She continued: “The first year is awful. But the second year is worse, because while things are just as hard, you’re exhausted from doing this for a year already. By year three the drama has calmed down a bit, and you start getting your new bearings. And the fourth year is the clean-up year, taking care of details you let go, and moving on with your life.”

I went to evening school (4 years of fun instead of 3) and that pretty much sums it up.

Hunker down. When you’re not facing the dragon, you do get to collapse sometimes. Do things that give you pleasure, or at least take the edge off, and bow out of anything you’re doing that isn’t helping you survive. Social events that you’ve lost interest in? Let them go. Friends that leave you feeling drained? Take a raincheck.

Best bit of advice that I got was: When you are studying for the bar, study for the bar. Everything else goes by the wayside. You can start the diet, balance your checkbook, see your friends, clean your apartment when it’s over.

Sometimes, it’s good to watch The Godfather. That was the advice of a trusted friend who listened to me complain one day about the injustices I was dealing with. I laughed, but she repeated herself: “No really, go and watch it. I can’t explain it, but you’ll feel much better.”

Braveheart. With my study group. Drunk. I swear it was the funniest movie ever filmed.

Anyway, I’ve been divorced and I’ve been through law school and, while I’m glad I did both, I’m not sure that I’d care to repeat either experience.