Bench & Bar (Part I)

Hello September!

The month of September is significant for three reasons:

First, it's the start of the Christmas season, at least in this country. I don't know why this is. Maybe because this month is the first month that has the 'ber' stuck to its end.

Second, on a more personal level, this month signals the start my spiritual growth. I have resolved to exercise the spiritual gift of self-control.

Third, the significance of this month is felt more than ever by the people in the law profession. September is what we call 'Bar Month'. During this month, for four Sundays, and as early as 5 in the morning, thousands upon thousands of hopefuls line up along Taft Avenue to take the bar exams. And while the examinees are inside De LaSalle University, the exams venue, students and professors from law schools all over the country wait outside and join in the mad festivities called the 'Bar Operations', or barops, in legal parlance (wink, wink).

I have participated in the barops since my first year in law school - as a volunteer for the first two years, and as a member of the Academic Committee for the remaining years. I am once again thrown into the barops, this time as a runner for my cousin who's taking this year's bar. I was told that the bar operations was conducted from way back, but by fraternities. So blessed were those who belonged to fraternities, for they were taken cared of by their fraternity brothers. Then someone decided to make the bar operations a school activity. Before long, schools have been conducting their Centralized Bar Operations, comprised of student volunteers. I don't know if this information is precise, and I will not bother to verify. All I know is that from the time I started law school, the Centralized Bar Operations was there.

It's crazy to be a part of the bar operations. Barops covers a lot of fields: hotel, review materials, logistics. When I was a volunteer, I had it easy because I was merely required to be in the hotel where my school's barristers were billeted, just in case I was needed for an errand. There wasn't much errand to run then. But when I signed up for the Academic Committee, I lost precious sleep for four Saturdays. Being in the Academic Committee meant not sleeping on a Saturday night because we had to listen to lectures and take notes. From these lectures, we would deliberate which were the most important points that need to be placed on the Last Minute Tips. The Last Minute Tips are review materials we would distribute to the barristers at 4 in the morning on the day of the exams, before the barristers leave the hotel for the exams venue. Then, and only then, could we go home to catch up on some Zzz's. Mind you, we still had graded recitations on Mondays.

For those barops members stationed at the hotel, their Saturday noons would be devoted to barristers registration. Their evenings would be spent running errands for barristers with special requests. Sleep would probably be a few minutes nap. Then it's off to wake-up calls and breakfast deliveries. The fun does not stop when the barristers are off to the exams venue because these members have to stand guard over the barristers' luggage until check-out.

Despite the sleepless nights and bitching barristers, the barops is something that every law student should experience. In my honest opinion, you're not a genuine law student if you haven't experienced at least a Sunday of bar operations.