Excellent Work by: Freya Elessandra G. Patron
I wanted to be so many things as a child. I wanted to become a cashier in the supermarket because it seemed interesting punching in the prices for the products of others, receiving money and giving out the change to them. Then, I wanted to be the person in charge of toll fees, giving out toll cards and receiving money from the drivers. When I got older, I shifted to new professions, but I still didn’t settle for one. I wanted to become a teacher, mostly because I wanted to check papers, and it just seemed like the type of job where, at the end of the day, something new has happened – the students are unpredictable – and so there’s always something to reflect about and something new to expect the next day. I also wished to be a doctor – a surgeon, to be more exact. It engrossed me, the way surgeons really delve into the bodies of the patients and fix what’s wrong in there.
It was abstruse, what I wanted to be. It didn’t frustrate me at all though, because I’ve always thought that having a career was still a future thing. When I tried weighing out my weaknesses and strengths to be able to aid me in what I want to be, I never really knew, because I seemed to perform well in all the subjects, with only minor differences in my grades. College kept on drawing near and I suddenly felt insecure, unsure of what I want to be. I knew I had to decide soon. If there’s one thing I can’t stop, it would be time. Time never waits on us.
But God has wonders unimaginable that one day, I just knew.
I knew what I wanted to be. It was very simple. I couldn’t be surer.
It was dinner time. Traditionally, when my family would eat we would talk about current events, especially in our country. That has always interested me unconsciously, just as my father is; it felt like an everyday conversation only. My opinions flowed like water from a stream. There would always be something similar about every issue we would talk about: injustice. There are countless issues in our country – poverty, graft and corruption, greed among many others. Each issue connects with another, and the result is mortifying.
Injustice has always been prevalent, especially in our country. Even before I was born injustice has already taken many forms – in the abortion of the unborn, the physical, mental and emotional abuse of our citizens, the graft and corruption of the politicians, extra judicial and media killings... These forms have just been passing on, never disappearing. It is hurtful to say the truth that as each year passed injustice became more and more ubiquitous. I have made the most straightforward realization in my life – that just to sit and watch my country bathe itself in the poisonous lake of injustice would be a sin.
This realization changed my life completely. It opened my eyes to a whole new view of the world, the real world. It is in this world that everyone isn’t like me living comfortably in my home. It is a world with dwellers that cannot have a say, not even at the price of their lives. It is a world full of corruption and selfishness. It is a world so divided between the affluent and the hapless.
Yet it is a world full of hope.
Yes, that’s what I should be: a beacon of hope to others. They need a defender, someone to voice out their concerns when they are not listened to, someone to represent them, giving them confidence to face their predicaments, without any fear that they will not be taken into consideration...
A lawyer. That is what I could be, what I must be, and what I will be.
Everything became clear to me now. I have always been thinking too much about my academic qualifications. That is just, I believe, a part of being an ideal lawyer. What matters more greatly is the selflessness of the heart – and I believe I am fully capable of being selfless; it comes naturally for me. Immediately I am moved to compassion in the simplest situations I experience everyday at home, in school, or anywhere. I did not realize that the traits necessary for me to be a lawyer have been instilled for a long time. I have just been thinking too much of what I should be that I failed to notice it’s all very simple – so simple that my heart yearns for it, it thumps at the very thought of it.
It is true that the path to being an ideal lawyer is operose and toilsome, but it just is all worth it. Right now I am preparing myself for the challenges studying to become one I will face. It is already soon, yet I face it with the kind of anxiety mixed with hopefulness. Not only will I be able to defend others, I will also make my parents proud by showing them they have not wasted any of their hard work for me. I will also fulfil my mother’s dream for herself and for mine. She has always wanted to become a lawyer, but circumstances have hindered her from being so. It all fits perfectly – it something my parents are very supportive of, it is something the world needs, it is something I am wholeheartedly willing to exert effort for.
But most of all, it is something God has chosen me to do. There are thousands of lawyers out there, but I know I am still special because I know in my heart he has chosen me to be one of the thousand lawyers because with me hardly noticing it, He has been shaping me and leading me to the path of being one. It is like an everyday whisper from God, the experiences I face, the minute demonstrations of my potential of becoming a lawyer through witty arguments and the passion for sacrificing, as long as it makes things better not just for myself, but for others as well.
The whisper of God, the love of my parents, the inspiration from the daily situations in my life and of our country – these are my beacons of hope. These beacons are shining so brightly that their light has transposed to me, and now I would wake up every morning and thank God because I know what He wants me to be and that clearly gives me something to live for. Now, everything fits. I am no longer hopeless. I am enlightened, and I cannot wait to fulfill my life’s purpose to the greatest extent.
Justice, conformity and peace: what our world needs. What I now live for.
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