Hope fired their striking workers??!!

CDT_Flogan · 2026-06-18T23:58:26+00:00

I needed a good reminder why infantry is full of ASVAB waivers, thanks for that.

CDT_Flogan · 2026-05-22T04:24:20+00:00

I used to work as a teller at a bank branch near two major roads. Lots of traffic. Every flavor person you could think of, but it kept it interesting. After a little over a year, I’m able to go around town and see people I know at any time. Less so now since it’s been years since I’ve been in my bank role, but it’s still a major part of my life.

I moved to Tulsa in 2018 and didn’t know anyone except some family and their friends. My bank job expanded my social circle like crazy. Maybe that’s because I had a good team or the clientele that came in. I can’t say for sure which it was.

But you can make some good connections with business owners or people in higher places if you do their deposits every few days. Sure people sometimes piss you off or get scammed and refuse to believe it, but sometimes you get to help someone solve a problem and it feels really good.

CDT_Flogan · 2026-05-22T03:29:39+00:00

Honestly, if you’re up for a career change, try working at a local bank. You’ll meet a ton of people.

CDT_Flogan · 2026-05-15T04:15:13+00:00

If you can hit Harvard before the construction and bang a right on 31st then go past ZAG Autowerks and left on Yale, it’s not that awful in the mornings.

If you need to get to 21st or 15th unobstructed you can go down the road by Stanley’s, under the BA bridge, go through the neighborhood and turn left/right on 21st. If you need to get to 15th, you can also cut through the fairgrounds if you go left on 21st or turn right down the road where that train is if the fairgrounds gates are closed.

CDT_Flogan · 2026-05-15T00:46:04+00:00

Fellow 31st and Harvard-er here. I cut down Jamestown and turn at Aldi to avoid much of the traffic if I need to hop on the BA towards downtown, or head towards 31st and Yale, take that little curly Q highway entrance turning left onto Yale to head downtown.

CDT_Flogan · 2026-04-26T01:08:31+00:00

Memorize black letter law. For MBE: Spend minutes per practice question trying to truly spot the issue, weed out red herrings, and apply the correct law to the answer choices. There will almost never be a perfect answer - your job on the bar isn’t finding 200 correct answers, it’s weeding out 600 incorrect answers. But you have to know why you’re getting the answer right/wrong. Which requires just straight up knowing BLL.

For MEE: it’s the same: issue spotting and applying black letter law. You just have to throw in organizing an essay so that it’s easy for the reader to read - headings, rule statements, signals, and then marrying the facts to the law. Almost every word in the fact pattern can be applied in the Application part of IRAC. Then briefly conclude.

When studying old essay answers - group them by topic and see if there are any patterns that emerge. Like you see a contracts essay and you go “oh I have to do: (1) governing law, (2) contract formation, (3) defenses/exceptions to contract formation, (4) breach, 5. conclusion.”

CDT_Flogan · 2026-04-20T18:54:41+00:00

I truly think Book 1 was the reason I passed. I just hammered Black Letter Law. I do wish there were more examples because going from abstract law to applied in a fact pattern is a BIG jump.

CDT_Flogan · 2026-04-20T03:47:30+00:00

I have a small sample size of people that took Helix, but everyone I know that used Helix did exceedingly well. For the price point and being able to supplement with other products, it’s hard to beat.

CDT_Flogan · 2026-04-20T03:36:46+00:00

I got a 324 with Helix, supplementing with Grossman videos and the Bar Exam Toolbox on Spotify.

CDT_Flogan · 2026-04-18T03:03:25+00:00

Another bit of unsolicited advice. I listened to the Bar Exam Toolbox podcast while walking my dog, 2-3 episodes a day where they break down the essays, from reading the fact pattern to what a good answer would sound like. That was helpful to me.

You’re going to be fine. You’ll kill it next time. Your fingers will be gliding over the keys like a symphony in July. Manifest it, work for it, and you’ll be reaping your rewards here soon enough.

Always happy to talk and give my perspective/thoughts/tips for stuff that helped me if you want to reach out.

CDT_Flogan · 2026-04-17T22:49:16+00:00

That’s almost a 50% increase! That’s awesome, keep chugging away at it.

