The Tutorial

As part of the natural, rhythmic flow of events in planet Earth, the fallowing season has just ceased and with no intermission in between, I've just faced off with my nemesis- the academic term. Although this might very be the first day of the rest of my life, I certainly am not intent on allowing this medley of impediments to mar my varsity life, detract the potential my future holds and in essence, orchestrate my plight. Anyway, as pertinent to the title, this entry would entail the tumultous events which've led up to the tutorial as well as a few indiscriminate issues related to school.

My foray into this academic arena after nearly 3 years of intellectual vegetation has been nothing but daunting and tantamounts to 'tumult' in every sense of the word. First of all, I had a tutorial today which naturally implies adequate or at least decent preparation. Being once uninitiated and for the benefit of the current ones, gearing up for a mere 50min tutorial embodies the reading of extensive cases compounded with completing a couple of related questions which require painstaking effort and exhaustive analysis. Though I'm probably only fired up on one out of all my four cylinders, I found myself further handicapped because I lacked prior knowledge to law and was expected to deal with legal cases where everything seemed foreign and I knew I couldn't count on my superficial extrapolation of meanings as well as arguments at all. However intimidating, I just bit the bullet and took practical measures to combat this behemoth of a problem by forcing myself to actively read despite feeling so sleepy. I don't know if you believe it, but work is most definitely the most potent of tranquilizers and its somnolent effect perniciously lingers to the point where when you wake up from that dream, you know you're screwed beyond belief. For the record, I spent 3 hours reading and answering questions pertaining to this case which contained convoluting paragraphs that constantly required inference; in the sense, I have to constantly succinctly describe in my own words what the hell the judges are trying to say because they hardly contain topic sentences.

In retrospect, the aftertaste of my first 2 days at law school has left my confidence levels of my abilities in the balance because i did feel stupid and lacking when I had to re-read certain portions of my case just to comprehend its facts. I hope that my confidence levels would pick up in the near future, where I'd be able to actively think as I read while already being adept at basic comprehension.

So, today was D-Day. I had my very first tutorial and had 6 other students with me seated in a round table with my prof. Though my understanding of the case was not completely thorough, I'm pleased enough I got the questions I did right. The other students were pretty competent in their knowledge of the case but i've really yet to meet someone who is so insightful in thought, discerning of the most similar of issues and trenchant in opinion or critisism. Very frankly speaking, I'm actually quite relieved that I managed to escape unscathed. Thank God!

Since embarking on this path of education derives so many issues a normal man would shun, why stay on it? My opinion is that many people in this world repel challenges and thus always fall short of their expections in life. Despite the existence of a possibility that I may alter my current intransigent stand, I'd dare say that I'm gonna stick to this path I've chosen by continuing my walk off the beaten path where denial, failure and quitting don't exist in my vocabulary. I guess the most common and convenient reason I'd provide for studying is the pursuit of excellence which is an end to itself. I personally don't think it's an entirely wrong or unfair statement but more importantly and relevantly, the following 2 questions have surfaced. Do we study just FOR the exam or do we study to SHOW everyone that we're better than them? I believe that at this stage, you readers might be perturbed, especially with the latter, but despite the depth of life one's got, is it even possible that the presence of a superficial motivation is totally obliterated from him? I vaccillate.

Venturing into this once-familiar realm of academia comes with a plethora of challenges yet it can also bring the delectations that accompany success. So far with hindsight, I've resolved not to allow a day to slip by me, no matter how surreptitiously, without an immediate goal in mind. This means that I want to wake up every morning knowing
distinctly what I have to do so that I'd emerge triumphant on a daily basis by acting on them. Finally, not only out of pure neccessity but from which it stems from the much vaunted quality of ambition, I hope to muster sufficient discipline and resilience which parallels to an iron grip, and pilot my life through the cloudy and unpredictable skies ahead. Like I always mention in the game of bridge, 'taking control' is important because it really is a much better bet than leaving the success of events to stem from fortuitous opportunities and arbitrary means. Okay, this is the end and I hope that you amigos will excel and say 'ditto' or 'snap' to this!
-Kenneth Wong