body naturally nosebleeds from time to time.
I draw light from the fact that all of us 11,790 examinees were put on an equal level of playing field and I have a chance to pass the bar as long as I read and read and read. In the last two months of my review, I reviewed for at least 14 to 15 hours every day, Sunday included. In fact, the "alluvium" of fats that I earned since I started law school in 2015, I lost them thru "avulsion" of 15 kilograms of weight in the last two (2) months of review. Take note, walang labasan ng bahay and I always eat three (3) times a day with meryendas in between and I drank at least 6 liters of tap water daily plus 3 to 4 liters of Coke per week.
Appreciation Statement
I'd like to thank the following persons who extended so much help in order for me to take and finish the best bar exams ever:
- Atty. Sam and Atty. Myra;
- Atty. Ivan; and
- To my loving mother Mama Su, my sister Doc Dodong, Aunty Malou, family including relatives, and my loving wife Michelle - without them, it would be next to impossible for me to take and finish the bar exams.
Bar Exam Strategy
With the new syllabi given, I adopted a calendar of reading based on the weighted average of the subjects.
Source: A good barrister from our group Best Bar Ever. This is based on the weighted percentage of every subjects base on the scheduled bar exam on Jan. 23 & 25, 2022
The strategy is to study first the subjects to be taken on the second day of examinations and to base the number of days of review on the weight of subject. Hence, more review days were allotted to subjects with greater percentage and the first in time to review those subjects in the 2nd day. My suggestion is, make your strategy now.
First day of the Bar Examination
My anxiety level was at the top. I had again experienced nosebleed. I tried to turn off the lights as early as 10PM and alarmed my phone at 3:30AM. With God's grace, I was able to sleep at around 10:30PM and woke up at around 3:25AM ahead of my scheduled alarm.
I went to the bathroom and make the longest poop in my life while reading the law but unfortunately, no poop came out. I ate my breakfast and joined my Mama Su, Aunt and sister Dodong in a quick prayer before leaving the house.
As early as 4AM I went to my assigned bar exam site at Saint Mary's University. It was the same school where I finished my double pre-law degree. It was more beautiful than the last time I saw it back in 2012.
When I reached the examination site, I felt happy because as early as 4AM, the police, barangay tanods, LGU staffs, tricycle drivers, and other staffs were already in place and they assisted me in going to the assessment area. It brought a little joy when they address me as Attorney knowing the fact that failing rate of bar examinations is very high.
I passed at least five (5) to six (6) personnel for checking everything: Notice of Admission, PCR Test, Laptops, Undertaking, Waiver, body frisking for illegal things among others.
Actual Bar Examination
I encountered no problem in our first examination. However, comes afternoon, brown out occurred. I felt dizzy and I finished the examination two (2) hours earlier because the high temperature of the examination area was triggering yet another episode of my nosebleeding.
The night before the 3rd exam was the toughest night of my life. I had severe nosebleeding because of my anxiety and that I cannot make myself sleep. As early as 9PM I already laid down with the lights turned off, however, I really cannot sleep. Thank God I woke up at 3:15AM, and yes nakatulog ako but not for a long time.
At the start of the 3rd examination, I nosebleed again. With the cold whether that day, I was able to finish the examination without being hospitalized. As of this writing, I have not yet experienced another nosebleeding episode but will seek doctors help soon.
Final Words!
I salute all barristers for the best bar ever 2020/2021. I also pray for those barristers who were not allowed to take the bar exam because they tested positive in the antigent test or PCR Test. If you are a law student, don't despair, your time will come. Just continue and trust the process. If you have family members or relatives who were barristers to the best bar ever. Check them out and extend your greetings. They suffered a lot just to finish their objective of becoming a lawyer to be able to help in preserving justice in our nation.
I am praying that I can pass this bar examination so that I can help more and provide more to the people that I will serve: my tribe Bugkalots and the underprivileged.
Hopefully, I become Atty. Efraim C. Osingat, CPA, MBA, RFP
As of 12 April 2022
I passed the Bar Exams!!! To God be the glory!
Book my services as Financial Advisor.
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Disclaimer
The Author is advising readers to consult with your respective Financial Advisors before venturing into any investments. Investing your money is dependent on your goals and your risk tolerance. You should know the risks and rewards of investing before you actually do the same. The illustrations above are for educational purposes only and any risks or losses that you may incur are imputable to your respective decisions.
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