The Irate Spectator

Every time I run into somebody from college or with somebody who knew i took up Political Science, the conversation inevitably revolves around why I didn't go to law school this year. It comes in a delectable group of flavors like the surprised("Wa diay ka mag-law?"), assuming (Musta man ang law? Ha? Wa diay ka nag-law?) and, my personal favorite, the interrogative (Naganung wa man kuno ka nag-law beh?). Frankly, I don't understand the fuss of it all especially since I already resolved not to proceed to law even before I started my last year in university. Don't get me wrong, I do plan on studying law, I just don't want to do it yet and I have, not just one, but a series of compelling reasons why.

First, I don't have the money. This is quite superficial I'm sure and it's the one I would give when asked, but probably because I sound like I was joking, people just don't believe me (*sigh*). But it's true. It's a fact that Law school is expensive whatever school you pick and I'm not just talking about the tuition, which goes up every year by the way... (EDUCATION NOT FOR SALE!! NO TO TFI!!) but was thinking about the thick hardbound original books, the mountains of photocopied cases and the semi-formal clothes that I have to procure. With my sister starting college this year I'd rather be earning my keep than adding to the family expenses.

Second, it's so darn tiresome. The day I decided not to proceed to law the year after graduation was the day of the midterms for my Obligations and Contracts class. I was staring at the nth article of the Civil Code that I had to jam into my overflowing brain when it dawned on me that in law school I will be doing this everyday for every subject on a brutal difficulty setting. The great Arsenio Tan (may his name be forever revered) said that to become a lawyer you don't really have to be intelligent but you must be diligent. I had used up all my diligence for the law by that midterm day.

Third, I just don't want to proceed this year, that's all. Imagine, spending half of your life in a classroom, eagerly anticipating the day when you get your college diploma and enter the so-called "real world" only to go back to another classroom, classier and heavily airconditioned but nonetheless a classroom. Now that I graduated there's so much to do and so much to see. Law school can wait. On a more serious note, there are around 40,000 lawyers in the Philippines but we don't have justice. Law school can teach you about the Constitution, the Bill of Rights or the Civil Code but not about justice, equity or freedom. You learn that not by reading cases or law books but by going out into society and immersing yourself in the everyday struggles of the common tao. Before I want to learn about the law, I want to learn about justice first.

Let me end this post with a parting shoutout to the all the Polsci majors out there. We are NOT predestined to proceed to law. Just because we took up this major, doesn't mean we are absolutely compelled to start a career in law. We really don't have to if we don't want to. Going to law school is a big investment, you're putting in at the very least four precious years of your life. In that span of you could have gotten married, become a world-famous writer, started a business or whatever. So think things through before taking the plunge. I did, but I'll just be putting it off for a few years.