Posts tagged with personal

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March 15, 2010

A career in law?

A few days ago, I submitted the initial set of requirements for my entry into another law school. It’s been more than half a year since I got dismissed from UP Law. I really don’t want to give law up. I don’t really mind repeating the classes I’ve taken during my freshman year. In fact, I want to take them again in order to refresh myself and relearn the lessons I’ve taken.

Today, as it has always been, I still do not want to become a career lawyer, a lawyer working overtime with law firms in some office, defending random clients. That kind of lifestyle doesn’t appeal to me at all, notwithstanding the benefits or compensation. I want to study the law and be a lawyer so that I can promote and defend what I do as an activist, and do it better, from researching and drafting resolutions and bills in Congress to taking part in campaigns to protect and promote the rights of people. I want to study the law to make sure that the people I work with, the people I serve, and the people I care for and love will not be taken advantage of. Sure, I can read and study law books here and there without having to go through with the formality of attending school and passing the bar, but I have to recognize the fact that the social status of being a lawyer commands respect. It’s a kind of authority to challenge authority.

Yes, I’ve also thought about having to earn a living and provide for my family in the future. But I can set up a small shop take on a few “rakets” anyway. All I need is to support a simple family lifestyle. The idea of using law as a primary source of income is not appealing to me, too.

A few days ago, a group of disgruntled and desperate parents of University of the East students went to the headquarters of Kabataan Partylist. They have been calling our office almost every day the past weeks narrating their despair with regard to their children being maltreated in the school’s apparently abusive CAT training, among many other complaints. They have coursed their concerns to many politicians and government officials but they were not being given the attention they needed. I was talking to them about the kinds of campaigns we can mount in order to put a stop to the abuses, among other things. But then I also realized that it has to be complemented with legal action, of which I couldn’t properly advice them on. These kinds of situations reinforce my desire to study the law.

I apologize for not being able to update my blog the past month. Most of the tasks I have been assigned the past months for Kabataan Partylist is to speak and keep in touch with like-minded politicians and youth candidates from all over the country from different persuasions and political parties, forging formal and tactical alliances with a common agenda of change. One of these days we will launch an alliance of young men and women running for office this elections, united in upholding new politics from the youth for the people.

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October 18, 2009

The fear of heights did it

One day, some weeks ago, I went to the main office of an airline company in order to facilitate some business deal as part of my minor foray into the travel industry. Walking through hangars, and driving along runways and airplanes made me remember how I really wanted to become a pilot when I was much younger, a dream that I think is common among many young boys. Partly, it was borne out of my early desire to travel and discover places, but largely it was really a fascination with flying. I used to dream of levitation ala Peter Pan, after all. Soon enough, however, I realized I might not be cut out for the profession, as I was, and still am, pretty scared of heights. I think it’s called acrophobia. Sometimes, being defensive, I’d say it’s a qualified case. It’s only open-air heights that I’m scared of (like tall staircases where one can see the ground from the steps), not enclosed spaces like airplanes or top floors of buildings, so I can still make a pilot out of myself, but surely not a Peter Pan. In any case, I thought to myself, I need not be a pilot in order to travel and see the world. Though–the sight of and the prospect of being in the company of flight attendants make me dream about it once in a while.

In other news, if all goes well, I shall be taking an entrance exam in another law school in a month or so. To be honest about it, I’m really enjoying being out of law school right now, but I’m still looking forward to the practice of the legal profession–admittedly not that passionately, but it’s there, somewhere. In any case, I have months to think about it seriously before jumping into law studies once again.

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July 23, 2009

Bikoy with glasses

Back when I was in elementary school and high school, I used to feign dizziness and ask my mom for a visit to the opthalmologist. When I get headaches I would often say it was because of my eyes. She would often concede only to poke fun after the check-up at my false alarms of blurry visions. I can’t exactly explain why, but I’ve always wanted to wear glasses. I’d rather get glasses than get new clothes. But alas, I have always had perfect vision.

A few days ago, I was having a hard time reading the professor’s notes on the whiteboard from the back of the classroom. I was thinking it was either the handwriting was too small, or I was really experiencing a blurry vision. That night, over dinner, I once again introduced the idea of a visit to the eye clinic. Here we go again, my mother probably thought. Two days later, a visit to the eye clinic we did, and lo and behold, indeed I was experiencing astigmatism and blurriness of vision. It wasn’t something to be happy about, really, but I was, honestly, secretly excited.

Childhood frustration over. Now, until when my fascination will go on without turning into an inconvenience, I don’t know.

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June 12, 2009

Random family notes, again

Santa Cruzan at Amadeo, Cavite Santa Cruzan at Amadeo, Cavite Santa Cruzan at Amadeo, Cavite Santa Cruzan at Amadeo, Cavite Santa Cruzan at Amadeo, Cavite Santa Cruzan at Amadeo, Cavite

Tisay will begin her post-daycare schooling this week as a nursery student at some private school a few minutes from home. I’ve been doing errands for my mom with regard to her enrollment, so I’ve been to her new school a number of times the past week. It’s amusing how some of the people at her school mistook me as her father, that day I took her and bought the prescribed school uniforms. This time, she’d be taking the school bus, so there’d be no need for me to bring her and fetch her from school, as I used to do over the summer, when she was attending daycare school in UP.

A few weekends ago, we went to Amadeo for the Santa Cruzan. We had lunch at the residence of the presidente of the youth council of sorts in the community, organizing the festivities, who happens to be a second cousin also. It was the first time Tisay donned a gown for the parade. Too bad the dress made her itchy all over so she backed out from the parade the last minute. It’s hilarious how young girls are so excited over dressing up and parading, I don’t get it.

A weekend ago, the family went out for lunch together at the mall. It’s been a while since we did that. There are those rare times when we’re not all busy with our own preoccupations.

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May 24, 2009

Some random family notes

Yesterday, I went with my family to Tagaytay to pay my paternal grandfather a visit at the hospital. He’s actually been at the ICU for around two weeks here in Manila, and for that span of time my parents have been visiting him almost every day. The doctors and the family decided to have him discharged from the private Manila hospital, after the hospital bills reached the seventh digit. For quite some time already, his children–my dad and his siblings–among with other relatives have been talking about how his health has been failing terribly the past months and about his possible demise anytime soon. They’ve also made plans, apparently, for his funeral.

Despite everyone’s expectations, however, and quite fortunately enough, he’s still alive. I never really grew close to my grandfather at all, but I’m glad he’s still here. These past weeks we’ve been having unofficial family reunions almost every week.

On other family matters, my days of bringing my sister Tisay to school early in the morning and picking her up at lunch time are temporarily over. I used to enjoy doing it, but during the past few days it felt like quite a chore. One morning, I brought her to school too early so she didn’t want to go in. Though the school’s doors were open, she insisted on staying out and waiting for her classmates. Because I grew quite impatient, I told her I have to leave and if she wanted to wait for her classmates before going in, she could wait without me. Before I stepped into the car, I saw her crying silently and alone in the bench. It wasn’t the usual bratty-type of crying I quite detest of a brat, but the silent and genuine type that just crushed my heart. It was too cute, and too heart-breaking, I decided to walk back to her and stay. Bought her a happy meal after picking her up.