ProfessorTommy.Tips

This morning, a Peloton instructor shouted out 1,272 walks. Not 1,250. Not 1,275. One . Two . Seven . Two . For those who aren’t deep in the Peloton universe: Peloton is a fitness platform with live and on-demand classes where you ride, run, walk, row, or lift with instructors. When you take a live class, your username appears on the leaderboard alongside thousands of others. Instructors can see milestone numbers next to your name, like your 50th ride, 100th run, 500th walk

Yesterday I took a live Peloton ride from home with Camila Ramon . It was a 30-minute 2010s ride that turned into a masterclass on what to do when things don’t go according to plan. About a third of the way through, it looked like her bike completely betrayed her. The resistance seemed stuck on the highest setting. No matter what she did, the pedals wouldn’t cooperate. It looked like she was cycling through mud. So what did she do? She jumped off the bike. She moved to the fl

Cambridge Dictionary has officially named “parasocial” as its 2025 Word of the Year , defined as a one-sided connection that someone feels with a person they don't actually know, often a celebrity, influencer, or online personality. Most of the coverage focuses on celebrities, fandoms, and even AI chatbots. But I think law students and bar examinees have their own version of “parasocial,” and you can see it play out every day on Reddit. You know the pattern. You log onto r/L

From ABA Law Student Division's Student Lawyer , November 18, 2025: At its core, KPop Demon Hunters is about learning to harmonize strength and vulnerability. The Honmoon—a barrier woven from music, memory, and courage—remains strong only when its keepers accept every part of themselves, even the pieces they fear. Rumi’s journey shows that peace isn’t found in suppressing demons, but in singing through them. Law students face a similar challenge. The pressures of exams, per

If you're studying for the bar exam, National Butter Day probably isn't on your study calendar. You're likely thinking about MBEs, essays, outlines, and practice sets ... and not toast. But stay with me. Butter is actually a pretty good way to think about how you use your study time. Really, stay with me. Photo by Joanna Stołowicz on Unsplash Imagine you have one small pat of butter and a giant slice of bread. If you try to cover every corner, you end up scraping that butte

Let’s talk about pickles, and and not just because it’s National Pickle Day . On the Uniform Bar Exam, the Multistate Essay Examination gives you six essays to answer in one three-hour block. That means you have, on average, 30 minutes to complete each essay, and those six essays make up a significant chunk of your overall UBE score. Thirty percent, in fact. This design assumes you'll pace yourself evenly. But that's not always what happens. Photo by Solstice Hannan on Unspl

From ABA Law Student Division's Student Lawyer , November 10, 2025: If you’ve stepped into my office, you’ve probably noticed the LEGO displays. Some may question my love of LEGO. They may wonder, “Aren’t these toys meant for kids?” But to me, LEGO is much more than plastic bricks. It’s a way of thinking, a method of problem-solving, and a metaphor for what we do as lawyers and, especially, what you are doing as law students preparing for classes and eventually the bar exam.

I can’t run a blog called ProfessorTommy.tips with the tagline, “Serious About Success, Fun About the Process," and not talk about one of the most visible bar examinees on the planet. So, yes, I'm going there: Kim Kardashian did not pass the July 2025 California bar exam . And I'm going to treat that not as supermarket tabloid fodder, but as a case study. In her Instagram post (as quoted in the People ), she writes: “Six years into this law journey and I’m still all in until

College basketball tips off today, and that includes the University of Dayton's men's team hosting Canisius University at 7 p.m. in the Epicenter of College Basketball, UD Arena . Source: https://daytonflyers.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster The start of college basketball season also means the annual conversation about " one-and-done " stars is back. Think Carmelo Anthony, Anthony Davis, Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love, and Zion Williamson—players who spent a single

I went to my first Indiana Pacers game of the season last night. After five straight losses to open the season, the Pacers, who came up just short of winning the NBA Finals last season, finally got a win —and not a soft one. It came against the 4-and-2 Golden State Warriors in a game where the Pacers were a heavy 12-point underdog. All signs before tipoff pointed to a sixth straight loss: the injuries, the record, the matchup, the momentum, the odds. And then, for one night,