Just because someone has managed to accomplish something amazing doesn’t mean others should be expected to follow suit.
But we still have to give some major props to 28-year-old Brianna Hill. Not only did she graduate from the prestigious Loyola University School of Law in Chicago but she sat for this year’s bar exam – a feat in itself!
A beast of a bar exam
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the bar exam was largely administered online in most states.
But in order to prevent test-takers from cheating, they were not allowed to move from their seats (and therefore their computer’s camera) for a single moment during the test, which consists of four 90-minute sections spread out over two days in a row.
It was a nightmare for many students – especially those with disabilities – with some calling this year’s online version “literal hell.”
It’s always stressful. After all, you can graduate from law school but in the U.S. you can’t practice law until you’ve passed the bar exam in the state you’ll be working in. It takes months to study for and over a thousand dollars to simply register to take.
Prep courses can cost thousands more – and only 75% of people pass the bar the first time they take it.
This year, future lawyers went through all sorts of nightmare scenarios when many states rescheduled their tests.
Hill knew there might be one problem with the new date.
Bar exam baby
“I thought I would only be 28 weeks pregnant when I took the bar,” she told CNN. “However, due to the pandemic, the test was pushed to October and I was going to be 38 weeks. I joked about taking the test from my hospital bed. Lesson learned!”
The lesson: be careful what you joke about.
“I thought I felt something about 30 minutes into the test and actually thought, ‘I really hope my water didn’t just break,'” Hill said. “But I couldn’t go check and so I finished the first section. As soon as I stood up when I finished, I knew my water had broken.”
After a short break, she had two choices: wait until next year, likely giving up the job that was waiting for her if she passed, or go to the hospital.
She sat back down to finish.
Supermom
“I took my break, got myself cleaned up, called my husband, midwife, and mom, cried because I was a little panicked, then sat down to take the second part because my midwife told me I had time before I needed to go to the hospital.”
Hill arrived at the hospital around 5:30 p.m. and her baby boy arrived around 10 p.m.
But that act of dedication only got her through day one of the test!
She had just birthed a baby but now she had yet another decision to make about whether she should try to sit for the second day of the exam. Again, she would not be able to move away from the computer screen during the test.
“The whole time my husband and I were talking about how we wanted me to finish the test and my midwife and nurses were so on board. There just wasn’t another option in my mind,” Hill explained to CNN.
Amazingly, she decided to go for it and the hospital staff managed to find her an empty room and put up a “Do Not Disturb” sign.
She nursed her baby during scheduled breaks.
“I’m so thankful for the support system I had around me. The midwives and nurses were so invested in helping me not only become a mom but also a lawyer,” Hill said.
If not for the encouragement she received from those around her, Hill said she wasn’t sure she could have “pushed through the finish line.” An interesting word choice!
Hill hasn’t received her bar exam results yet, but she’s received lots of kudos from around the country.
She’s an amazing woman but that doesn’t mean it would have been the right choice for everyone.
Be sure to scroll down below to see an interview with the awesome new mom.
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