THE PENDULUM

Today, around 1,200 students from across the state of North Carolina will sit down for part two of the bar exam. Yesterday, part one of the exam was given at the Raleigh Fairgrounds.

The bar exam is the test recent law school graduates take in order to become attorneys.

Countless hours of studying take place in preparation of this exam, which has about a 70 percent pass rate.  

For about 30 recent Elon law school graduates, preparation for this exam made less stressful, with a one-of-a-kind program.

The Elon Law School offers the opportunity for students to live on campus for free during the end of May and the entire months of June and July.

"I haven't heard any one else doing this," said Damon Duncan, a member of the Elon Law School's charter class.

Duncan and his wife Melissa, decided to take advantage of this opportunity. Damon explained that Elon President Leo Lambert and Gerry Francis, executive vice president, met with a group of law school students to figure out the best way possible for the most students to pass the exam.

"We can completely focus on studying for the bar exam," Damon said. "It's almost like going to boot camp. You go and everything is provided for you and the only thing you have to worry about is training and getting ready for the bar exam."

The bar exam is given twice a year in North Carolina. The first time it was given was in February.

It is a two-day exam and on the first day, 12 essay questions are given. Day two consists of 200 multiple-choice questions.

"It's almost more quantity than competence or intelligence," Melissa said. "Can you learn all of that information?"

Both Damon and Melissa said they have put a solid eight to 12 hours a day since they moved into their new home in Colonnades B on May 25.

Damon said that one of the reasons why people fail the exam is because many people work during the day and do not have enough time to devote to studying.

"If you are working eight hours a day at least, I can't even imagine having deal with this," Damon said. "One of the goals is they offer this to us and we don't have to work during the day. We don't have to worry about paying for meals or anything like that."

The students who have lived on campus throughout the summer have had meal plans as well. Damon said the people who didn't take advantage of this opportunity had family commitments and homes that were established.

"There's a lot of people who do it and get by and pass the bar," Damon said. "The fewer distractions while studying for this, the better. It would be difficult if you had to worry about making money or holding down a job."

In addition to free room and board and free meals, the students were able to receive loans through the university so they could pay for prep classes for the exam. On the days of the exam Elon rents out a room and will provide the students with a free lunch.

If both Damon and Melissa pass the bar exam, they said they hope to open up a branch of Damon's father's law firm, Duncan Law, in Greensboro. It will focus on bankruptcy and civil litigation cases.

"Assuming we both pass, that's the plan," Melissa said.

For Damon and Melissa — who both graduated from Elon with undergraduate degrees in 2006 — this solidifies why the selected to attend the Elon Law School.

"This is what Elon's all about," Melissa said. "Taking care of you as a student and a person and making sure that you're not just a number."