Law School is a Walk in the Park - the Jurassic Park and the Ground is Lava!

I've read so many stories, blogs of full-time workers studying in law school. Expectedly, they all lamented the hassles and hustles of balancing work and school.  But one common factor appears to them all:  they are all single, either fresh out of college, and have no kids. 

Of course, law school is tough. It has always been and will continue to be that way. It's a fact. 

Nevertheless, I wondered if there are people like me, who balance motherhood, manage the household, manage people at work, and strive to survive the nitty-gritty of law school requirements.

Motherhood, Law School and Career 

A long time ago, I thought of getting into law school after graduating from college. I should have done it before my kid arrived so I could focus more on studying my subjects. Fast forward more than a decade later, I am in a managerial role, a mom, a homemaker, and a law student. 

My life is torturous and it will persist for the next 3.5 years or until I finish law school since at the time of writing this I'm still in my first year, in the second sem of law school.

I sought blog inspiration from working mothers who had to balance managerial roles, motherhood, and law school all at the same time. I was hoping that some women around the world tackled this journey and came out victorious. 

However, I only encountered one blog and one youtube video about being a working mother while studying in law school and it's not even in the Philippine setting.

That's it. Only ONE blog narrates her experience in managing the household, raising up kids while traversing the harsh road in law school.

She was able to pull it off by having a lot of support from family and friends. The school also offered her leeway in underloading her course units so she could only take up what she could handle per sem. It took her a while to finish all the courses but she finished law school. 

Philippine Law School Setting

Although the Philippine law schools offered evening and weekend classes to aspiring lawyers who are full-time workers, there are very few law schools in the Philippines that allow underloading of units. 

For example in the law school, I am currently enrolled in, I asked if I could only take up some of the courses this sem and I will take the rest of the courses later in succeeding semesters. A big resounding NO came back to my face.

My strategies in studying in the first semester proved just enough to let me pass the courses, barely passing, I suppose. However, it has taken a toll on my health many times as I fell dizzy and ill leading to the exam days from lack of sleep and sheer exhaustion managing the household, attending to the needs of my child, managing work, and studying legal concepts. 

I must say it was a walk in the park! But the Park is Jurassic Park and the ground is filled with lava! 

They say the first year in law school is the baptism of fire. I say I feel like I'm being cremated!

The nature of my job also entails a mental and intellectual load because I work as a Copywriter. I write blogs, press releases, social media content, website content, and other marketing materials for several websites daily. Our company is a software development company and we develop software technology beneficial to various industries. These products change and update all the time, so as the writer I should keep abreast with the developments. 

My daily routine starts with 8-9 hours of full-time work, attending 4 hours in law school, and the rest of my hours are spent in cooking cleaning, laundry, personal hygiene, a little bit of reading cases, and perhaps grabbing some sleep if time permits.

How can Law Schools support full-time working mothers?

I get it, law school is like getting through hell to have a taste of heaven. So, if you are not willing to endure, the door is always open for you to walk out. 

But could overloading schedules and hectic reading assignments be an effective way to train the legal mind? Should the transfer of knowledge always be coercive?

I'd like to think that learning about anything, and not just in law school should be done in pacing. Quality learning happens through the internalization, discussion in your own words of the relevant concepts. 

The very reason I enrolled in law school is that I want to learn about the laws of our land. Whether I will practice legal profession in the future, or not, I haven't decided yet. All I want in this law school journey is to maximize legal knowledge so, I and the people around me could benefit.

Nonetheless, I am aware of the opportunities the legal profession could bring when I become an attorney but more importantly, I just want to learn about the law so I can use it to help my family, friends, and the people in my circle.

But to do this, I must endure the process, and sometimes I'd like to think have this method of training law school students proven effective in transferring knowledge?

I understand students have a responsibility to help themselves in the study of law. Spoonfeeding is futile all the same. Yes, I am willing to endure law school training but not at the expense of my health. For what is the benefit of a great lawyer when spent in the hospitals, or worse in the tomb? 

Thus, I think law schools, particularly my school now, should allow students like me, who have compelling reasons to underload some course units so we could have quality learning. 

Nonetheless, since it is a state university, what the State deems fit becomes the law. And I am very much aware that if it is too hot in the kitchen, I should get out. You see I love reading about the law, the cases, the textbook. Really, I do. I would if I could have more time to really savor the preponderance of knowledge at hand. 

If I could have the option of underloading some course units, I'll gladly avail. 

If I could have someone pay all my bills, feed my family, and clean the house, so I could focus on my legal education, I will forever be indebted and gladly give it the best of my time, talents, and skills. 

It would benefit me, the school, my family, and society for sure because then I will have a fighting chance to narrow my priorities and list my studies as a top priority.

Of course, we can have everything in life BUT not all at once! So for now, I will have to endure being a working mother, law student, and manager. Because the bills don't get a vacation, so do housework, and raising children.

Perhaps, one day, I shall look back into this time of my life, and despite all the mess, I'd finally see my name in the Roll of Attorneys of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines. It would be the greatest emotion in a lifetime! (I'm already in tears just imagining it!) 

With the grace of the Almighty God who is the Source of all Wisdom, Knowledge, Understanding, and Strength, I can endure one sem at a time. One course at a time.

So help me God.