Binata, laking gulat sa malaking tagumpay matapos mag top 6 sa Bar exam

"How can this have happened?", yan ang isa sa mga nasambit ng isang bagong pasang abogado matapos makita ang resulta ng Bar exam.

Kasunod ng paglabas ng resulta ng bar exam ay ang paglutang ng iba't-ibang kwento ng mga pinagdaanan ng mga taong sumailalim sa napakatinding pagsusulit.


Isa si Kenneth Manuel sa mga kumuha ng Bar exam noong November 2019 at nakapasa. Sya rin ang lalaking dati ng nag-trending matapos ibahagi ang kwento kung paano nya nalagpasan ang kanyang mga suliranin para maabot ang pinakamimithing pangarap na maging abogado.

Sa kanyang Facebook post, inalala ng bar topnotcher ang kanyang ginawang paraan upang maiwasan ang sobrang pag-aalala sa resulta ng Bar exam.

Idinetalye din doon ng bagong abogado ang kanyang sobrang pagkatuwa at labis na pagkagulat sa resultang kanyang ginusto ngunit hindi inasahan.

"This is not how I perceived it to be (not that I’m complaining). My social media accounts were ablaze with tags and messages. I was trying to catch my breath. No. This should not be real." saad ni Manuel.

"I answered a ridiculous crime in Criminal Law. I failed to answer an objective question in Remedial Law. I tried projecting my grade, and it is a measly 73 average. They say that we must read all our references at least twice, but I did not even finish on my first run. And that horrible penmanship?! How can this have happened?" dagdag pa nya.

Basahin ang kanyang Facebook post:

This midnight, I played “Today My Life Begins” by Bruno Mars. I sang along with it to relieve the tension of waiting for the results. It has been my Bar theme song. Every morning, before I start making my coffee or opening a book, I play this song.

It has not really set in yet. It still feels unreal. Twenty four hours ago, I was sitting in front of my laptop, trying to finish some work while ignoring the heavy pounding of my chest. I was really afraid I’d fail. I wasn’t even that 100% confident that I will pass. After the SC announced last week that they will be releasing the Bar results today, I get increasingly annoyed with all the tags I have been receiving saying “sure pass” or “Bar topnotcher na 'yan” because it added external pressure which is frankly the last thing I needed back then. It was paralyzing. My body felt a lot heavier for the past days.

Before I slept, I put my phone on “Airplane Mode”. I do not want to receive any calls from anyone on fears that it may be a premature and an unreliable one. I slept at 4:00am. I intended to wake up at noon time or 1:00pm. I really do not want to be the person who would refresh the Supreme Court page every second because that would be the height of my anxiety. I want that when I wake up, the results are already released, and it will be up to me whether I see the results for myself.

I actually set up two emails and asked someone to email me my results. News of failure may be tough to deliver, so I instructed him to send any message to the first email if I pass and to the second email address if I fail.

I took a bath. I wore my UST Law shirt, talked to myself that I should accept whatever the result may be, and slept. Fortunate that I was able to fall asleep quickly since I only slept for 3-5 hours the day before.

11:58am. The first thing I did was check my email. The first email I read had this subject: Atty. Kenneth Manuel – 6th Place, 2019 Bar Examinations. I was in skeptical surprise. I immediately called the sender and asked whether that is a reliable source. He asked me to go online, and see for myself. Switching the Airplane Mode off, the notifications came in overwhelmingly. I do not know where to start. This is not how I perceived it to be (not that I’m complaining). My social media accounts were ablaze with tags and messages. I was trying to catch my breath. No. This should not be real. I answered a ridiculous crime in Criminal Law. I failed to answer an objective question in Remedial Law. I tried projecting my grade, and it is a measly 73 average. They say that we must read all our references at least twice, but I did not even finish on my first run. And that horrible penmanship?! How can this have happened?

It is real. It is there. My name is up there. I rub my eyes. I tried to pinch my skin to feel pain. I realized it is real. My name is indeed up there.

This wouldn’t be all real without the help of many people: my family, my friends, my batchmates at UST Law and blockmates at 4C, my Review School of Accountancy (ReSA) family (to my reviewees and co-reviewers!), my Letran family (to my students and co-faculty!), my Foundation for Liberty and Prosperity (FLP) family, fellow VLC warriors, my DivinaLaw family, my very supportive professors at UST Law, everyone who have been there with me throughout my law school and Bar review journey. The words of encouragement, the constant reminders to believe in myself, the affirmation of things you see in me yet I was not able to see – they all helped me go through times filled with exhaustion and self-doubt. I share this victory in gratitude to all of you.

The thing is — there is no perfect journey. There will be always failures along the way that will make us doubt ourselves. There will be setbacks that will have us rethink if we should already stop. An obstacle is meant to be hurdled. A puzzle is meant to be solved. It is okay to have self-doubts, but it is not okay to settle on them. What I have learned today is, perhaps, we should know why people always tell us that they believe in us, that they are so proud of us when we’re curling ourselves in hesitation. Perhaps they can see something in us that our limited perspectives can’t see.

Tonight, I will be playing “Today My Life Begins”. And I will sing with Bruno Mars: “A whole new world is waiting / it’s mine for the taking / I know I can make it / Today my life begins.”

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