Lawyered!: Top Reasons Why You Should Date a Law Student

The "Lawyered!" series will cover topics involving the law, law school and everything in between told from the perspective of a frightened, enlightened, irritated, and engaged law student. :)

Just to clarify, this list is not something I conjured up by just sitting in front of the computer and typing the ideas that come off the top of my head. Nor are these 'copy-pasted' from some article/blog on the Internet. But I did check out this Facebook page which features interesting reasons some of which I have incorporated into my list. These are carefully thought out reasons, mind you.

Feel free to disagree and disprove my list, and to (vehemently) tell me about it.


10. Law students' books can be used as extra coaster, leverage or just to put something on. (see Season 1, episode 1 of How I Met Your Mother, titled "Purple Giraffe" where Marshall's book on Torts is used as a coaster during one of the parties Ted hosted for Robin)

9. Law students can hold their liquor...and you know what that means right? No? Longer time to talk/do whatever over drinks. You can read the scientific/medical reasons here. And if you're not convinced, go invite your law student friend out to drinks, and I bet he/she can outlast you--even if he/she was not much of a drinker before law school, I'm sure he/she has learned the art of holding his/her liquor by now. (Yes it's an art. haha)

8. Law students study hard, and play much harder. All that studying makes law students value their time for leisure activities (i.e. parties, drinking sessions, or 'whatever' haha) more than usual. So when law students party, they do it hard.

Marshall--always up for a sword fight

7. Law students are (taught to be) brave. All the dissing law students receive/experience in the classroom and other humiliations they get from speaking in public and from other people teach them not to back down from any challenge--sword fights included.
(Case in point, and I believe this is enough proof, the 37 law professors of the UP College of Law who were held in contempt by the Court. Yes, they are professors now but they have been students once, right. I believe they are brave even during their law school days.)

6. Law students can be your Prince/Princess Charming--the one that'll get your damsel-in-distress ass out of trouble. For example, when you get caught for a traffic violation--and believe me, I have been told countless stories involving law students and traffic enforcers--that law student can/will/should use his/her knowledge of the law to get you out of that situation. It's either he/she starts to question the authority (or the lack of) of the traffic enforcer by quoting the law, or he/she will smooth-talk his/her way out of it (remember: negotiation is a part of litigation).

5. Law students are good trophy dates, if not boyfriends or girlfriends. Let's face it, when people date or look for someone to date, they not only consider their own preferences but also take into consideration what people may/will think. They ask questions like,  "Is this so-and-so good for me?" "Do we look good together?" and more importantly, "What would mom/dad/lolo/lola say?" And when you introduce your law student date to whoever, chances are, that whoever will be smiling.

4. Law students are rich--or, will soon be. Let's face it, studying law, or any other post-graduate degree for that matter, is expensive and slightly exclusive. Aside from the tuition fee, law students have to have a considerable amount of money for books, photocopies and other stuff (i.e. gifts for professors, block dinners). So, chances are, the law student you meet has some money, to say the least. Or, he/she will soon be rich. Just remember, "rich" is a relative term. haha

Marshall--as well-dressed as ever

3. Law students dress well--or, at least, learning how to. Making law students dress "professionally" (slacks, blouse/shirt, or dress, black shoes/heels/closed-toe pumps) while attending classes is a good (or the best) way of teaching students to present themselves well without literally teaching it in class. What law students may lack in (biological) looks will/is compensated (to say the least) by the way they dress--even during Halloween (see Marshall's epic Halloween costumes).

2. Law students are funny. Not Charlie Chaplin funny but much like Vice Ganda funny. All the sarcasm law students experience in the classroom and learn/acquire eventually translates to a specific type of comedy. But beware, this type of in-your-face, say-it-as-you-see-it type of comedy does not appeal to everyone but if you get these kind of jokes, rest assured, you're going to be laughing your ass off. (See also lawyer-themed series, Boston Legal, which I hear is funny.)

1. Law students are smart, and as you know, Smart is the new sexy. People search for connection, and find a good conservation more appealing than a random hook-up or quick chat. Also, law students can also be literally sexy though they don't openly show it. For more information on how sexy lawyers can get, watch 'lawyer movies' like The Devil's Advocate. Yes, Keanu Reeves was already a lawyer in the movie but hey, he must have learned it (aka be a lawyer and get Charlize Theron to date him) somewhere along the way, right.


