For Students of Law

A young man stood before a judge to be sentenced for the felonies he committed. "Young man," said the judge sternly, "do you remember your father, that father whom you have disgraced?" " I remember him perfectly," the young man answered quietly. "Whenever I went to him for advice, whenever I went to him for companionship, he would always say, "Go away, boy. Be off with you. I'm reviewing for the Bar exam. I'm busy." "My father passed the Bar, he became the best lawyer in town... And here I am before you, a habitual delinquent." My dear friends, in life, in order to get one thing which we like, we usually have to give up another thing we like. This is what we call -tradeoff. We become aware of this whenever the circumstances of our life require trading off one goal against another.   Consider a first year law student who must decide how to allocate her time. She can spend all of her time studying "PerFam"; she can spend all her time  studying "Criminal Law"; or she can divide her time between the two subjects. For every 30 minutes she studies one subject, she gives up 30 minutes she could have used studying the other. And for every 30 minutes she spends studying any law subject, she gives up 30 minutes that she could have spent dating with her boyfriend, rearing her child if she is married, watching TV, or working at a part-time job for some extra income. This is what we call -tradeoff. And because we face tradeoffs in the College of Law from time to time, we have to compare the costs and benefits of our possible actions. We know the benefit is a better job opportunity as a lawyer when we pass the Bar. But what is the cost? The cost is not just the money we paid for our tuition but everything that we give up to spend four years in Law School. Our family time, our bonding with our friends, etc. are all included in the cost.  In many cases, the cost of studying Law for four years is not obvious. We believe that the benefit of being a lawyer is worth the cost. We were taught as we have learned from Atty. Paul Gomez that Legal profession is a noble profession. We who will become lawyers then may become members of the noble class in our society, members of the Bar. No matter what the cost is, becoming a lawyer brings great benefits. My dear friends, this is the attitude mostly shared by students in any College of Law. They are willing to tradeoff for the sake of the Legal profession. To use a religious term in rephrasing this statement, they are willing to sacrifice everything for the sake of the Legal profession. This attitude works actually! We have heard the stories of our alumni who are now lawyers how they isolated themselves and devoted their time for studies just to pass the Bar. There seems to be no wrong with this kind of attitude. But let us not forget that even inculcating this kind of attitude, we face tradeoff. The more we become focused to achieve our goal, the less we appreciate other good things around us in the process. How many of us realize that in every student of Law who tries to think how a lawyer thinks, there are lawyers who wish to take a vacation at least for a day, to be away  from the burden of lawyering? In every student of Law who has enough resources to pursue his/her legal studies, there are many children who have not gone to any school because they do not have the resources. In every student of Law who cannot memorize the Bill of Rights before Atty. Plaridel Morania, there are those who do not know that there rights are abused. In every student of Law who has to stand before Atty. Taal to recite Articles 1-18 of the Civil Code, there are some people who were born crippled, who could neither walk nor stand. In every student of Law who worries about taking the Bar, there are many who worry where to get their food to satisfy their hunger. In every student of Law who is concerned about purchasing his/her reading materials and books, there are students of law who need our sympathy and concern. We do not know what our classmates have been through why they are absent or why they quit from class. In every student of Law who spends time with a friend exchanging legal perspectives showing the contents of his/her mind, there are many of us fail to show to each other the contents of our hearts. My dear friends, benefit does not limit to being a lawyer alone. We do not have to wait to pass the Bar to appreciate the years we have spent in studying law. Rather, we have to take every minute in the College of Law to find what is beneficial in everything. In tradeoff, we can minimize the cost by finding benefits in all things. I myself would not go back to enroll this year to pursue the study of law if everything I do here would be useless. In fact, what benefit I receive in this Law School for having Mr. Felix Igual as my classmate. I have learned to understand Muslims and their doctrines from him. In the College of Law, I have learned that I can still appreciate beauty by merely looking at Rizel and Omega. I appreciate that I am old when Beverly would address me and Mr. Alan Pelayo as "manong." Yet I am happy to know that I am still young every time I looked at Mr. Rene Reyes and Grandma (Mrs. Sarabia) during our class. I thank God too for having Mr. Dan Tejada as a classmate. Because of him I learned to love watching volleyball games but most of all it is good to watch some volleyball players (joke only). I love the stories of Atty. Plaridel Morania, the jokes of Judge Virgilio Paman, the snacks during the class of Fiscal Inventado. These and more others are but great benefits as a student of Law. My dear friends, whether we become lawyers or not is a reality of the future. It is a great benefit which we may or may not have. But let us not take for granted the benefits we can get from the present moment. Now is the real time to live and we should not let the day pass without appreciating the many events in our life. The benefit of being in the Law School does not limit to being a lawyer alone. We should not only focus on the benefits of being a lawyer but also on how to minimize the cost by simply appreciating why we are in the Law School. This is the very reason why we have this Acquaintance party. This occasion is a jumpstart to consider the benefit we have in the Law School is the camaraderie we share with one another. Let us thank God then for this grace He has bestowed on us. Amen.