7 Ways Your Life Will Change In Law SchoolBy Ruth Genevieve Lumibao

Welcome to the hellhole, an incoming junior student told me, with a smirk, a year ago when I submitted documents for enrollment to the College of Law. Little did I realize back then that it might have been the kindest and warmest greeting I would receive.

Law school will change you in so many ways you would not expect. It is an adventure of balancing your strengths and weaknesses, and rediscovering yourself.

For better or for worse, youre here now, and as my blockmate put it, Suck it up.

1. Misery loves company. It is just about time to set aside those awkward and solipsistic tendencies because being a hermit in law school is never advisable (i.e. Digesting a hundred cases per class). Look at law school as an opportunity to meet new friends like your blockmates. One year later, you will have lots of stories to tell each other, lots of embarrassing recit stories to laugh at, and maybe one bottle of Tequila to share.

2. Love < Life < Life < Law. Dont bid that [in]existent love life goodbye just yet.

There is an old theory that if you enter law school and you already have a boyfriend or girlfriend, you are bound to break up. There are, of course, outliers those enviable few whose relationships survive the rigors of law school. And then there is this optimistic thought that maybe, if you enter law school without a significant other, then you are bound to find one in the legendary Malcolm Hall.

Keep inni mind that if you are really dettermined to succeed in the profession, the law will be your true love. Whoever hinders you from fulfilling your dreams is an extra baggage you cannot afford to carry (i.e. demanding SOs that get angry when you cannot go out with them because you have an exam).

3. 10 : 1. This is the ratio of organizations you joined during your undergraduate days to your upcoming law school days. Law school organizations are not just fillers for your CV they demand dedication. every organization demands dedication. This is not to discourage you from joining any organization during your freshman year. Just try to strike a balance between curricular activities and study time to keep yourself sane.

4. Tambayan vs. Library. The cordial ambience of a tambayan you were once used to will be replaced by the cold (literally) and unfeeling library. That clicking sound your highlighters make when you open and cover them will be literally music to your ears.

5. Merriam-Websters + Blacks Law Dictionary. Do not be ashamed if you do not know feel so guilty not to know the translation of Latin phrases in cases. You better find out what they mean because it might be something very important. If your professor doesnt ask about it during recitation, then think about it as added knowledge. Do not feel ashamed to use Google whenever you do not understand a concept.

Concepts and case titles become turned into puns, and later on, you actually learn to use them in everyday life. Just make sure you know the correct way of using them. 6. Kiss your medals goodbye. In law school, the summa cum laude is not given preference over the summa-sampung taon. Once you get your Form 5, you shed all your pride and self-admiration at the doorstep of the Malcolm Lobby. When you enter, it is a level playing field.

Even those who took in advance law subjects in their undergraduate degrees confessed that taking up the same subject in law school is different. Even for the studious and hardworking, do not always expect that hard work will pay off. Do not expect to become a teachers pet. Do not expect mercy.

7. Delayed gratification. After our last final exam, my blockmates and I went for a road trip to Tagaytay. We enjoyed even if we got lost a couple of times, telling ourselves that it was better to get lost on the road than still be reading a codal in the library.

What the heck, the past 10 months were the longest in our lives.

Law school does deprive you of even the simplest of joys an eight-hour sleep, a nice dinner, and out-of-town vacations once in a while. You put your whole life on hold for ten months, and in the end, you learn to appreciate the small things those 5-minute calls from your mom who just wanted to check on you, friends who are concerned about your well-being to check on you and bring you food, and even those 20-minute naps you could afford in between case-reading -marathons.

Adapting to law school is a different recipe for each person. As upperclassmen, we do not really have the license to tell you what to do. We can only tell you what to expect.

If you never intended to enter law school, give it a chance. If it was really your dream to grace the halls of this College, then embrace it.

I promise, it will love you back.