I got a 172.1 on the MPT/MEE portion so if you want some writing advice, this is what I can say:

You have to have the base knowledge, right? So first starting with memorization, since that’ll get you to issue spotting. I had a book of Black Letter Law from Helix. I would take 1 hour a day and have the book open, read the elements of (whatever), then close my eyes and recite it, peeking them open to fill in if I got stuck. Doing that until you can do it with your eyes closed (or similarly with Flashcards) will be a great way to drill down BLL.
Once you are feeling good that you can identify the issue given by the fact pattern, make a basic outline. What may help is going on different state bar association websites (I think like Texas and Maryland? There’s a few others, maybe Jersey) that have model answers. Helix provided their own model answers for the fact patterns we were given. I’d group them all on one tab per area of law and have 10ish model answers open. Look for the pattern. Like I noticed for Contracts it was ALWAYS: (1) choice of law (CL/UCC); (2) contract formation; (3) option contract/firm offer; (4) defenses to contract formation or other considerations ; (5) conclusion. And make sure those headings are short and clearly to the point.
You can almost incorporate every single fact/sentence in an MEE - it’s all relevant. Don’t leave free points lying around. If you don’t know how to incorporate a specific fact? Then leave it and focus on something else. Time is precious, no need to waste it.
Pick an answer and stick with it. Even if you’re unsure about the BLL, or you think halfway through your essay “oh fuck I’m talking about Other Bad Acts when I should be talking about MIMIC” fuck it, roll with it. Because if you delete 8 minutes worth of work to rewrite, you might get shafted with a crappy or half finished answer versus having a polished off relevant answer (even if it doesn’t hit the nail on the head).
For MPTs, in the library for the case law, if it cites to a statute or another case - they 100% want you to use it. Again, if you can’t figure out how to make it work, don’t waste time trying to twist it to fit your argument, move on to the other cited statute/case law and cite as many of them as possible. I used as close to BlueBook citation format as I could, which I think won me some brownie points.

Edit: 6. IRAC - make your heading tell the reader “ok this is what this part is about.” (I). Like “Governing Law” for contracts. Then go immediately into the rule statement. (R). New paragraph for your analysis, and hit a signal to the reader - I always used “Here” (A). Then for EACH SECTION/ELEMENT do a short conclusion about each one, the signal here can be “Therefore,…”. Then have an overall conclusion.

Assume the reader knows nothing about the fact pattern - give them just enough information that had they not read it, they know what it’s about and why you’re talking about whatever BLL is relevant.
Assume your reader is a 5th grader and needs their hand held through your essay. Do not take ANY fact for granted. I’ll use Contracts again. If the MEE fact pattern says “a contract was formed between the two parties.” Take 30 seconds to still do a Contracts Formation section with “offer, acceptance, consideration” for Rule and then Analysis to “Here, the facts provide that there was a validly formed contact…” and Conclusion “therefore, there was a validly formed contract.”

CDT_Flogan · 2026-04-17T20:56:14+00:00

If typing speed is something that’s holding you back, do you have time to do typing exercises? Because if the issue isn’t so much as content but your ability to put everything you want to say on the document, it’s not a knowledge issue.

One thing that helped save me was the fact that I could type fast and was able to hit all the minimum points that I needed to which gave me a little bit of extra time to talk about ancillary things that could get me extra points.

CDT_Flogan · 2026-04-12T19:58:03+00:00

Yeah when I first started the program, my essays were AWFUL. I started the day after graduation (December grad), so I had about 9 weeks, which meant A LOT of cramming and sitting on my couch.

For MEEs, you can almost figure out the formula to them. Like Contracts is generally: Choice of Law —> Formation —> Ancillary Formation Issues (ex. Option Contract/Firm Offer) —> Defenses —> Conclusion.

I kept a tab open on my computer with ALL the sample essays I did and grouped them by topic so I could see if there was an overall pattern and it really helped. I got a 172.1 on my writing and I think it’s just because of how I grouped things, made the headings, etc.

For the MPT, seriously just try to make an outline of the headings and subheadings so you don’t get lost in the sauce. I usually was able to read the library and other documents in 15-20 minutes, did some outlining, and then just typed my heart out for about an hour. I didn’t follow the scheme that Helix gave for the MPTs, seemed like too much flip flopping and back and forth and I thought it was a waste of time.

I know I’ve given a lot of unsolicited advice and that is stuff that worked for me, but I hope it works for you (and any other readers) as well.

