A journey to becoming a lawyer
The tale of BJMP’s lone bar survivor
by: JO1 Jeniffer S Rimando |
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“Substance, handwriting, and good English.”
It was a casual answer from a casual man. In countenance, at least. But the reply held every meaning a wise answer from a wise man can ever promise. These three attributes cast him side by side with the nation’s roll of lawyers.
The result of the 2010 bar examinations brought major shifts to Senior Inspector Paul M. Balag-ey’s person and career. Naturally, he became an instant celebrity in the ranks of BJMP officers. He was the only examinee from BJMP in a batch of 23 to have passed last year’s grueling four-Sunday bar exams.
“It was very difficult,” he exclaimed, as if to convince someone of an acceptable fact. “Some examinees surrendered as early as the first Sunday.”
It took him two years to prepare, he said. And in those two years, he immersed himself in law books two hours a day. In the review center, the two hours doubled and that meant four hours cut in family time. However, his role as investigator and prosecutor of BJMP Regional Office I was never compromised. Senior Insp. Balag-ey said his work as a jail officer was one valuable spring of indispensable wisdom that greatly contributed to his qualifying the bar. And so he worked while preparing. And he worked some more. And prepared even more.
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“Humps and rocks”
It was not an easy trail. Senior Insp. Balag-ey admits that after he flunked the bar in 2007, he started preparing for his next exam. Such resolute disposition definitely brought him side by side with the rest of the 20.26 percent who passed. Only 982 made it out of the 4,847 who took the exams, surely a mouth-gaping reality.
He recalled his review months when he had to spend Saturdays and Sundays in school for five months. That meant there was very little time left for his family. “But they understood,” he explained. “Family, finances, health, should cooperate for success. If one aspect is bothering you, it’s enough to destroy all concentrations,” said the new lawyer.
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Gold in the rocks
His first take (and first and last failure) of the bar taught him of his inadequacies and of the boundless knowledge awaiting his discovery.
Everyday was something he looked forward to. Not because of anything but of the many new things he could learn in each single day. “I remember what my professor in law school said: ‘commit yourself to constant change and improvement,’” he mused.
And this was exactly what Senior Insp. Balag-ey did. Each day, he applied what his mentor taught him. Each day, he sought to learn new principles in law, many or little, big or small. And at the review center, he made sure that there was a new legal term or concept learned in one day.
Now that he has a new title attached before his name and a roll number after it, he has loads of treasures to share on his rocky course to conquering the bar.
“In every endeavor, you need to put your entire heart on it, because half-baked commitments produce half-baked results,” quipped Senior Insp. Balag-ey. And to BJMP’s roster of aspiring lawyers: “Keep your feet on the ground; learn the virtues of patience and humility.”
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