With the 245-strong and biggest batch of graduates San Beda Law Mendiola has ever produced, I will be marching this Saturday.
It was never a secret that San Beda Law was not my first choice. Up until this very end, it has never been. Throughout my journey, I was so insecure and eager to prove my worth to everyone.
Since I started going to school, I have never been the 'best' in my class. I was not the class valedictorian but i have always been in the upper 10% of the batch. When i entered UPLB, i was so overwhelmed i thought i cannot possibly excel there. So in my first year, i did not exert much effort and i was just contented with a passing mark. When 3rd year came, i was included in the list of college scholars for several semesters it was only then that i realized, i can actually get good grades in UP. Kaya lang it was too late. My 3rd and 4th year grades weren't able to pull up my 1st and 2nd year grades to graduate with Latin honors.
When it was final that i will be going to law school, i was so excited because alas, i will be able to redeem myself. I oriented myself that i can do whatever i wasn't able to achieve in college. I worked hard, studied hard, compromised social life. After first year, i was top3 of the whole batch, 17 sections of 1st year with approximately 30 students in each section.
In second year, the top30 of the previous year were lumped in one section, star section, they say, cream of the crop. I must admit that this is the best thing San Beda has given me. This is my official law school family. Again i worked hard, studied hard and at the end of the year, i was still number 3.
Third year came, same section, same set of familiar faces, same family. This year was the hardest. But we managed to survive.
Fourth year came, with whatever reasons the administration had, there was no section S anymore, they distributed us in different sections. I was with H and P, 4 sections away from Y, C, and R. It was so devastating to even think that my law school family will not be intact in our last year in law school. It was only much later that i realized the much deeper consequences of such policy. I was still number 3 taking into consideration the cumulative 1st to 3rd year grades. Since we are not in the same section, we had different set of professors. How can you possibly fairly and evenly look for the top of the whole graduating class when the other professors are naturally giving very high grades and the others do not? It just so happen that i think, our section belongs to the latter set of professors.
Allow me to grieve for the last time and expose my fragile heart. Being devastated was an understatement knowing that my grades fell short of just .258 from that of R. Why did not the admin see the consequences of what they had done. All i ever asked was a level playing field but nobody ever given me such.
But i realized that at the end of the day, these three are my very good friends. They don't probably even anticipated this. I saw how they worked hard also and they deserve this. A very dear friend told me after crying my heart out, "every action has an equal and opposite reaction, kaya lang masasabi natin na hindi fair ang buhay kasi hindi natin nakukuha yung intended reaction na gusto natin makuha most of the time because we dont take into consideration the multiplicity of actions and causes, na hindi lang naman tayo ang author of all reactions and effects".
To the 2017 graduating class of San Beda College of Law, Congratulations! Padayon!
