Waiting Game in Law School

By: Archiebald Faller Capila

The study of law will always be a roller coaster of emotions. Starting off from your entrance exam in law school to your first major exams in a midterm for one subject, you will eventually experience a lot of stress in the process. Indeed, law school is and will always be a place where to expect the unexpected.

Law school requires a student’s time and effort in order to surpass its obstacles. Here, students are taught how to maximize their respective times and sacrifice certain things in order to become fully equipped in the study of law. In law school, students are not only trained to become lawyers but to become good persons in the long run as well.

Some may say that law school changes a person. For some good companies and colleagues, they see their friends in law school as persons who no longer have time for themselves. They see their law school buddies as tactical individuals who only care about the pursuit of the law.

However, in reality, law school does not change a person but instead reveals his or her true nature. Here, we could see how law students want very badly their Juris Doctor or Bachelor of Laws degree. Here, we could see how much law students want to become a member of the legal profession. Here, we see law students work hard in order to become the best version of themselves.

As mentioned, law school is indeed a roller coaster of emotions. One day, you could be so elated because you were able to answer a series of recitation questions or ace your latest examinations. The next day, you could be troubled because of the fact that you have not yet finished the assignments or because you still don’t know how you’ll study for a certain subject. Indeed, law school offers the experience hailing from both sides of the spectrum.

However, when everything is said and done, you would ask yourself what you could still do thereafter. There are times when you believe that you could have performed better. There are times when you look back at your doings and wished that you exerted more effort so as to improve whatever result may come in the near future. There will always be a time for “what if” and “what could have been”. There will always be a time when you say that you could have done things differently if given the chance.

The process of becoming a lawyer is indeed stressful. There will always be doubts as to whether or not the study and eventual practice of law is for you. What’s worse however is not the process itself but what comes after—the waiting game.

Like that night that prides itself with thunderstorms, it all goes by too quickly.

After taking your exams, all you could do now is wait. All the nights you have spent studying the subject are gone. All the hours you spent memorizing and understanding a legal concept are but dust in history. All your efforts are validated and confirmed through a series of questions in the Final examination and you cannot do anything about it. One day, you’re preparing for the exam of your law school life. The next thing you know, it’s all over. You’ve done it all—you of all people should know that. You’ve entered the endgame a little too soon, lost yet again. Helpless, powerless, and without motivation to think and do what you believe is right—you find yourself tripping on the strings you thought you already cut.

From this point forward, you no longer know what to do. It seems like the waiting period for the results carries with it a burden heavier than the exams themselves. Here, you are forced to wait and hope for the best results. Here, you hope that everything will turn out great in order to further move up in the stages of law school and eventually finish your studies any time soon.

Just when you thought those sleepless nights are already behind you, the scare of thinking what is about to happen then comes into place. You enter the waiting game with the hopes of having a good outcome. The anxiety is worse than ever. The moment is tearing you apart slowly, and then all at once.

The stress and anxiety law school brings are unmatched and unparalleled. You have heard the stories of hardships. You have seen firsthand how you and your friends crumble. You have witnessed how names of the legal institution breeze through your unnoticeable presence and hope that you get a part of their brilliance in the study of law. Accordingly, the waiting game is just as stressful or worse—it is ten times more than what you experience.

In preparing for the exam, you have with you your schedule and your preferred plan of action. In the waiting game, you have no control or whatsoever with respect to the time frame. You do not have control over when the grades will come out, what grade will you receive, and how far you will go in order to reach a higher year in law school. In the waiting game, every student is but a pawn waiting to be sacrificed. In the waiting game, every student experience stress and anxiety on a level one could only imagine in his or her worst nightmares.

For the next few days, you will be going through the same hell yet again. But such is not a time to ponder upon what you could have done more, because you know that you already did your best. All you could do now is wait and believe for miracles to come.

You are at the mercy of time. In the waiting period, law students cannot do anything to rush or fastrack the release of the grades. You are at the mercy of your professors. In the waiting period, law students cannot ask their profs for reconsiderations or additional points in order to move up in the respective law school levels. You are at the mercy of the stars. You cannot predict in its entirety the outcome of your grades. You cannot determine how your professor will appreciate the answer you gave. You cannot expect perfect points for each item. You cannot expect that you will automatically pass all your subjects.

However, while the stress the waiting game brings may in fact be a root cause of everything south of happiness, you must never give up nonetheless. It is more often than not that if you study hard, prepare well for the exam, and give it your all—success will eventually follow. Just remember that you must leave no stones left unturned in the process. The waiting game is here to stay, and you must be able to adapt to the changing course of your destiny.

Always believe in yourself. Always remember that everything happens for a reason. Whatever happens, just be yourself and continue to believe. The moment that you give up, the moment you cast the slightest of doubts in yourselves, that’s the moment you lose. Stay strong, future lawyer. For the next few days, it is only your strength that will keep you alive.

May you all be blessed with better days ahead. Good luck, future paneros and paneras!