Road to Law School

After a lot of suggestive comments from my family regarding what I'll do after college, I must say that writing this piece is a bit of a challenge. At first I was hesitant because of the fact that going to law school has been rubbed in my face time and time again, plus the fact that I really don't know yet whether I passed the entrance test or not (so far I only took the ALS exam; results are out in April). But since I have, for the longest time, wanted to get this thing off my chest, I'm finally writing about it.

Which begs the question: what exactly about law school, considering the abovementioned dilemmas, am I going to write? Ah you see, this piece actually is, as you might've already guessed, a way for me to blow off steam and release all my current frustrations with post-college life. My family has constantly made me feel like being a 'success' is the be-all and end-all of man's existence. Quite frankly, I kind of am annoyed. And God knows how patient I am when it comes to family. (In fact, see blog post on 'Family Matters').

Anyway, here are some of the things I hear every now and then from people, mostly family, regarding how I should run my future:

“Oh iho, graduate ka na niyan, tuluy-tuloy na sa Ateneo niyan ha?”

“Bukod sa pagiging pre-law course ng political science, ano pa'ng pwedeng trabahong makuha mo? Journalist? Teacher? Naku, walang pera dun.”

“O eto, libro ni Scott Turow tungkol sa first year niya sa Harvard Law, basahin mo. It’s one of the best legal fiction around.”

“Ah, ikaw ba anak ni attorney (my mom)? May bagong abogado na naman tayo sa pamilya.”

“Naku ang aga mong gagraduate ha? Pero four years pa niyan sa law school.”

There are many more, but as you can infer from some of these allusive statements, my future is, in one way or another, already mapped out. In my estimations, prematurely. Because of these, I have anxiously experienced lingering thoughts of how I’m supposed to make them proud, fulfil my duty, and carry on with the family tradition. These words, instead of giving me the courage to overcome my fears and helping me grow as a person, have only paralyzed me and have sort of given me an instinctive urge to rebel. The road to law school may already be set, but unfortunately, this knucklehead seems to still be looking for other routes..