We are survivors. Separated by 34 years, we stared down the furies and passed the bar exam. To distinguish between our experiences, we'll resort to a device used by those 18th century Steeler fans, the Pitt boys, and refer to ourselves as the Elder and the Younger.

In the summer of 1980, the Elder took the Pennsylvania bar exam in Pittsburgh. He might as well have picked a fight with Steelers lineman Mean Joe Greene. He staggered out of the test location and sat on the curb of a busy street. His life passed before his eyes with the traffic. Why hadn't he studied more?

In the summer of 2014, the Younger took the Texas bar exam in Dallas. He left the test center breathless. A bison might have been sitting on his chest as he struggled to fall asleep that night. Those convoluted test questions were impenetrable. They swirled through his mind like a ­psychedelic haze. Why had he even bothered to study?