I love being a lawyer. I used to
tell my students all the time that since April 2007, when I wake up in the
morning, no matter how horrible the night before was, I have a stupid smile on
my sleepy face whenever I face the mirror --all because I know that the person smiling back at me is a
geddem-lawyer.
Whenever asked, I try to remember why I wanted to become a lawyer in
the first place. I guess it all started
when people kept on telling me I love to argue my way out of sticky situations
when I was young. Oldies would say “Mag-abugado ka na lang, ang galing mo
sumagot,” sometimes with unmasked irritation, sometimes, with plain amusement. Then again, maybe it began when I started to
enjoy reading anything and everything I could keep my hands on. Anyway, for the life of me, I don’t remember
the first time I was ever introduced to the concept of being a “lawyer.” In fact, even in college, when so many movies
and tv series would focus on the life of a lawyer (Thank you very much, Ally Mc
Beal for making me think lawyers can be quirky and actually have social lives.)
I still had no idea what law school will be like, much less, how a lawyer’s
life is here in the Philippines.
You see, I do not know any lawyer while I was growing up. I was the first lawyer from both sides of
both sides of my family. All I knew from
what I’ve watched in movies and on tv is that lawyers wear suits, are very
smart, and rich. Truth be told, if I had
any talent leaning towards medicine, I’d be a doctor in a blink of an eye. But somehow, despite growing up in a family
of nurses and soldiers and engineers, I knew I wanted to be a lawyer. Definitely, I wanted to be different.
My quest (naks!) to becoming a lawyer was rather complicated. First, my paternal grandmother had qualms
about my entering law school . She said
that she’s afraid I might turn into a distant aunt who took the bar and failed
and was never quite right after that. I explained
to her that I just really want this and assured her I won’t turn cuckoo on her…
because I already am. J Then I didn’t pass the UP Law Interview. I wasn’t sure then if my parents would still
support my decision if I went to Ateneo instead. The memory of the day my dad and mom told me
I can enrol in Ateneo School of Law still brings tears to my eyes. I wasn’t sure I’d survive Ateneo (being a UP
maroon), but I did, and found truly great friends along the way.
But I think the real reason why I eventually jumped the law school gun
was because of the simple reason that I wanted to do and BE more. You see, before I applied for law school, I
had the privilege of working for a senator during the impeachment trial of
Pres. Estrada. The slew of personalities
I met during those days made me look within and ask myself… “Is this really
just what I want to be for the rest of my life?” I knew the answer as I drafted my resignation
letter a few months later. I want to go
to law school because I want to be a lawyer.
Every day. Forever.
So here I am with a silly grin on my face. After 4 years of law school, one year to
prepare and wait for the Bar results, and five years of law practice… still, with
a silly grin on my face. Because I know,
I am a lawyer. Because I know, I can
make a difference and love being who I am at the same time.
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