Agree? Lawyered!


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You may want to check out:

Lawyered: The Law-down

To my fellow slacktivists:

Articles like this make me love Saturdays more and more--as if that's possible. This article came out today (October 23 2010) on Supreme, The Philippine Star's lifestyle fold that comes out every Saturdays, and upon reading, it made me go "Aha!" 

Though I'm guilty of being part of Generation Me, and of doing some of the things mentioned in this article (like the Color thing, and more recently, the Bag thing on Facebook), I realize the shallowness, if not outright ineptness, of the means our generation adopt to bring the much-talked about (much romanticized, too, I think) "change." But this thing is, like what John Mayer said in his song Waiting on the World to Change: "Me and all my friends We're all misunderstood They say we stand for nothing and there's no way we ever could. Now we see everything that's going wrong with the world and those who lead it. We just feel like we don't have the means to rise above and beat it." But then again, with all the technology, and the freedom our generation is given (and maybe the money, too) we can do something and we should be pro-active, rather than just stay at home--or wherever it is we are comfortable--and do the "slackactivism" we have mastered. 

  

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Supreme Address

Generation Me is Dead

by Raymond Ang

Early this year, Facebook walls were barraged with seemingly random proclamations of color from our female contacts. There was "White!" and "Mmm red." There was "Sea green" and "Rainbow." But then it got weirder, with patterns and even textures. There were stripes and polka dots, ribbed and even leather. 

As it turned out, the Facebook community wasn't playing Taboo or some kind of communal guessing game. Our friends, as I later found out, were proclaiming the colors or designs of their bras. Yes, bras as in brassiere. 

Apparently it was the Facebook community's way of raising awareness for breast cancer, as bizarre as that might sound. It obviously has to do with breasts. What this public display has to do with breast cancer though, is beyond me. When it comes down to it, it was ineffective, borderline lewd, and downright stupid movement. 

But what else is new? Welcome to Generation Me, where "twibbons" indicate your values and memes mean being connected to the world. My generation is a generation of entitlement--arrogant brats who think our mere presence, the mere attachment of our name to a cause (even on Facebook), and our mere desire for change, are enough to change the world. 

We are so into ourselves, in fact, that we fancy ourselves as Internet celebrities, opening Formspring accounts and allowing our pretend fans to ask us anything they want to--from our love lives to career plans. 

This is the offshoot of growing up blogging. After years of having a ready audience for our thoughts--from teenage dirtbag crushes to hormonal woe-is-me rants--we assume that it all takes to make a connection and make a change is posting an entry on Facebook. It's slacktivism and we're slacktivists. We assume that making a change is as simple as wanting it. We want change but not the work we have to put into making that happen. This is particularly perplexing because it lets a lot of people believe they're making a positive social impact without really doing anything worth anything.  

Just consider the millions who didn't register for the elections. After posting twibbons and joining Facebook groups, they think they've done their part in solving national issues. What about registering for elections? We say it's an archaic concept and that it won't help things anyway. We proclaim wanting change in the government, but we don't even have the time to help this change happen. We talk the talk but can't walk the walk. 

A couple of months ago, I went on my school's immersion program, in my case, a post-Ondoy relief operation. Apparently after the hysteria around Ondoy died down, volunteers dispersed as well. The office's team was left to do the operation themselves. I was surprised there weren't more people who wanted to go. Where were the socially-aware Facebook posters with their twibbons and memes? Where were the Twitter activists? Online, of course, tweeting about Haiti in between rounds of Cafe World. 

A little over a year after Ondoy left us reeling, Juan just flew in and left this country in a flurry. We are obviously concerned. We tweet, reminding everyone to stay safe. We post weather announcements on our Facebooks. We have never been more aware, more connected, and supposedly more emphatic. 

And when the tweet dust settles, we realize that all this just challenged us to be more. Whatever we want to do--be it a lawyer, doctor, astronaut, or, if you'd like, a fortune-teller--be more. Be more for your family. Be more for the country. Be more for yourself. There is a whole world outside our Twitter feeds and Facebook pages. It's time we get our heads out of our asses and untie our Twibbons. 

