the orientation was ok, although i wasn't really vocal in class [ i'm always like that during first days. what can i say, i'm just really shy ]... i was just with oggie the whole time and we just kept on laughing at people/things and bringing up ateneo stuff. [ i just can't live without humor. i don't know what to do without the harkadah around in school. ] maybe i'm just getting tired of the getting-to-know-you process. everyone's just so nice and sometimes pretentious. everyone just tries to get on everyone else's good side and sometimes try too hard in the process. it's like a person's real self is concealed with all the sucking up and you can't really tell who she/he really is after just the first meeting. i just want to fast forward it to fourth year and see which ones i can really jive and hang out comfortably with. right now, it's just too early to know that. i know, i'm getting cynical already. and it's bad. and maybe i just miss the harkadah.

speaking of which, i met this girl, michelle, last tuesday at the reg. i was with her and tessa [ who's also from AB Psy ] almost the whole day. too bad the three of us belong to different sections. anyway, michelle eerily looked like jenny at some angles. michelle's hairstyle now even looks exactly the same as jenny's hairstyle back when we were in first year college, and they even have the same body built. and it just reminded me of our first year days, and it made me realize how much i miss the comfort of hanging out with someone or some people you really click with [ almost ] every day of your life, in almost every subject. and now i'm back to square one, in a totally new environment, with a different set of people, forced to make adjustments on my own..

but, don't worry, i'm not really anti-social/psychopathic and i still met a few new people here and there although i didn't mingle much. i'm just a slow-to-warm-up kid. there were a lot of nice people there anyway. and it was surprising that half of the population are composed of ateneans [ actually, half of my class are composed of ateneans, while the rest came from UP. nice. ].

the reality of law school is finally sinking in to my system. right now, i already have a handful of hand-outs which is equivalent to a semester worth of theo readings. and these are cases/readings for only the next three sessions. and the horror stories the alumni/students were telling awhile ago don't seem to help either. we had the mock recitation earlier, yes, most of us were humiliated in front of the whole class as expected. it was like the interview all over again. and i know it's going to be like that again and again and again. i don't think i can live everyday for the next four years feeling all nervous and jittery every class time before recitation. i don't even recite much in class. i don't even talk. agh. good luck to me.

sooo... about UP, i'm just not so used to the campus/system yet, but it'll grow on me somehow. hopefully. awhile ago, it felt really weird having to hear the UP faculty and upperclassmen speak of ateneo law school in the same way that ateneo college people spoke of la salle before. especially since i've always dreamed of going to ateneo law school...

my dad, needless to say, is really happy with the whole set-up. maybe happy is an understatement. exhaust all the words you can use synonymous to ecstatic, joyous, jubilant. he's even more excited and eager than i am [ i don't think i'm showing any signs of excitement anyway. my brain is still in summer mode. ]. he kept on calling me and texting me about the orsem, and he was doing the same thing during the reg. he also gathered all the materials [ hand-outs, books ] i need for monday already. well, that's a good thing. i just don't hope he gets carried away and expect me already to top the bar or something.

i still can't believe i only have two short days left for my summer vacation. just a few days ago, i was the most carefree person in the world, not caring what date or day it is for that matter, waking up each day and going back to sleep in a few hours not because i want to because i can. everything was just floating and free... and now i find myself immersed in a rigid system i have to comply with for the rest of my life, and i know from this point on that there's no turning back. i know, i've mentioned a few weeks ago that i want a foundation/structure in which to center my life on, but it's just a whole lot different saying it then than saying it now.

anyway, these are some helpful tips i gathered from the orsem:

• have a life apart from law school which the law school can't touch. have someone/people you can unload your feelings about law school to. well, i still have my family on my side [ except for my dad, because law school is my connection to him hehe ], the harkadah, my other friends who i've held on to for a long time. i still go to church regularly and i'm planning to become more active with the activities.. maybe i can still join kythe.. join some orgs.. until i don't have time to sleep and eat anymore. hehe.
  
• allot two hours of studying time each day for each hour in class. o k a y. maybe it can be done.
  
• read cases as if they were gossip.
  
• don't lose sanity by keeping your humor. i know, this is my best defense mechanism ever.
  
• know your goal and purpose why you took up law. i'll get to it, don't worry.
  
• start studying for the BAR exams now. i agree.
  
• establish and maintain friendships, especially within the block/batch. help each other. we'll see about that.
  

again, good luck to me.

Labels: law school