The Other Face of the Lucrative

My dream to go beyond the self started as a childhood fascination with titles placed before names. My goal was to be called an “Atty.” I wanted to go to court, wear corporate clothes with a robe and firmly hold the gavel as if it was the world I absolutely owned.  I found it awesome to drive a car with “lawyer” on its plate. I knew that a judge held power and I thought that the possession of power was extremely important in a person’s existence. It was not until I was an active member of an organization in college that I realized there was more to becoming a lawyer than its lucrative representations.

In college, I was part of an organization-publication which was different from typical campus journalism because it catered to the marginal sectors of the society. I attended events to immerse myself with the experiences of vendors and daily wage workers. Some jeepney drivers worked for 14 hours but still went home with nothing after spending for gas and boundary. Boundary is the certain amount paid by drivers to the owners of the jeepneys they rent. I have walked with the Sumilao farmers with the firm belief that their efforts were leading somewhere just. These people owed the lawyers who helped them draft letters and negotiate with the legal issues of their aim. I wanted to become a lawyer and help the people victimized by laws twisted in a legal manner.

I plan to become a labor lawyer. I would be able to make a living while experiencing self-fulfilment with what I do. I could be an agent working on ripples of changes in the mismanaged legal system. Small positive changes are essential because the “Ms. Universe concept of world peace” is not created by a superhero and does not happen overnight. It is important to have a proactive and continuous movement towards a certain goal.

My quest to becoming a lawyer requires courage to face the daily struggles, especially when I had to give up things to dedicate more time to studying. Law school is not a walk in the park but it is a walk worth a stroll. Law school made me experience firsthand the tales of sleepless nights, state of nervousness during recitations, entire days spent reading books. I used to question the necessity of deprivation of the joys in life just because I wanted to do something noble. In spite of the inevitable challenges attached to pursuing a legal education, there is still the urge within me to continue taking up the subjects until I pass the bar.

As a young adult who has grown from too much idealism, I realized that nobility does not necessarily come with education. Academic degrees do not equate to more capability of alleviating the world’s condition. On the contrary, educational attainment has been used by some powerful people to corrupt more power and benefit themselves. In spite of the realization that I have been disillusioned by the profession I have always looked up to, I still find lawyering as my best way of going beyond to be of service to others.

by Frances Lipnica Pabilane