You know the saying that “it’s never too late”? Well, here’s a story that proves it: California mom and full-time welfare professional Evelyn Uba spent years working her way to and through law school while raising her family. In January, she learned she’d finally passed the California bar exam.
“I took the exam more than 10 times,” Uba told “Good Morning America.” “I stopped counting after a while but giving up certainly wasn’t in my dictionary.”
According to “GMA,” Uba moved to the U.S. from Nigeria in 1983, when she was 18 years old. Financial setbacks, marriage and four children delayed her plans to become an attorney until she enrolled in California Southern Law School in 2005.
Uba graduated in 2011 and began her quest to pass the bar. When the news came in that she’d passed, at long last, her kids took to social media to celebrate.
“My mom finished law school in 2011 and has been studying for the California bar exam while raising 4 kids & working full time for the past 10 years,” wrote Uba’s daughter Naeche on Twitter.
“THAT’S ESQUIRE NOW,” she exclaimed, referring to the traditional honorific attorneys attach to their names.
Naeche’s post includes video of the fam dancing joyously at the news, including a touching moment where Uba tells a photo of her deceased father, “I did it for you.”
my mom finished law school in 2011 and has been studying for the california BAR exam while raising 4 kids & working full time for the past 10 years. today? SHE PASSED THE BAR!!!!! 🥺🥺🥺
THAT’S ESQUIRE NOW! pic.twitter.com/GHj8SiqkOP
— naeche (@srrytothisman) January 9, 2021
Passing the bar is a major accomplishment no matter what, but it’s even more amazing that Uba was able to do it in California. That state’s bar exam has long had a reputationfor being the most difficult to pass out of all 50 states.
In 2018, for example, nearly 60% of test-takers failed the California bar exam. For the October 2020 exam, only 43% of repeat test-takers, like Uba, passed.
So, what comes next? Uba told “GMA” she’d like to practice criminal defense, especially in service of lower-income folks.
“I just started jumping up and down,” Uba said to “GMA,” of learning she’d passed the bar. “I had so many reasons to give up but I knew I just had to keep pushing.”
Written for Simplemost by Kathleen St.John
