Had one of the best nights of my life!

Last October, our Editor-in-chief told me about doing a "presentation" at the Alumni Homecoming event which was set to be held November this year. He said that I’d be representing the Law Review and that I had to sing. OK, no problem, I said.

I thought then that it was a small event…like it’s just a little reunion or gathering of lawyer-graduates of UST law. I only realized its being a "big event" a night before the occasion.

I learned that lawyers, judges and justices were going to be there. I started getting nervous. I’ve been singing in public events and have performed to a large audience since I was 8 years old but I’ve never performed in front of professionals–lawyers, judges and justices!

As a performer, my main goal when I sing is to entertain and please the audience…to catch their attention, provoke emotions in them, make them feel the song and the performance. For any performer, it’s very disappointing when you fail to achieve any of these. It’s specially upsetting to see some people looking bored or doing something else other than listening to you while you sing…because that means you failed to do what you are supposed to do–ENTERTAIN them.

So how do I achieve this goal with this kind of audience? That was my problem. It’s really hard to pick a song for them because you don’t know what they want, what they like. And I have this preconceived idea that they’re all stiff, serious. So it’s really hard to think of a song that would please them.

So I consulted my Dad. "Why don’t you sing one of the oldies song you used to sing here (Jeddah)?" And so I picked "I Won’t Last a Day Without You" by the Carpenters.

When the moment came, I started shaking all over. I’ve never been nervous that way before (perhaps except when I had my first real performance at age eight, haha!). I looked around and I saw big names in the Philippine legal field–Supreme Court Associate Justice Angelina Sandoval-Guiterrez, Dean Alfredo L. Benipayo, Court of Appeals Justice Amy Javier and some professors of mine. It made me tremble more. Before I went up the stage, I told myself "Just think that the audience is just the regular, ordinary audience you perform for all the time."

Thank God it went well. When I went down the stage, some of them congratulated me for a "job well done". The Dean gave me a good-job pat on the back. Hehe.

Well, aside from that part of the night, I also had SO MUCH FUN with the people I was with–EIC Gilberth Balderama, Jeanette (Managing Editor), Ate Jan (Case Law Editor) and Arjay (webmaster). We laughed about a lot of things…it was really fun from the time we headed to Dusit Hotel till the time we parted to go home.

Thank you guys, so much! I had one of the best nights of my life!

[When I get the time, I'll perhaps write down the details of our adventures and misadventures here. Hehe.]

November 24, 2007. Uncategorized. No Comments.

My future is luminous…and I’m heading that way to fulfill it! :)

This semester is by far the most difficult I’ve ever had. We have difficult subjects and at the same time, we have "terrorist" professors for them. Talk about double jeopardy. *sigh*

At first, I was so scared for classes to really begin, i.e., to have recitation etc. I almost died with fear of this one professor of mine who scared everbody in class (well, aside from the fact that he’s "physically" scary, he aggravates that by shouting, cursing and assaulting us with harsh words on some personal matters). But last week, he began conducting recitation and he wasn’t as bad as I thought he would be. One just has to study very well. But I’m still scared of him…a little.

I was depressed for days, just thinking about having them as professors. But now that I’ve seen how they conduct classes, I realized–hey, they’re doing this for our own good! Their approach might be something that not everybody can readily appreciate but…at least we’re COMPELLED to really study hard!

_________________________________________________________________

When I was in first year, I remember this senior student telling me that it is in law school where you learn to be humble, particularly with respect to grades. I didn’t understand him before. I can do it, I can ace everything just like I did in my elementary, high school and college days!, I thought, almost arrogantly.

True enough, I did. But now that I’m going even higher up the ladder, things are getting more and more difficult and challenging. Now I understand what that senior student meant.

It’s not that I’m getting line of 7 grades or something (Alhamdullillah)…I mean, I still manage to get quite good grades but they’re not the kind of grades I would normally get in my high school or college years.

When that first happened to me (getting a line of 8 for my QPI), I was left feeling so miserable and discouraged about myself. I thought, "You’re not smart as you believed, after all. You’re just an average student."

