Do you [still] want to become a lawyer?
It won’t be long until the results of the 2007 bar exams will be released. As always, the examinees (and their families) are going through a difficult stage of waiting for the release of the results. We’ve talked about the agony of waiting for the bar results, but not about the repercussions on those who are still on deck, so to speak. In the words of Lito Basilio, in his comment in one of the articles in this blog:
The fear being felt by our barristers has affected us law students to a large extent. Dignity is at stake here. Friends and neighbors who know a barrister in a community are intently observing and waiting to see him or her fail or succeed. His or her enemies may even pray for his or her failure. If such barrister fails, he is expected to be scoffed and laugh at. They may still call him or her “attorney” to make fun of him or her. His or her parents may shed tears of grief and shy away from public eye. That’s how painful a failure may be.
Sometimes I ponder whether or not I would still pursue what I have started. I’m a sophomore now, a working law student, and I find the study of law getting more and more difficult. One cannot just be complacent. You have to put your entire being if you are determined to finish LLB or JD, or take the bar for that matter. Now that the release of the result of the 2007 bar exams draws near I am as fearful as our barristers because one day I may be in what they are in today.
As Lito said, “friends and neighbors who know a barrister in a community are intently observing and waiting to see him or her fail or succeed.” This is a cultural reality that every hopeful must face. During my time, I did not go back to our province until the results were released. The sentiments of Lito is echoed by ShaSha, in her comment in the same article: “I’ll be fourth year next year and will hopefully experience the gruelling feeling of anxiety while waiting for the 2009 results…just keep our fingers crossed. Ang dakung pangutana: NGANO NI-ENTER? (“The big question: Why enter [law school]?”)
We all know the extreme pressures of studying to become a lawyer. In law school, you go through a daily routine of class recitations. Professors are expected to push you to exceed your limits. Law students read endless cases and memorize (and understand) provisions of law. It’s normal to sleep little and lose your social life. After graduation, there’s the bar exams, which is arguably one of the most difficult exams in the world, to contend with. Then there’s the agony of waiting for the results.
Why go through it?
It’s normal to ask questions. It’s normal to doubt. Way after midnight once upon a time, when my undegraduate roommates were deep in slumber, I often asked myself why I willingly go through this torture. These moments of doubt, however, reminded me why I wanted to become a lawyer in the first place. Those moments reaffirmed my decision to become a lawyer.
If you have what it takes, you’ll survive. The pressure of becoming a lawyer is, in my opinion, way lesser than the pressure experienced by those who became lawyers. You’re no longer concerned with grades and passing the exams, but the life, liberty and property of clients. You commit a mistake in law school, you get a low grade. You make a mistake in law practice, your client goes to jail or loses millions. If someone can’t cope with the pressure of becoming a lawyer, perhaps it would do no harm to seriously think about not becoming one.
It’s a calling. A passion. No amount of difficulty is enough to dissuade you from achieving something that you’re passionate about. So, do you still want to become a lawyer?
After 4 difficult years of law school, I still can’t figure out why I took up law. I just want to be ‘different’. I took up law because all of my siblings are nurses and even the younger generation are slowly hopping in the Nursing bandwagon, to seek the “GREENEST” pasture there is in other countries.
Law school is a journey and voyage of self-discovery. As time pass, you will slowly know the real you, what it is that you want in life. From the time you stepped inside the halls of law school, it is a frequesnt battle or some would even call it as a “competition”. Some will be left behind and some would even grace through the finish line no sweat.
I want to make a shoutout to my supposed-to-be batchmates who will graduate this march 2008:
“huwata lang ko sa may finish line, klasmeyts…hehe, muapas ra lagi ko bah…WATCH OUT!”
sha
In Sec. 6 Rule 138 of Rules of Court stated that the field of concentration or subject major are Political science, Logic, English, Spanish, History and Economics as your pre law. There are also some law school that requires Philosophy as one of the major subject. I know that some major subject is in line with law or would be helpful in studying law like Political science, Logic and Economics but how about the subjects like Spanish, History and Philosophy? what’s the relevance of these subjects in studying law…?
thanks
Spanish? ~ Most of the laws in use today are exact or almost a doppleganger of Spanish Codes of old, Having knowledge of Spanish would be “little” helpful specially for those spanish-written decisions of the Supreme Court which ever so pervasively appears in your case list for readings.
History? ~ to sum up in the words of Justice Holmes: Life of the law is NOT logic but experience.
Philosophy? ~ the milieu of law can be better appreciated using the standard tools of philosophy, to say truly that the law is not an exact science but a combination of different disciplines , Philosophy in one way or another helps you “think” beyond the letter.
i am waiting for the results of the 2007 bar examination. last year was my second try after failing it the first time in 2004..that was the hardest blow in my life..
i just allowed myself to mourn and slapped myself with so many questions on where did i go wrong..i let myself feel every inch of piercing pain that that defeat caused me..yes, i turned bitter, felt very resentful, etc.
at the end of it all, you will have to come face to face with the reality that you failed, hagbong ka period..healing begins with acceptance..the key to heal is to muster the courage of acceptance, and move on…move on to where ingon pa nila?
move on to where your sense of purpose is..if u think becoming a lawyer is the ultimate purpose of your existence, then move on–grab those books and start all over again..SC gives us 5 chances to make it, then why not exhaust it if you honestly feel at the deepest crevices of your soul that lawyeering is what u are destined to do in order to make this world a better place.
forget about the shame, besmirched reputation, ridicule, etc. stop allowing people validating ur existence..you can never please them..there is even no guarantee that when you become a lawyer, they would still admire you..you dont live for them–you live for higher ideals, a higher sense of purpose and not mediocrity..because it is mediocrity when one hastily passes judgment on a person on the basis of an exam alone..”bugo na siya kay nahagbong man”…so unhuman..
after that defeat i had, i have resolved to not allow the exam define my existence and sense of purpose in life..if di gyud, then maybe God wanted me to do something else..perhaps, i have another mission..acceptance again..
now I am really tring to keep an open heart…weeks from now, the results will be released..i leave it everything to HIM..HE is the ULTIMATE JUDGE..
