At age 17, Oxford alumna Sophia Park became the youngest person to pass the California Bar exam in November. The previous record holder was Park’s brother, Peter, also an Oxford alumnus.
While simultaneously attending Oxford, Park began law school at the Northwestern California University School of Law in 8th grade. The law school, being completely online and not American Bar Association accredited, welcomed Park without a high school diploma and accepted her College Level Examination Program test results in lieu of a bachelor’s degree.
CLEP are standardized tests in thirty-six different subjects that are administered by the College Board and serve as a way for students to earn college credit without taking the classes.
“I think it was helpful for me that COVID hit when I was starting law school because I just needed to do schoolwork in the morning and [was able to] stay at home. I would try to finish my homework during the class time that we’re given and then, once 3:20 hit, I would study the law. I think it was just making a clear boundary between the two.” said Park.
She then proceeded to take the California High School Proficiency Exam in her freshman year to earn the equivalent of a high school degree. After completing the required four years of schooling for her Juris Doctor (JD) program at Northwestern, Park was able to graduate with her JD in June of 2024.
With the completion of law school, Park’s next challenge came in the form of the California Bar Exam. With about 13 different subjects of law composing the exam material, the Bar is taken over two days and is the final determinant as to whether the examinee can officially apply to be a practicing attorney.
Usually, students begin their preparation for the Bar after completing law school, but Park and her older brother started studying early in their second year.
“During our first year, our law school required that you take the Baby Bar exam. So we studied for that in our first year and then afterward it was just law school,” Park said. “We started reviewing all of the bar exam subjects in a rotation. We did a lot of repeats of the subjects starting from the second year, so it was a lot of preparation time.”
To approach her goal of becoming a prosecutor, Park began working as a law clerk for the Tulare County District Attorney’s office this past January, where she primarily writes court motions and submits discovery to defense attorneys. To keep up with her job and study for the Bar, Park developed study habits to keep herself motivated.
“What helped me was to break everything down into small steps. I might feel too tired to study, but I’d convince myself to at least sit down in front of my desk. And then maybe I’m too tired to study still, but I’ll just open up the book and look at it…and then slowly I would kind of ease myself into studying,” said Park
Despite her rigorous routine, Park doesn’t regret any of her decisions.
“People say that [I’ve missed out] on the high school experience..you don’t go to prom or sports events but I like what I’m doing right now. It’s not an experience that everyone my age might be able to do,” said Park.
Her plan to join the District Attorney’s office as a prosecutor after she’s officially sworn in and granted her license in March of 2025 is just a stepping stone to her true goal: to become the youngest judge in 10 years time.
“I want to represent our people and keep our community safe. To fight for justice and be the voice for victims.”