Generation Me is dead. 

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Generation Me should be dead. 

Let's get off our lazy asses and do something worthwhile rather than updating the world with our mundane and not-so important tweets (which frankly the world can definitely do without), answering silly questions thrown at us at Formspring (which in reality answer nothing important/relevant), and making virtual connections that really don't matter when it needs to, if you know what I mean. Let us use technology to our advantage, and not to our detriment. Let's make it an asset not a liability. And frankly, you should be motivated by now because I'm running out catchphrases. 

Let me end this post by saying, and I revise a well-known adage, those who can, do; those can't, talk. 

Which one are you?

Beatnik, Sputnik

"We each have a special something we can only get at a special time of our life. Like a small flame. A careful, fortunate few cherish that flame, nurture it, hold it as a torch to light their way. But once that flame goes out, it's gone for ever. What I'd lost was not just Sumire. I'd lost that precious flame."

-Haruki Murakami, Sputnik Sweetheart

Let us not lose our respective flames. May it burn, burn, burn like roman candles across the night. :)  

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Facebook Relapse

Like a junkie who's in rehab, or at least publicly trying to quit his drugs, I'm in relapse. Just a day, about twenty-four hours or so since I deactivated my Facebook account, which I recently realized defines and eats all the time when I'm on the Internet--and sometimes even when I'm not.

Start
I was into Facebook wayyy before I had a Friendster account, which I recently deleted, and even before all other people did. I was into Facebook back when the interface (is that the proper term for the 'look' of a webpage? hah, I don't know.) was fugly; the font small; and the features minimal. I remember having only two friends: Teppie Abella, who introduced me to it, and Amaris Javillonar. We just wrote funny stuff on each other's Walls (which was wayyy worse than what it looks like now) and poke each other, and then log out. There's nothing much really.

Hooked
I got hooked when people started getting into Facebook and suddenly, before I knew it, almost everyone is on Facebook, and I had 600+ friends. It's like a big international civil registry. The only difference is, not all the information (and even the people) are true/real. You just have to pick which ones to believe, and which ones to take as lies/fake, which friends to "add as friend" (and give access to almost everything about you) and which ones to "add later" (I remember this option used to say, quite outrightly I believe, "Ignore."). Also, there were a lot of stuff to do, other than looking at people's profiles and photos (without leaving a virtual mark that you have viewed such), like make notes, tag people in photos, play games and post links (which became my past time haha).

I could spend all day logged in on Facebook. Yeah, I was that addicted. If I nothing substantial to do, like check and reply to notifications, I would think of some random friend I had and just go to his profile and check/view where he/she has been or what he/she been up to lately. In other words, stalking.

According to a TIME article on addiction, and I quote in full: "Addictions," says Joseph Frascella, director of the division of clinical neuroscience at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), "are repetitive behaviors in the face of negative consequences, the desire to continue something you know is bad for you."

The Realization
The idea to deactivate my Facebook account--because I was not (wo)man enough to quit the thing altogether--came at a time when I'm in (currently at that, hehe) a very stressful situation called: Finals Week. Finals week, the week where almost all your profs in all your subjects give out final exams to end the semester, a measure to what you've learned and retained from all the discussions, readings etc. In undergrad, finals week wasn't a stressful or dreadful experience for I always aimed for exemption from final exams, or some profs opted not to give final exams. But apparently, in law school, the words "finals week" mean business. Everyone gives out final exams, and no one gives out exemptions. Yeah, as if someone can be exempted by their sheer semester-long brilliance. Anyway, I realized that the time I wasted on Facebook would be better spent studying a.k.a. trying to pass. So I went to the computer, logged in, and deactivated--but not after replying/checking the notifications, as if it would matter later, haha.

But I have to admit, this deactivation is temporary. I plan to reactivate my account as soon my finals week is over. Or maybe, I'd extend the deactivation longer. Who knows?

