A Letter to a Prospective Law Student.

(And I rarely whine about this lol)

Dear you,

Are you sure?

If you’ve lived through life knowing you’ve wanted to, then maybe you are. Sure, that is.
But if you’ve lived through life seeming to know that you’ll end up doing something else, and belatedly realise that, maybe you’ve got a shot at this. This referring to “law school” and eventually becoming a “lawyer.”

It does matter. It doesn’t matter.

See, in both cases you’ll probably encounter distractions, detractors, and a whole lot of other things and people filling your head with doubt. Maybe not the exact same situations, but you know.

In the words of Boromir, one does not simply enter law school. I am not for glorifying the perks and challenges that come with it. Because, I admit, we have a clear tendency of doing that. But I would like to simply write some facts as a warning and somehow as a form of encouragement… to persevere.

You will have challenges.
And, no, you will not be able to deal with them at one go.
Moreover, as you go along, these challenges will vary and become numerous.
So by the time you figure out how to deal with one, two may come along right smack on your face.

If you have decided to do it. Do it. Know that in making this decision, you will not only make it once but many times, every time you doubt yourself, every time someone makes you doubt yourself. It will happen every semester beginning from freshman year until. You will probably be not so sure unless you have graduated and passed the bar. Because by then, everything will have paid off upon gaining the four-letter prefix to your name.

The greatest challenge may be is not about learning the law, but making people around you understand- Why you do not have time to do things. Why flying in and flying out in a day is suicidal. Why you would rather spend your Sunday sleeping. Why you choose not to go to the beach over the weekend. Why. You cannot assume that by repeatedly explaining WHY, they will probably get it. They won’t. Some maybe, yes. This is where sincerity comes in. A person sincere enough to know the things that are important to you, despite of, will try to understand. A person who inherently lives in fear of you gaining more ground than them, will probably not.

So, yes, I’ll give you free reign to get fucking irritated if you want, when someone asks you “why not.” Not in reference to law school and everything that goes with it. But in reference to everything outside of it.

A warning though, be prepared to be selfish and be called selfish. Well, aren’t we all? In this case, anybody can take your place in a party, but will someone be able (even if not willingly done) to take your place in class, stand before your prof, your ego being beaten to death for yet another day and say, It is all in a day’s work. I was told, I am not experiencing much of what really reality is inside the classroom, inside law school. But you see, I am able to view a different side of reality inside the classroom, inside law school and even beyond it.

Be prepared to say, NO. Distractions come in many forms, others maybe good and some maybe bad. It will be easy to say no to the bad. But for what seems to be good, it will be a struggle. The latter making you doubt because it will make you look selfish and it will plague you like the sound of crickets in the night.

Similarly, Detractors are like wolves in a sheep’s clothing. At first, they doubt you. Then, they’ll sing you praises. In this journey, a person’s character will be tested. Not only yours, but also those close to you and those not close to you.

In doubt, BE PROUD OF YOUR SELF. This is not something that your parents could have easily handed down to you, like some start-up capital for some new business venture. Though, yes, they pay for your tuition fees and other perks that come with it when depressing thoughts start to linger. Think, nobody else could face a beating to the ego everyday. Sometimes, you will wish to borrow someone else’s ego for the day, cause yours is beaten down to the path all gory and bruised. If we seem too tough, then because somehow we’ve had it tough too. If we seem too quiet, maybe too many questions were thrown our way for a day, a week, for the same prof, for diff prof’s of murderous degree.

But when I do get fucking irritated, when people downplay what we go through, I would say: “Why don’t you go to law school?” My cruel heart echoing these thoughts, “Let’s see how long you can survive.” I’m giving you this excuse too if you want. But, as you go along, you will have to learn to not listen to those kinds of people, to those kinds of thoughts. You will learn to discard the unnecessaries- thoughts, people, things.

In all these things, Kid, Know yourself first. Know your strengths, know your weaknesses. In knowing your strengths, know further that they do not entirely come from yourself. They are there because God wills it. Everything is by His grace. In knowing your weaknesses, you must learn how to deal with them. Turn them around and make them work to your advantage.

More importantly, let the spirits surrounding you, guide you. Open your heart to the possibilities that they work, though silently, for your goodness.



A Law Student
Every day
Every week
Every month
Every semester
Every year


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