by Gilda Francesca G. Flores and Micah Marie F. Naadat
In law school, we are able to meet people from different walks of life, and as time passes by, some of these people just remain at a certain distance. But there are—and we dare say—fated meetings where these strangers have entered our lives and it just made sense to keep them around.
There is an old adage that goes, “You cannot survive the study of law by yourself.” As such, we interviewed various groups of friends from different year levels to hear their takes on the “families” we make in law school. Through these interviews, we were taken on a short, yet meaningful, journey on how their respective groups of friends came to be.
It was like having a fun, Friday night dinner with our loved ones. Stories were told and memories were fondly remembered.
Learning to trust
Erika, CJ, and Selle are currently in their third year at the San Beda University-College of Law. Erika is currently employed in the private sector, while CJ and Selle are both working in government offices.
Their friendship began during onsite classes and what brought them together was the fact that they were all working students.
Having met during the freshmen orientation and being in the first year working block, they said that what strengthened their bond was their shared fear of their Criminal Law 1 professor and that they would make time and go out of their way to study during the weekends, since it was their common free time as working students.
When asked if they agreed as to whether a law student can survive the study of law alone, they all disagreed.
Erika narrated that she had to work in the morning, attend classes at night, then study after class. For her, it was hard to go through these without knowing people who were on the same boat..
“Mahirap na wala kang kasama in the same situation,” Erika said. She added that it was difficult to survive law school without a solid and trustworthy support system.
“‘Yung friends mo sa work, hindi sila makaka-relate, eh. Mapupuno ka kasi. Hindi mo ma-she-share ‘yung frustrations mo sa recits and sa exams,” Selle expressed.
For this trio, having a rock-steady support group was essential to nourish their mental health.
“Extraordinary ‘yung stress na dala ng law school. And ‘yung stress na ‘yon, it’s a requirement for you to be a lawyer. So ‘yung friendship, support, genuine care, and love na shinare ng tao, nakakagaan ng lahat ng burden, whether it be about law school and [personal] life, and ‘yung friendship talaga, dahil na-strengthen siya ng hardships, mas nakakapanatag siya ng loob. Despite all these hardships, stress and possible failures, they will not judge you because they also know how hard it is. It’s a relief,” Erika shared.
Maintaining friendships
Janna and Ino are both fourth year students in the San Beda University-College of Law. They belonged to a huge law school barkada, some of which are now traversing different paths towards becoming lawyers.
They became close the night before their scheduled freshman retreat, and as they say, the rest was history.
Having been able to forge their friendship during onsite classes, they agreed that it was their after-class routine that they missed the most.
“[So] naging routine namin na dumiretso ng bar pag na-s-stress and [after] uwi na kami sa respective house namin. Kung may pinagdadaanan sa personal lives, we have each other. Lalo na nung 3rd year, iba ‘yung stress kaya thankful ako for Ino and our other friends, sobrang bilis magyaya,” Janna said.
“Maganda yung na-establish namin openness sa group namin. May liquid courage kami eh. Pero outside of that, open pa rin kami. Napag-u-usapan namin problema namin. Availability din lalo na nung face to face. Kung yayayain mo out of the blue, pupunta ‘yon,” Inno added.
Embracing changes
The pandemic undoubtedly brought about several adjustments and changes in our social lives.
At first, making friends in an online class setting seemed like an impossible task. However, despite the digital divide, we were able to adjust accordingly and establish camaraderie through our screens.
Maltha, Gia, Harvey, and Faye are a testament to this.
Their friendship started out as a simple case digest pool, little did they know that they would be each other’s confidants in the long run.
They believed that it was important to have a good support system especially now that students are faced with a peculiar situation. As a group, aside from regularly updating each other, they also held each other accountable for their study habits and other responsibilities.
“It’s just the same and it’s just as genuine as actual relationships. What really hinders is hindi nagkakasama, but as long as you both bond with each other and understand what the other person is going through, I don’t think it’s [online friendships] any less,” Gia said.
New wave of the future
Due to the unprecedented turn of events, are online friendships here to stay? Will this be a new way of making friends?
The groups had varying opinions since some of them prefer interacting physically rather than online. Nevertheless, the message remains clear: in life, and not just in law school, the friends we make and form bonds with are indispensable and are part and parcel of who we are as we go on with our daily ordeals.
At first, law school may seem like an endless cycle of reading, studying, and memorizing. The common misconception about law students is that we are left without social lives, nor time to spend with the people we care about.
The “families” we have made thus far, in the course of our studies, prove otherwise. We are surrounded by individuals who are able to relate and connect with us while holding our hand and ensuring that we maintain our sanity during bad recitations, all-nighters, and after-exam celebrations.
Having interviewed these different friend groups, we were able to see not only the value of friendship in law school, but also the silver lining, albeit having classes online. We may have been separated by circumstance, but there is no force stronger than the relationships we hold dearly. Simply put, we are not alone, and in our bedrooms-turned-classrooms, we are able to find happiness across the screen…because of the families we’ve made.
THE BARRISTER 