Lordy Jessah B.

Aggabao Reflective Journal

Case Studying: A Journey

“Experience is the best teacher.” - Although cliche, this is one of the most famous maxims
about learning that, without a doubt, rings true. It is probably because experiencing a thing
gives life to the words we read and concretizes the theories we learn in the classroom; it paints
the picture of what is set out by our books.

For the past few weeks, we were tasked to think out of the box - to experience what it is
like to read and digest a full-text case. As an aspiring lawyer, I believe it was normal to be all
giddy about the activity. Despite being nocturnal, my excitement fueled me to get up early and
finish what is tasked to me.

Upon the initial writing of a case digest, I really had a rough time dealing with it for the
reason that I had no idea how to compose one. What I did was I heeded advice to those who
have the intellect, added some few research regarding the said writing and started making one.
At first, I was really confused for there are technical words being tackled in the study of making
a case digest. I was in deep gratitude the moment our professor, Attorney Ida Marie V.
Escalano - Canton, enumerated these. At that very moment, I was enlightened. During my
composition, I learned to enjoy and have fun while doing it. There are some instances that I
came up with a lengthy case digest and later on will I realize that not everything is suppose to
be jot down. I threw all unnecessary facts and revised it over and over again. At the final stage
of digesting cases, I proof read to have assurance of the things that I have noted until I come up
with a quality product.

Of course, everything has its room for improvement. Since I am knew in the field of case
studying, I still commit errors while doing a digest of it. At some point, I feel frustrated for not
having a perfect case digest. On the other hand, I am delighted than ever for I know learning is
a life-long process.
 On a scale of one to ten (one being the lowest and ten being the highest), I will give
myself an eight on the effort I have exerted and motivation I have shown because I know
deep within myself that I still lack these things. On my time spent reading the cases
assigned to us, I will give myself a perfect ten because aside from this has been my hobby
for a long time, I consume almost all of my time comprehending a certain text. On the time
I spent digesting the cases, I have to rate myself seven due to the fact that I still have a lot to
improve with regards to this field. In terms of determining the legal dispute, I would
evaluate myself nine because it is easy for me to find through the text the aforementioned
subject. On determining the relevant facts, I am having a hard time that is why I would rate
myself six. Every time I make a case digest and we would correct it on school, there are so
many facts that are lacking and I know to myself that I must improve that certain kind of
error. With regards to the determining of resulting legal rules, since citations are already
indicated in the full-text case, I never had a difficult time dealing with it that is why I would
rate myself eight. During recitations, I am never called. To be honest, I am looking forward
for that very moment in order to attest my knowledge regarding studying cases and to see
on what aspects of it should I still improve with.

In the over-all quality / goodness of the case digests that I have made, it would be a
seven out of ten. I know there are still a lot to learn in order to achieve the best case digest
and I am still at the starting point. I am expecting that at the very end of the semester, I will
have lots of improvements through the knowledge being given by my professor and the
devotional prayers I conduct everyday.

In order to achieve the case digest that I needed, I have to find motivations t hat would
help me choose what I want to pay attention to and there is the whole idea of learning about
how we learn (and what stops us from learning).

In this case, I would like to associate the case of study as life long process. It is a part of
continuous learning. I would never give up improving myself in this field for the day we stop
learning new things professionally / personally, literally, it would be the end of life.

Being a human, we have a great privilege to think. Thinking is a great thing we all can do.
I would remember a great quote from Respected APJ Abdul Kalam regarding learning,
“Learning gives creativity, creativity leads to thinking, thinking provides knowledge,
knowledge makes you great”.
 This is all a process, if we stop learning and thinking, then there is no creativity and
knowledge in our life. Therefore, every human being should struggle beyond anything in
order to learn new things. It is not necessary that we should visit Universities and B Schools
to learn and it is not that we should only master in few academics / technical courses.

Sometimes the process of learning can get overwhelming. There’s so much to learn, and
not enough time to devote to really diving in. When I get in a situation where I feel like
giving up, or like I’ll never be able to learn what I want to learn in the time I have, it can help
to turn to some outside inspiration.

Your life is the best teacher. Nobody can replace such a great teacher. Every life is a
great example, we can surely learn many things. However, it is our attitude which makes
us different from rest of the people.