By: Atty. Ruben C. Talampas, Jr., November 6, 2012

Before, we’ve compared the preparation for the BAR Exams as preparing for a gruesome battle or war. Now, we’re going to compare it in an athletic goal. Both endeavors require a great deal of preparation. The best way to prepare is to understand and know what to expect on the day of the battle or the day of the game. As Sun Tzu in the Art of War said “to win one must know his enemy”.

What to expect on each examination day? In the last few years, there are some changes introduced by the Supreme Court to reform the BAR apparently to make it better but whatever changes it might introduce, the following most likely to be retained:

  • 8 subjects to be taken in 4 Sundays of a month with 2 subjects for each day the subjects in the morning sessions are being taken from 8 AM to 12 PM or for 4 hours while the subjects in the afternoon sessions are being taken from 2 to 5 PM or for 3 hours
  • essay-type questions as before. Although MCQs have been introduced, essay-type questions will remain, in fact, the BAR Exams for 2013 is planned to be at 70-30 proportion, 70% being essay-type questions

Above considered, you will be put in the following situations:

  • taking the examinations the whole day and ending up mentally and body exhausted, brain-dead, low-bat, your energy all drained up
  • writing almost the whole day making your fingers swell, your hand and arm ache. Don’t trifle this, with the length of the exams and the limited time, you’ll find out that your pen is seldom not touching your examination booklet
  • waking up at four-o-clock (4 AM) in the morning. This is true whether you are billeted in a hotel near the BAR site or coming from your home considering that you have to eat your breakfast, bath, prepare your things, and travel. And take note that you must be at the gate of the BAR site at 6 AM at least for a long queue of an average of 6,000 examinees. You should find your room at 7 AM for pre-exam preparations and at 7:30 AM, no examinee will be allowed to enter the examination room. This is the thirty minutes before the exam after the proctor will tell you to bring your things in front, which for you is so valuable a time since you still want to use it to read (cram).

Are you prepared for this? Are you used of waking up as early as 4 AM and be still active until 4 PM to finish your exam up to 5 PM having been answering mind-boggling questions the whole day? Are you used of scribbling your pen the whole day and still maintain your readable (legible?) handwriting for the last few questions? For sure, you will find it hard except if you have prepared yourself for these grisly examinations.

How are you going to prepare then? Have I not mentioned that your preparation must be systematic? We must prepare like athletes do. In their preparation they are usually undergoing the process of “body conditioning” and “acclimatization”.

Body conditioning is the practice of physical exercise to promote better health conditions in a human being. This conditioning can be performed to obtain better athletic goals. There are multiple methods and training programs to promote body conditioning. Each program is designed to support specific athletic aspirations. These include running, biking, swimming, contact sports, and aerobic activities. Training for a sport requires dedication and focus. As the body becomes accustomed to a physical activity it will be better able to perform at a higher level.

The marathon is one of the most difficult running endurance activities. It requires the runner to complete a 26 mile course (approximately 42.19 km), which typically takes a few hours to finish. This is an extremely physically intense exercise that is the aspiration for many long distance runners. A marathon training program is an example of a body conditioning program. It is an exercise program designed to prepare the body for the stress that will be encountered during a long distance run.

A boxer is an athlete who trains for several months to prepare for a fight. This fight conditioning is a form of body conditioning that requires both endurance and strength training. A typically boxing training program will include a balance of exercise, diet, and rest. These three factors play a key role in the successful completion of most conditioning programs.

Acclimatization on the other hand is the climatic adaptation of an organism that has been moved to a new environment. In sports, it is an athletic training system whereby the body is forced to compensate for the stresses of a new or different climatic condition. Through compensation, the body is able to tolerate such physical stresses in a more efficient fashion, and the athlete will usually achieve better physical performance. The tolerance developed to the particular training condition will generally result in better competitive results, in competitions where the training climatic conditions exist, as well as in the athlete’s accustomed environment.

This brings us to my point. Actually of one point only. That is, having apprised of the stresses a bar candidate will encounter during the bar examinations, he must condition and acclimatize himself, mentally and physically. He must exercise and practice ROUTINE activities as the mind and body become accustomed to these activities, they will be better to be able to perform at a higher level, tolerate such mental and physical stresses in a more efficient fashion to achieve better performance.

Here are now the few suggested routine activities (habits) you must practice:

  • Make yourself a morning person. Train yourself to sleep between 10 to 10:30 PM and to wake up at 4:30 AM. If you are already used to this then there will be no problem for you waking at the same time during BAR examinations.
  • Practice to write on your own handwriting for long hours. For an added benefit, you may copy legal forms or digested Supreme Court decided cases. Of course, you must keep in mind to write legibly. Remember, most examiners don’t have the forbearance to decipher your encrypted hieroglyphics.
  • Learn to answer quickly. Read past bar examinations and study how bar questions are framed and how they should be answered. If you keep on doing this, you will be able to develop a style or a format in answering each type of question and this would surely save you half of the time. There is a handful of source of past bar examinations with suggested answers. The most reliable for me is published by the UP Law Center.
  • Maintain a healthy diet and have your physical exercise regularly. Remember, you cannot finish the race if you are not physically fit.
  • Be guided with the principles of OAD.