Email excerpt: Buhay Law school

this is an email excerpt i wrote when i was a law school freshman:

sa law school...

college is nothing compared sa law school. exaggeration man pero true to a certain extent, law school is 10 times harder than college. its a mistake to think that its just another four years of studying... its more of 4 years of training for a profession and mas makakatulong to think that we are already working, workers under training, and that part of the work is reading a lot of reading materials and acting like lawyers during recitations and the professors are the judges we have to convince kasi we are graded on how well we argue our case or the question asked

sa klase ng effort and demand na hinihingi ng law school, kung i-apply natin nung college, sure ko, A students tayo. probably anyone who survived a sem in law school pag bumalik sa college will find it impossible to fail, if not get a very high grade, pag in-apply yung same effort or same work ethic and habits... pero do it the other way around, apply the study habits nung college, one is bound to fail law school...

law school made me do things that i never did in college, like really read a lot, really study a lot and recite... on a daily basis! every prof yata sa law school is a terror prof compared sa college professors, or yung mga terror nung college will look really nice compared sa law school professors

in law school, one needs to love the law, kasi if you don't it will be very hard to survive.. part of loving the law is devoting every waking moment studying, it becomes the air you breath, it is what you eat and digest and it may also become the content of one's dreams at night. the law becomes a 7/11, kung saan we are employees in it who never stop working tipong sobrang immersed sa law na it becomes our life and only time that we get to interact with people outside is when people come along, siyempre exag pero most of the time ganito law school life

law school is expensive. aside from the tuition, may stacks of readings pa, enough to make owners of photocopying shops to have a stable supply of customers, baka nga mas magsurvive pa sila pag nagkaroon ng economic crisis sa dami ng kailangan ipa-photocopy. meron pang law books, yung mga codes, yung consti na sobrang expensive na minsan napapaisip ako na maging professor na lang kaya ako sa college of law tapos
maging author ng book? yun ay pag di ako pumasa sa bar... pwede kaya yun?

estimation of how many readings: half a sem in law school's readings is equivalent to two full sems of readings in college... syet, kaya palang basahin sa kalahating sem ang isang buong school year sa college.. so does this mean sa finals, equivalent sa two years in college yung coverage?

law school life is boring and monotonous, every day is the same thing, read and recite, read a lot and recite well. that is basically most of it.. and its boring kasi one's social life may be lost, again, because of the devotion needed. another reason for the boring nature is well, kayo-kayong magkakaklase lang ang makakarelate sa pinag-uusapan nyo and malamang the main thing that you are going to talk about is the law since it is the only thing that you've thought about all day. kung may mukha lang ang law, malamang yung mukha lang na yun ang laging nakikita

sa law school, some people become wordsmiths and linguists, well, not really linguists pero knowledge in spanish and understanding the latin terms is not only handy but sometimes necessary and big words and phrases during recitations are only useful if one knows how to really use it in a sentence...

sa law school, kung wala kang bisyo, there is a strong possibility na magkaroon, like smoking and drinking. mas bagay ang tomadores sa law school kasi it is something that is hard to do without, the humiliation and the bad grades, drinking as a social activity (and not just to drown ones worries) is a very good way to unwind and according to some, people who do drink and party from time to time are more likely to survive since they get to recharge themselves
sa law school, one become a strategist. tipong drop ko ba yung subject na to or alin kaya ang drop ko? basahin ko ba to or just start reviewing for the exam and sacrifice a few recits? magcut kaya ako sa minor subject para makabawi sa major subject? it all depends sa strategy some times on how to balance all of the demands sa law school and sa law school, every point sa grades counts...

sa law school, its smarter to be lucky than it is lucky to be smart..to a certain extent totoo... luck is more useful sa law school than mere knowledge, in terms of survival anyway... in terms of training, luck din na makuha yung mga prof na may matutunan ka talaga kasi may mga prof na di marunong magturo... well, call it luck or divine providence, basta outside of human capacity to control and foresee

sa law school nagkakaroon ng concrete meaning ang time is gold and time is of the essence... you can never waste time in law school, wasting it is always a risk (having time to unwind is not wasting time for it is needed to replenish much needed energy to survive in law school). good time management skills is necessary... and time flies even if you are not having fun. how? di ba ang bilis ng oras pag madaming kailangan gawin or when you have a deadline to meet? that is how time flies sa law school, so many things to do, so little time and sometimes under pressure to finish it before the class starts...cramming skills are tested to its limit sa law school, this is the best test on how good a crammer is...

sa law school, this probably applies to most if not all, even the most confident of men/women may doubt one's abilities pag tapak sa law school. the law school demands things that are almost impossible to do. almost impossible kasi... yes, it is possible to do pero its lying on the border of the impossible, kaunti na lang humanly impossible na gawin.. law school is overwhelming.. and sometimes crazy... the probability na mabaliw is higher pag pumasok sa law school and there are even horror stories on bar exams about people na nag-snap because of the extreme pressure... or maybe simple na memory loss kung saan may one bar examinee na nakalimutan na may GF pala sya, he just remembered while walking out of the exam area on the last day of the bar exams or nervous breakdown nung nakita yung bar questions...

sleepless nights, and even insomnia is common in law school. sleep becomes a luxury. to keep up with the demands, sleep needs to be sacrificed from time to time, in order to give more time to studying. to some, every waking moment is spent on studying up to the last minute before they go to sleep at night...

sa law school brain power is obviously needed, understanding and good memory are essential and soundness of mind din. dapat maging mindful sa mental health and well-being or baka matuluyan ang pagkabaliw...

