bedlam. again.

yesterday was the first day of the bar exams. before anything else, i guess i'd like to say i'm mighty thankful i never have to go through that again.

2 of my sisters and 1 cousin are taking the exams at the moment. was up at 430 yesterday morning to make sandwiches for their lunch. at 615 we brought them to the gates.

after the 2nd exam there they were, rehashing the questions, and telling tales of what happened during the exam. several examinees didn't come back for the afternoon exam. a friend was telling a story about how a girl exclaimed "ilabas niyo na yan, na-di-distract kami!" when one of the examinees had an epilepsy attack. talk about stress.

i know how stressed out they must have felt. after all, i've been there before. standing there at the sidelines and watching them i found myself wishing i could spare them the trouble of having to go through that trying period.

for someone who wants to become a lawyer, the bar exams is a necessary evil. after going through a grueling 4 years (or in some cases, 5 or 6) of law school, they have to go through 6 months of review, one month of hell for the exams, and another 6 months of waiting and wondering whether they should consider studying again for the next bar.

it disrupts a person's balance and waylays well-made plans.

still... it's something one must go through. an uncle once said that it is a learning process, that if only for the months of review, one should want to take the bar exams.

to a certain extent, i believe that. i can honestly say that i learned a lot during the bar exams. time and again i found myself saying "oh... so that's what it is" or "so that's why..."

still, despite the learning, the mental and emotional fatigue can sometimes be more than one can take.

they have 3 more sundays to go and then, freedom... at least until the bar results come out.

for my part, i just have to stay and keep waiting at the sidelines. and pray that they never have to go through it again.