Morgan Trivunić, center, with her daughter Mia, left, and son Henry, right, juggled life as a young mom through the bar exam process.

Morgan Trivunić, center, with her daughter Mia, left, and son Henry, right, juggled life as a young mom through the bar exam process.

Preparing for the Ohio Bar Examination is challenging enough under “normal” circumstances. Imagine doing it while raising a toddler and being several months pregnant.

That’s what a recent bar applicant managed as she studied for the biggest exam of her life.

“Toddlers are something else, and my daughter’s a wild one,” said Morgan Trivunić about 2-year-old Mia.

Trivunić’s perseverance and time management skills paid off when she realized last week that she was among the nearly 200 prospective attorneys to pass the February bar exam.

“It was a lot of emotions. I was holding my newborn, Henry. My husband was there, but then my daughter is freaking out because the wrong cartoon is on TV,” said Trivunić.

“Snap, it’s back to real life.”

It’s not the first time the 26-year-old handled demanding personal and educational pursuits simultaneously. Mia was born during her mom’s final year of law school.

“It was unlike anything I had ever experienced up at that point, but you learn as you go,” Trivunić said.

Throughout both ventures, the Plain City native relied on her determination as a self-described Type A personality, and her support system, including her husband Saša, who’s also an attorney.

Ever since the couple met as students at Ohio State University’s Moritz College of Law in 2017, they’ve encouraged each other as they progressed toward aligned career and family paths.

Having already gone through the bar prep process a few years earlier, Saša impressed patience and perspective upon his wife.

Aware that it had been nearly two years since she graduated law school and that she was 8 months pregnant when she took the exam, Morgan gave herself “a little grace,” that some days would be more difficult.

“There were a lot of times I tried to pity myself, that it’s not fair, and it’s so much harder for me. But everybody has obstacles, especially during COVID,” she said.

Originally plotting a career in agricultural science, Trivunić discovered “a whole different world of research outside of a lab” during an internship with the Ohio Senate.

Her pivot toward the legal profession would become the first change in a series of events that would alter her life’s course, emphasizing family before her career.

The balance of being a full-time mom with all of her studies gave her more purpose and added to her fulfillment – along the way and at the finish line of becoming an attorney.

“I wasn’t going to succeed despite my kids. I tried to succeed for them,” Trivunić said.

As for what’s next, it’s the first time she can remember not having a career plan. Interested in a number of possibilities, Trivunić will take time to assess her options, and enjoy family time without the bar prep burdens.

“We have kind of a natural break where I can take it in and raise my kids,” she said.