15/01/2026
Barrista Solutions | A Barristaโs Journey
โACCIDENTALLY IN LOVEโ
Back in January 2019, I was happy with my work because I enjoyed the company of my very supportive colleagues. However, deep down, I felt a growing desire to be closer to my family. For six years, my job was not home-based and every Friday after work I had to travel almost three hours just to get home.
During the second week of January that year, my best friend asked if I could accompany him to Tuguegarao. I agreed, since it was a Friday and I would be able to go home afterward. At the same time, I thought this trip might be an opportunity for me to find a valid reason to transfer to Tuguegarao and finally to be assigned home-based. That reason, I believed, could be enrolling in a doctoral degree program.
Upon arriving in Tuguegarao, we briefly stopped by our house to get my transcript of records and other pertinent documents for enrollment. When we reached the school, my best friend went to the Registrarโs Office to submit his report while I proceeded to the Graduate School to inquire about the enrollment requirements. After checking my documents, the secretary instructed me to secure an ID picture which I immediately did.
When I returned and submitted all the requirements, I expected to enroll right away. Unfortunately, I was informed that I needed to undergo an admission test: a 500-word essay to be completed by noon as the office would only be open for half a day due to a scheduled meeting. I checked my watchโit was already 11:35 a.m., leaving only 25 minutes to complete the essay. I asked permission from the secretary to go to the restroom and said I would return shortly. However, before heading back, I passed by the Registrarโs Office to inform my friend and that was when I noticed a posted announcement about the PHILSAT application. Seeing that notice gave me a sudden realization: instead of returning to the Graduate School, I decided to pursue law school. In all honesty, PHILSAT proved to be mentally demanding far more difficult than the CSC examination.
Fast forward to July of that year, I entered law school with confidence, believing I could handle it because I had survived graduate school and had years of experience in the academe. I soon realized, however, that law school was a different animal altogether. Recitations were intense and unforgiving, marked by relentless questioning. If you failed to answer, you could be made to stand for an hour or more. One thing became immediately clear: in law school, everyone stands on equal footingโno prior experience, title or background gives anyone an advantage. Despite the challenges, my mindset was clearโto finish law school on time, within four years, with the goal of becoming a lawyer by May 2024.
After my first-year, first semester, I felt relieved and happy because I passed all my subjects. When 2020 came, the challenges intensified as classes shifted online. One of the biggest obstacles was the overwhelming volume of case digestsโoften close to, if not more than, a hundred cases. There were even instances during online recitations when students were required to wear blindfolds.
It was only during my second-year, second semester that I learned to answer law school exam questions using the ALAC method. Until then, I had been approaching exams with simple essays similar to graduate school comprehensive exams.
The first time I received a failing grade was in Constitutional Law II. Still, I treated this setback as a learning opportunity and continued moving forward, even after failing Legal Accounting, Remedial Law Review I, Taxation Law II and Commercial Law Review. Failing Remedial Law Review I and Commercial Law Review was particularly discouraging as every failing grade tended to prolong my stay in law school by a semester or even a year.
During my final year, since Commercial Law Review was the only subject left, I focused entirely on preparing for the Bar. I compiled my notes and gathered resources referenced to the 2025 Bar syllabus which became my primary arsenal during the exam.
There were moments, especially during my first year, when I came very close to quitting law school. The pressure was overwhelming and giving up sometimes felt easier than pushing through. But because of my strong support systemโmy family, friends and those who believed in meโI found the strength to persevere.
At first, law school was a practical choiceโa way to justify having a home-based job so I could stay close to my family. Yet somewhere along the journey, I fell in love with the study of lawโits discipline, challenges and purpose. Pursuing law had also been a dream since I was young, inspired by seeing my mother study in law school. Some say I took up law to fulfill her dream, and in many ways, I embraced that. After all, the ultimate goal of law school is to pass the Bar and become a lawyer.
I also owe this journey to my wife. Her unwavering support carried me through the most difficult moments and I would not be where I am today without her. As they say, behind the success of a man is a woman.
Now that I have passed the Bar, I am truly happy because one of my greatest motivations was to become the first lawyer in our family in nearly a centuryโor five generations. My great-great-grandmother, Brigida Rapadas-Alcantara (Roll No. 27852, December 14, 1931), was then the first female lawyer in our hometown of Aparri. Her legacy inspired me to follow this path.
My law school journey was not easy. By day, I worked as a teacher; by night, I was a law student. After evening classes, I often struggled to find time to fulfill my roles as a husband and a father. Instead of finishing in four years, it took me six. Yet despite the hardships, the journey was worth every struggle. I fought the good fight and finished the race, and by Godโs grace, I am now a lawyer. May the Lord always remind me to remain humble and help me use this gift to serve others. Without Him, without my family as my primary support system, without my friends who stood by me and without my cherished alma mater, Cagayan State University, I could not have achieved this ultimate goal.
AD ASTRA PER ASPERA!
**Jan Dominic Tarroja Umengan graduated from the Cagayan State University College of Law (Batch 2025) and successfully passed the 2025 Bar Examinations. He is currently serving as an Assistant Professor at Cagayan State University.