But then a friend of mine scolded me and told me I was so ungateful. "You should be thankful that you still manage to get that kind of grade! Most of the students are not worrying about whether or not they made it to the dean’s list or got an average of 95%! Most of them are worrying if they PASSED their subjects or if they’d be debarred or kicked out! You’re so ungrateful!"

"But this is not the grade that I’m used to getting," I argued.

"What can you do if there are professors who are bent on not giving you high grades, the grade that you deserve because they think that if you give you a grade any higher than 80% or so would mean that you know more than them? There are so many factors here in law school that influence the kind of grade that you get and you have no control over them. So don’t judge yourself because you got a line of 8 average. It’s not reflective of your IQ. The only thing you can control is doing your part, i.e., studying hard. When you know that you have done that, leave the rest to God."

True. There are many factors that can bar us from getting the grades we deserve. Aside from the eccentricities of professors, there’s also the scheduling of our classes and subjects. For instance, during Mondays, we have Civil Procedure (5 units) under Dean Alfredo L. Benipaya; Partnership, Agency and Trust (2 units) under a terrorist professor; Election, Public Officers and Administrative Law (3 units) under Justice Vicente (not a terrorist but strict in the sense that you can’t come in to class without having read all the cases because you could be called any time even if you have recited previously); Credit Transactions (3 units) under Atty. Sena, one of the most-feared professors in UST law. It’s really difficult preparing for my Monday classes as I have to start studying Saturday till Monday. *sigh*

A 1st year law student friend of mine was telling me that her classmates’ goal is to make it to the dean’s list this semester. I just laughed because I was somehow reminded of myself when I was a freshman myself. "You know what? When they’re already in their second year, when things get more difficult, they’ll learn not to look at grades anymore. They’ll be after SURVIVAL by then."

Once again, I find the truth in the saying that older people know better. As trite as that may sound.

_______________________________________________________________

Just one more semester and I’ll be in my third year! Another year after that, I’ll be in my fourth year! A year after that again, I’ll be taking the bar!

But right now, I’m really looking forward to the on-job-training we’ll have after our third year! I want to have mine at the Office of the Solicitor General not only because I think I will learn a lot therein which will be useful to my career as a lawyer…but I’ll be able to get a glimpse of my dream-guy-comes-to-life prospect, Atty. C******! HAHAHA! Just kidding, you guys.

Anyway, the future looks bright. I should never give up hope and get discouraged. I know who I am and I know what I can do. If at times I disappoint myself, it’s because of my own doing (particularly my being lazy at times…OK, most of the time! Haha!). I will become a brilliant lawyer. I will become a diplomat. I will work in the United Nations. I will be part of the judiciary. I will be who I believe I can be with Allah’s Guidance. Inshaallah, I will be the person He made me to be. Ameen.

November 17, 2007. Uncategorized. No Comments.

Goodbye for now, folks!

Monday. It’s the start of a new (4th) season of my life in law school.

I’m excited. I can’t wait to learn new things again.

I can’t wait to see my friends. I can’t wait to stay and study at the library. I can’t wait to sleep there too. Haha. Kidding. Yeah, but sometimes I do. I can’t wait to meet our new set of professors (though I admit I’m kinda scared to be under Atty. Huge-Frumpy Guy). I can’t wait to be back to the world where I feel so much at home, where I feel I truly belong.

As you guys have read in a previous post, I have listed certain "crimes" which I did in the past semester and which I should not repeat again this coming semester. Otherwise, I’m dead. My only not so burdensome school days are Tuesdays and Wednesdays…and Saturdays. The rest? We have 4 subjects in a day, from 5-9 pee em! Whew!

So in relation to that, I have decided to…not really abandon my Friendster account but to lessen my visits here. Awww… I have to do it if I want to outdo my performance last semester. I wasn’t really that happy about how I did last semester so…yeah.

I know sometimes I say things but don’t get to fulfill them. And I know it’s a very bad habit. I’m working on that. I’m trying to change it. I have to. Otherwise, I will not be credible as a person…even perhaps as a lawyer. I will not be an effective lawyer if I don’t, with conviction, stand by what comes out of my mouth. Right?

Anyway, wish me luck guys! I need a LOT of that. I’ll see you when I see you. Errr…rather, I’ll write to you when I write to you? *hugs and smooches*

November 3, 2007. Uncategorized. No Comments.