aside from sleep, sa law school, love life may sometimes be sacrificed. not sure about the statistics pero most of the time, and ito din sabi nung mga law school professors, nagbe-break ang mga magGF and BF, kasi one common reason, lack of time and attention. so, there is also another saying, one is likely to find the partner within the walls of the law school, for reasons that both of you know the demands of the law school and after all those hours studying, kayo lang ang magkakaintindihan...

law school is a lovable hell for some... it is hell for obvious reasons, sobrang pahirap sa buhay pero if you love the law, you wont mind living in hell for four years...

law school life is overwhelming, stressful and demanding, pero its worth it if one really wants to be a lawyer, of course it is and it would really be a great achievement to be able to finally make it. so what one has to do, is adjust, adjust and adjust... like yung mga fresh members of the labor force na lucky enough to find a job, we have to adjust kasi law school is not just a school, as mentioned earlier, its a training for a profession... this is probably the main task of the freshman, adjust to the new environment...
 

just another school day

the days are becoming longer and the nights shorter. i wake up usually around 6am, sometimes as late as 7am or sometimes as early as 5am. point is, i have to be wherever im supposed to be by 8am.

then i get home around dinner time and sleep around midnight usually. i consider myself lucky if i get to bed as early as 10pm.

there's just a lot of stuff to do. and the bad news is, its bound to get more difficult. im still in the adjustment stage. better get used to these long hours and short rest periods. i mean, this is really what im going to face in the next few years. not that im complaining. wait, i am! well, not really. just whining. its just because im not yet used to it. but eventually, im going to get the hang of it. and once i do, things will still get more difficult. its a never-ending adjustment stage until you reach some kind of peak and there's no where else to go but down. and then its another crash and burn, nose dive in blazing glory experience.

what is an ex post facto law?

Professor and 1st year law student in class. Law student is reciting, talking about international law and Saddam Hussein when the professor decides to illustrate an ex post facto law. he asks:

Prof: "what are you wearing (looks at law student's tie). i dont like your tie!"
law student: "huh?"
Prof: "what's the color of your long sleeve?"
law student:"umm...sir, its blue".
Prof:"and your wearing that stupid tie! from now on, whenever you wear a blue long sleeve, the necktie should be red! that's the rule! and i dont want to see you wearing that stupid tie!"
law student: "huh? sir, im confused"
Prof: "i will give you a zero for wearing that stupid tie! it violates the rule i just said"
law student: "huh? sir why!"
Prof: "hah, and for being a philosopher another zero!"
law student: "sir, seriously!? sir, may i ask why?"
Prof: "you see, i am a believer in the ex post facto laws (a law that operates retroactively)"
Prof: "do you get it?"
law student:...

comic book movies

just watched the Incredible Hulk. cant decide which i liked better, Iron Man or Incredible Hulk? actually, i would like to say Iron Man but there's something lacking in Iron Man which you will get in the Incredible Hulk. what is it? a great fight scene! well, fight scenes. ive read that the Incredible Hulk would be more action-packed, holy crap! they did mean it. i was really satisfied with what they did with the fight scenes. thats what i felt was lacking in Iron Man. unfortunately, i still like Iron Man when it comes to rating the movie as a whole. but if im just going to think of great scenes, i would pick the fight scenes in the Incredible Hulk. there seems to be no particular scene that stands out from Iron Man (or im just very forgetful). my brother also said that the Incredible Hulk was too serious compared to the Iron Man. the characters rarely break an infectious smile or a really humorous joke. Iron Man does seem to have a lighter mood.

anyway, now that the 2 marvel movies have been released, i now wonder whether The Dark Knight of DC comics can match the people's expectations. i mean, Iron Man is just the first movie of probably another trilogy and people dont have high expectations yet. i think people were just expecting to get whats been promoted. as for the Incredible Hulk, not much expectations here also, maybe lower expectations even compared to Iron Man since the The Hulk didnt do very well. point is, im expecting much more from the Dark Knight, with all their virals and months of promotion. it doesnt look like it would be a disappointment but im hoping it would be as good, if not much better, than Iron Man and the Incredible Hulk. not that im a DC fan. im really a Marvel comics fan but there's only one character from DC comics i like, and obviously, its the Batman. and as for the blog entry below, the name superman is really used in its generic sense and probably a slight reference to the DC character. well, thats how i see it. i mean, anyone can be a superman in the generic sense but only Clark Kent can be Superman.

Superman

having 20 units (inclusive of OLA), i think this will be my theme song for this semester:

Superman by Goldfinger

So here I am
doing everything I can
holding on to what I am
pretending I'm a superman
I'm trying to keep
the ground on my feet
it seems the world's
falling down around me
the nights are all long
I'm singing this song
to try and make the answers
more than maybe

and I'm so confused
about what to do
sometimes I want
to throw it all away

so here I am
looking older all the time
growing older all the time
feeling younger in my mind

I'm trying to sleep
I lost count of the sheep
my mind is racing faster
every minute
what could I do more
yeah I'm really not sure
I know I'm running circles
but I can't quit

and I'm so confused
about what to do
sometimes I want to
throw it all away
controlling everything in site


I'm feeling weak
I don't feel right
you're telling me
I have to change
telling me to act my age
but if all that I can do
is just sit and watch time go
then I'll have to say good bye
life's too short to watch it fly
watch it fly

quotes

I believe whatever doesn't kill you simply makes you... stranger - the joker

I lived believing my shortcomings were just amusing distractions! That my failings would build character! And in return...After all those losses and mistakes, I would be granted one great, final adventure - jiraiya

In life, nothing good comes out of hurrying. - shikamaru nara

knowledge and experience are ambiguous, thus reality can become illusion. Is it not possible to think that, all human beings are living in their assumptions? - itachi uchiha

the problem is, im too old to be acting like a kid - shikamaru nara

id always brush responsibility off as troublesome. thats why i messed up so often - shikamaru nara