Of the dozens of interesting sidebar stories among 2023 bar passers is the awe-inspiring account of Rosula Calacala, a native of Isabela province.
The first-time examinee took and passed the bar at the age of 62, four years after she decided to pursue law studies following four decades of accountancy work.
The mother of three, all professionals now, started her jurisprudence studies at 58. Right on Day One of law school, she said she wanted to give up, upon realizing the difficulties ahead, but she eventually decided to persevere “as the books have already been bought by her children,” she told Amy Perez in a phone interview shown over TeleradyoSerbisyo following the Dec. 5 release of the results. “It has been ‘no surrender’ since then,” she added.
What captured my attention – while watching the interview – was her age when she took and passed the bar exam. And the strength of her faith.
Our hard work means nothing if we forget God. I believe in His power to help us, she said.
“I was like David facing my Goliath (referring the law school challenges) and so I entrusted everything to God,” she said, including on bar examination day.
She added that her motivation now as a new lawyer is to provide inspiration to both young people and senior citizens, like her, that time is not too late to do further improve their lives.
At the same time, she encouraged young people and students to spend their time wisely by not devoting much of it in social media.
The new attorney added that she will use her lawyering ability to help the needy as she reiterated that people should always keep their faith. With God on our side, we can do more, she said.
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Congratulations to all bar passers, especially my two former students at the St. La Salle Communications program – Joevel Bartolome of Bacolod City and Nelle France Sanchez of San Carlos City.
I am convinced that their Communications training and their writing skills developed in Journalism classes and in our award-winning publication then, The LEAD, have helped them in taking the bar.
France was our sports editor and news reporter.
Joevel was our editor in chief. She was my co-author and researcher in the paper on Service-Learning which I presented in an Asia-Pacific Conference in Surabaya, Indonesia in 2017. I would like to believe she is the first USLS student whose research paper had been presented in an international academic conference. Joevel has also been help in my journalism trainings and research activities years after she completed her Communication studies in 2018.
Again, my congratulations.
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For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. (I Corinthians 15:10) | NWI