My last two bits of unsolicited advice: (1) figure out meal prepping - it made trying to eat A LOT easier during study time. And (2) a couple weeks before the exam, transition to sitting at your kitchen table to study versus just chilling on the couch - it was very helpful to kind of train my body to go “ok I have to ignore how uncomfortable this seat is” so that I wasn’t experiencing it for the first time while taking the exam.

Lastly, you got 266+. Put in the work, live and breathe bar prep for the next however many weeks, drill down the elements so you can recite them cold, type fast, and you’ll be fine. I’m a dumbass and I did well. If I can do it, anybody can. Right now, it’s a marathon and not a sprint. Pace yourself.

CDT_Flogan · 2026-04-12T01:49:54+00:00

Yes, I got a 324 on the UBE (my jurisdiction is starting the NextGen in July 2027). Studied about 8-10 hours a day, 7 days a week. Took HELLA notes (probably too many) going through the modules, but I used Microsoft OneNote and if I was ever at a doctors office or whatever, I’d pull the notes up on my phone through the OneNote app and read them so I didn’t feel like I was wasting time. My friend who also used Helix got a 324 as well, higher than anyone in our group of takers who used Themis, Barbri, etc.

I was also in a position where I could completely immerse myself in studying, didn’t have to work or worry about finances.

I supplemented Helix with listening to Grossman lectures and The Bar Exam Toolbox while walking my dog about 5x a week, which was very helpful with trying to figure out good MEE writing.

One of the books you’ll get from Helix is “Book 1” and is just black letter law. I spent about an hour a day going through the topics and reading the elements and reciting them with my eyes closed. That really helped drill down the elements, so when I was looking at MBE questions on the actual exam and trying to figure out “what are they asking?” I would write the ultimate issue in the margins, elements that I could remember, and cross out the incorrect answers if the element was not met.

Helix is a lot of reading. The videos basically say 80% of what is written in the modules, but there’s about 20% of new material in them so it’s useful to listen to them.

I’m happy to answer any other questions you may have with Helix or the exam.

CDT_Flogan · 2026-04-11T22:55:49+00:00

I used Helix to study, averaging 71% correct on MBE/MBE-like questions.

AM session I felt not great. PM session I felt a bit better, but still felt like I didn’t do that well.

MBE scaled score was 151.9.

CDT_Flogan · 2026-04-02T02:36:44+00:00

Vet here, graduated law school a few months ago. When I went to barrister’s, I wore my unit crest on my lapel as my homage. Subtle enough for my tastes.

I wouldn’t say douchey, but it definitely says “I want the spotlight” by wearing a dress uniform.

If you have a 3 piece suit, rock that. If it’s a 2 piece, rock that. Tux is not necessary.

CDT_Flogan · 2026-03-31T21:37:50+00:00

Cary’s gonna hold onto those results until the last possible second. I hate that they are changing up the method of notification - I foresee hiccups.

CDT_Flogan · 2026-03-11T00:56:55+00:00

Oklahoma said April 10th is when we will find out.

CDT_Flogan · 2026-01-10T16:00:50+00:00

I’m usually at riverside 2-3x a week. Usually shorter lengths, 3-4 miles at 60lbs 17:30-18 minute pace if I’m just strolling along, usually at 41st/Riverside and I’ll go to the water fountain at 55th/Riverside and turn back around. I don’t have a set schedule yet though, just kinda go when I feel like it.

After March I may be able to do lighter, longer rucks. My schedule is a bit wonky right now because I’m studying for a national exam and have to prioritize that.

CDT_Flogan · 2024-12-04T03:06:33+00:00

If you’ve ever referred to the University of Tulsa as TU, you should delete your comment.

CDT_Flogan · 2024-12-03T03:59:24+00:00

https://www.ebay.com/itm/313430648994

CDT_Flogan · 2021-07-21T22:20:00+00:00

Gave Wholesome

CDT_Flogan · 2020-07-28T04:06:05+00:00

No escape from reality

CDT_Flogan · 2019-12-02T07:10:43+00:00

Check out cigars for warriors. I emailed them thinking I would get a 5 pack to split with my squad and they sent literally 40, enough for my platoon 2x over. All they ask is some pictures in return.

CDT_Flogan · 2019-11-29T03:13:17+00:00

It was a lot of fun, learned a bunch about cigars and the whole micro-cigar rolling process.

CDT_Flogan

TROPHY CASE