I completed the University of Texas' Legal Assistant program in October of 1993 and took the CLA exam for the first time the following December. Like everyone else I studied and sacrificed family, friends and fun for months before the test. I was nervous, but felt confident in my studies and knowledge. After the two day exam was over, I was certain that I had passed at least the four sections you needed to pass to avoid taking the whole exam over, but uncertain that I had passed the whole test. I w-a-i-t-e-d about two months to receive my results. When they f-i-n-a-l-l-y came, my husband called me at work. Of course I told him I would open the results when I got home. The results are designed so that if you pass a section it reads PASSED and if you failed a section it gives you your score. I was disappointed, but not totally shocked to learn that I had PASSED five of the sections and had failed two, Analytical Judgment and Writing and Legal Research. Naturally, they were my worst areas and areas that I do not work in on a daily basis.
After I assessed the situation, I decided to re-take the exam in March. I did not study any differently from the first time and when the results came back, I had not PASSED either section.
At this point, I decided to forego the July exam and give myself a break. My family and co-workers were very supportive and I received lots of encouragement from my bosses who still valued my abilities as a legal assistant. I then missed the deadline for the December exam. So in March of 1995 it had been a full year since I had last taken the exam. I first had to gear myself up to study! I concentrated my studies on Legal Research and went to the pre-test seminar in Houston for the Analytical Judgment and Writing section. I found the seminar very useful and wished I had gone to the seminar before. When the test results came back, although I was one step closer,-I PASSED Legal Research-I still had not passed Analytical Judgment and Writing. At this point, I wondered if any one else had taken the test and failed. When I was at the State Bar Convention in June, I saw several Legal Assistants who had said they PASSED. Needless to say I was getting a little depressed and started to wonder whether I should try again. What if I failed, again?
After having taken the written part of the exam three times I knew what to expect. I knew what they were looking for. I tried to remember how I had approached the written part in the past because I wanted to do something different.
This time, more than any of the other exams, I was so nervous. I knew I did not want to do this again, and didn't know if I had it in me to do it again. Further, my six year old daughter told me before the exam that if I did not pass, she was going to take my brain out and see what was wrong. I knew I didn't want that!
I wanted to approach the written part of the exam as I would a trial notebook, analytically. All of a sudden during the exam it dawned on me that's why they call it "Analytical" Writing. I started from the beginning and analyzed the whole problem, from start to finish. From the moment you first talk to the client to the final stages of a trial - from the start of the problem to the end, in order, just like a trial notebook. I walked out of the exam, knowing I PASSED.
The waiting started again, for the fourth time, almost two years later. This time I had the results mailed to my office. When I opened the "Confidential" letter from NALA I literally jumped out of my chair and ran to Chris' office. Everyone knew then that I had finally PASSED.
Each time I took the exam it became abundantly clearer to me that it was very important to me to be a Certified Legal Assistant. Never giving up, never saying that mountain was too high and remembering "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can". Thank goodness I did. I realized my goal of being a CLA.