CHICAGO — A Loyola University graduate took part of her bar exam while in labor, gave birth, and then finished her test.
Brianna Hill knew she'd be pregnant while taking her final test toward becoming a lawyer, but when the coronavirus pandemic changed the timing, she suddenly realized just how pregnant she would be.
"It was supposed to be in July," she said.
That date was then moved to October.
Hill knew she'd be taking the test remotely in her home, but that there would be technology used to watch test takers and keep them from cheating.
On Monday, a very pregnant Hill sat down at her desk to take the first part of the exam.
"I was ready to go - confident," she said.
But minutes into her test, she went into labor.
"I didn't think about it because I was in the test," she said.
During a break, Hill made a few important calls and then went back to finish the rest of her exam.
"I cleaned myself up, called my husband and the test kept going," she said.
Hill completed the first portion of her exam and several hours later, gave birth to a healthy son, Cassius Phillip, at West Suburban Hospital in Oakpark, Illinois.
But there was still another day of test-taking to go. Determined to finish what she started, Hill, still in the hospital, spent the following day taking the final leg of the exam.
"I woke up and they set up a spare room for me," she said. "They put a 'Do not enter' sign on there."
She breastfed during breaks and eventually completed her exam.
Hill said she experienced pre-term labor while studying for her test, which helped prepare her for what she would ultimately go through.
"Definitely a little crazy," she said.
Hill doesn't know yet if she passed the exam, but she is set to find out in early December.
