10:05 p.m. | 2005-05-22 Unexpected Good News Is Always Welcome. Tonight, BestestGirlfriend (BG) called to let me know that she passed The Bar. That was super good news since she�d failed at her first attempt. Surprisingly. Without a doubt, she�s one of the smartest people I know and she was riding on a full scholarship. But yeah, law school isn�t about that. At least not the school we both attended. The school we attended has a really great reputation because it tries the hell to flunk people out. Had we attended an ivy-league school? We�d have much better GPA�s. Without a doubt. Anyway, that was great news. BG needed to pass The Bar in order to achieve her goal. However, passing it is only an entry for what she wants to achieve. Long term. That passage enables her to continue to meet her eventual objectives. I didn�t sit for the Bar. Not because I didn�t think I could pass it but because it only gave me license to practice law. I didn�t want to do that. And, for those who don�t know, the Bar is not a test about what you learned in law school. See, law school is about relearning your thinking. They don�t teach you about practicing law or any of that related stuff. However, the Bar tends to focus on the actual practice of law. It�s a conundrum. One that non-participants don�t experience. That seems to lead to much confusion about why a person would go to law school, graduate quite successfully and then not sit for the Bar. Let me just say, there are many, many reasons why that doesn�t happen. Many of the people in my class didn�t sit for The Bar because, as professionals already, they didn�t want to take a pay cut to become a lawyer. (By the way, that wasn�t my issue. Just so you know.) Others just needed or wanted the legal education in order to further their professional careers. A few, like me, went to law school in order to be challenged academically (for the record, it worked.) And then there are some that just don�t fit into any particular category. I know it�s hard for people to understand why a person would undergo such a huge task and not seem to finish it. A degree finishes it. Honestly it does. You don�t have to license yourself to benefit from an educational achievement. Trust me, I work amongst people who have JDs and MDs and never licensed themselves. Be thankful. Really. If someone wants to obtain some knowledge but doesn�t want to put it into practice, would you want them to? But, I�m happy about those who do. Like BG. What she wants to achieve is so vast and she really needed to be licensed in order to get there. That�s great. Even better? We can now truly go back to �hanging out�. your thoughts? seed flower