God speed!
I agree,with teray,to never let the “exam” define you. In our life, dumadaan tayo sa mga pagsubok na kung minsan natatalo tayo. To fail is not the end of the world. It is just a start of a new chapter in your life. You can grieve for a week or so, but do not allow it to affect you. Mahirap tanggapin ang pagkatalo lalo na at ang buong mundo ay nakatingin sa iyo. But have a humble heart, accept the failure, for you to heal and move on.Accept not that you are weak but maybe it’s not yet time or there’s a greater purpose.
During this trying times, malalaman mo kung sino ang mga tunay na kaibigan at mga taong nagmamahal sa iyo.Sila ang mga tao na di ka huhusgahan sa pagkabigong ito. Sila ang mga tao na handa ulit ibigay ang kanilang suporta sa susunod mong pagsabak sa laban na ito. These people are rare. Minsan nga yung mga taong inaasahan natin na mag comfort sa atin sa ganitong sitwasyon ay ang mga taong huhusga sa ating kakayanan. But never fret, at least you know that they cannot be considered your support system in trying times like this.
Learn to accept and be ready to face the challenge again. Be humble (pasado man o hindi)
To my friend, who took the 2007 bar exam always remember that i will always be here to support you. iharap mo sa akin ang mga taong aalipusta sa iyo kay ako dyud sila karnehon, himuong meat pie (hehehe!)…
Taking the Bar exam is an achievement, but how you take the result of the exam is the best lesson in life.
Matulog na ako kay naghukdong na sa kakapoy.
Good Luck 2007 bar examinees! May the force be with you!hehehe!
My sentiments exactly Teray. Just like you I took the 2005 Bar Exam and failed it with the painful score of 74.5. It was excruciatingly painful just thinking that having my name in that Roll of Attorneys was only 0.5% away. I spent days computing and re-computing. I dwelled on what might have beens. Then one day, I just realized that even if I compute and re-compute for the nth time, the blatant truth still stands. I failed. I agree with you when you said that with acceptance comes healing and that you can never please everybody.
Now waiting for the bar exam results, I feel a calmness. I attribute that to being at peace with what God will give me. Of course I do pray that He finally grant me my lifelong wish, but if not — there is always a next time.
Kudos to all of us waiting for the results.
I am not a lawyer nor a student. But my sentiment with teray. I also had a numereous failures in life. Most worst failure not only affect you but the whole family. When the whole family suffer because of our failure. We blame ourself. Masakik at mahirap. But I learn failure is not the end of life. I read this book Failing Forward by John C Maxwell. We can turn our failure to stepping stones to success. Learn from our mistakes, the ability to bounce back. I like you to have this book. It help me alot. For me, I gain a sense of purpose. Now, I got my life back. So my whole family too.
Congratulations to all Bar passers!!!
I’m preparing for the 2008 Bar. And Yes, I know deep within my heart that I wanted to be a member of the Philippine Bar.
It is not the prestige of lawyering that amazed me. It is the deep commitment of rendering Justice unto an issue and the fact that you are a part of the system that renders it.
I shall be celebrating my 32nd bday this friday, and I must say, I still carry the same principles which I still stand to uphold 25 years ago, way back when I was still in Grade 1.
If Lawyering is indeed my destiny, So be it.
Hello guys!
I am 30 yrs old and just entered law school. I graduated w/ honors at the University of San Carlos, I thought I would breeze through law school but my first few months is really cruel and gruelling. You are very correct to say that the Bar is the most difficult exam. I really don’t know if i can make it but I will take it one day at a time. God help me! By the way, do you know sites and blogs who can help me in the digested cases and offer better tips and explanations on every subject?
Would really appreciate it. Thanks and kudos to all law student!
@ Jimsy
You may want to join the phBar forum, there are a lot of materials and digested cases there, here’s the link, http://www.phbar.org.
It’s also a site started by atty. fred.
Wage war not against yourself, your professors nor your comrades, the battle is nowhere to be found in them, the true enemy is the bar exams.
Let me quote the undying words of Sun Tzu “If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not to fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle”
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i want to be lawyer so can u kindly show me the prcess
I enrolled in a Baguio university 16 years ago, hoping then to become a lawyer after graduation and passing the Bar. I stopped my law studies after a year due to an unfortunate personal circumstance. How I envied some of my batch mates who eventually became lawyers in 1999! Since then, I feel like being one of the examinees, eagerly awaiting for the results year after year.
Now, after years of contemplation, I decided to give it another try. I plan to enroll this June and finally make my dream of becoming a lawyer a reality. Some may consider me old enough now to take up Law but it’s not really an issue to me. Why I still want to be one? More than the prestige, it’s the only profession I want to indulge myself in for the next decades of my life.
I graduated in 1999 with a degree in Business Administration. Though I’m now at my early 30s, I still bear the dream of becoming a lawyer. As a matter of fact, I gathered every bits of information from the previous bar exams for the hope that it could help me a lot to trigger the desire that is within me. Learn from such materials and arm myself with thought and inspiration that I could be a lawyer someday. My only fear is that how I could finish the law course and pass the bar exam…