The Morning After, literally
I still think about Facebook. This blog as a proof and manifestation of that thought. As a way to put myself away from the temptation of reactivating my account, I decided to not go online at all. But this morning, I had to check my email for some writing "assignment" to do for a job application process. When I saw that the "assignment" hadn't been sent yet, I thought of reactivating my Facebook account to pass time. This is called the Withdrawal phase, I believe.

This is what I did: take a deep breath, count to ten, and walk away from the computer. Don't ever get online while having these "fits" because temptation would be strongest. Imagine, you'll be a click away from reactivating your addicting lifestyle. Remind yourself the reasons why you deactivated (or for the "braver" ones out there, quitted). It's all in the mind. But if you do need to go online, think of doing other things... like blogging, which I admit, had been relegated to the backseat with Facebook in the front seat of the car I call, my Internet life.

I know, and expect, many more What-If-Reactivate Moments will come within the week (around Oct12 to Oct 19 or maybe longer) I decide to deactivate it. I'd like to think I'm prepared or well-distracted to not notice the difference. But when the strongest impulse to reactivate comes, I just have to remind myself which "thing" I value most: real life experiences/acquaintances (or even failures, if I flunk my exams) or virtual connection.


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PS: To deactivate your Facebook account, do this:
Log in to Facebook, hover your mouse pointer over the "Settings" tab, click "Account Settings" from the drop-down menu, tick off the reason/s why you're leaving, and then provide your password. Confirm and voila! you're off Facebook as easy (and as quickly, too) as you made your account. Good luck.
I'll write about how to delete one's Facebook account when I have convinced myself to do so.



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Where the other half is, I don't know.

You know why I love music?

Music not only gives life to life; it elicits/provokes thoughts and expressions that are otherwise forgotten or ignored. That's one of the many reasons why I love it. Tonight, I write about John Mayer's recent single--well, the most recent one I know of.

The thing with John Mayer is this: I always remember him as the guy who sang No Such Thing, the song my crush, when that person wasn't my crush yet, sang in class that one time when we were all asked to sing whatever song we wanted. (fyi: I sang Sara Bareilles' One Sweet Love. haha) That became such an epic moment for me. It's like one of those seemingly simple and uneventful moments in your life that stick to your mind, to your memory, like glue. Unforgettable, defining. And for that, I'll never forget Mr. Mayer.

Tonight, after seeing and listening to Mayer's new video, the link to which was posted by a friend on Facebook, Half of my Heart, my mind went "Aha!" It's like John Mayer (and his co-writer/s, if he ever has one) wrote that song with my mind in mind. Yeah, it was that accurate.

Anyway. I refuse to go on further with this, because honestly I'd prefer to keep this locked up in my own Pandora's box of what-could-bes and what-might-have-beens. But like any other sentimental person, it's fun and... I don't know, relieving to let yourself get nostalgic once in awhile... to remind myself--and write about it--of this too blissful moment in my short twenty-year life. A legendary moment. ;)

Half of my heart's got a grip on the situation.
Half of my heart takes time
Half of my heart's got a right mind...
Half of my heart's got a good imagination, 
Half of my heart's got you.


And half of my heart is the part of a man
who's never truly loved anything. 


Then you come on crashing in like the realest thing. 


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Let the first be the last.

Later tonight, our block will be having our last official class for the first semester of AY 2010-2011. Coincidentally, our first class this semester is also the last, which makes the journey, I guess, complete. Full-circle, as they say.

To be happy about this simple triumph (finishing my first semester in law school alive and with most of my values and dignity intact), I fear, would/may jinx my grades. It may be a baseless fear for my grades are already low or not-so-great as they are. Jinx or no jinx. But then again, I take this time, my sweet time to be thankful to all the forces of nature, luck and faith that has brought me where I am--hours away from my last class.

Of course, I'm not counting out the fact/chance of me being butchered by my professor later tonight during recitation. But as it is, I'm happy at what I've accomplished--albeit inchoate, haha. The passing grades (regardless of how barely passing they are) I will be getting (hopefully), in all five of my subjects this semester, will make this happiness complete, and the relief genuine. 

Goodluck to me and all others who'll be taking final exams these coming weeks. May we all make it alive and  able next semester, and all the others after that! :)


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Death on a Sunday

death: painful and sad

avoid it, that's what we do

acceptance: have to




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