All freshmen in the College of
Law are required to attend a peace retreat during their first year. This is a
requirement imposed by San Beda for graduation. The schedule of our section was
last Friday to Sunday. I was really looking forward to it, aside from the fact
that it’s my first time since this is my first time to attend a catholic
school, it was also a much needed rest for us, law students. But what I got was
beyond rest and break from law school.
They gave us a list of prohibited
items even before going to the retreat house. They were really strict about
those. We had no cell phones and other gadgets and even wrist watches. We do
not know anything about the outside world. Some were complaining about that but
I told them, we were just used to having those material possessions that’s why
we think that we cannot live without them but in reality, we can actually live,
and it’s just for three days, no worries.
Our first activity was confession.
Father even lectured me. He said that change may be the hardest thing to accept
in life and the hardest thing to live by but we do not have a choice but to
accept it, otherwise we will get stucked. And it’s true. Yes, you can always
look back at those that happened in the past, but you can’t live with those, be
it good or bad, you have to keep moving forward, a better way to deal with
those is that use the experiences to be a much better person today.
Applying that now, I really have
to accept why I am where I am now. Seriously, I have to set aside the what ifs
and why nots. As the speakers said, me being in San Beda is never an accident, in
a more straight manner, me NOT being in UP Law is not an accident, there are
reasons behind it and if I just focus on those reasons, I may be happy and
content for where I am and what I have. It’s just proper setting of the mind.
The peace retreat really provided
not only peace of the mind, but also that of heart and soul. I have to admit
it, because of the pressures of law school, I now cannot reflect much or talk
sincerely with Him without looking at the watch and limiting the time devoted
for praying because I rather would use it to study. That was not the case in
the three day retreat. We didn’t have to think of criminal law or amurao or the
provisions or the case digests, instead we have devoted all our energy to
actually listen to Him, not only with our ears but most importantly with our
hearts.
Inspirational speakers also said
that law school is not just a test of intelligence, we all have our
undergraduate degrees so by one way or the other, we have already proven something, rather, law school is more of a test of character. A couple of years back, the bar topnotcher who came from San Sebastian, a graduate of UP, was a former student of San Beda, she was not retained. If only she gave up, would she be the bar top notcher? Would she be a lawyer by now? We all have those share of disappointments, frustrations and failures but that does not mean we should stop. That should not hinder us from pursuing our dreams. The road may be winding and full of detours but that is how we get tough. That is how we become good future lawyers.
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