AIM HIGH, SHOOT LOW

Aim High, Shoot Low. These were the last words of Senator Chiz Escudero when he guested in IMo(In My Opinion) on ANC with Mo Twister a while ago. Senator Chiz doesn't fail to inspire me when he starts to talk. His eloquence and brilliance are impressive and one cannot even feel any arrogance in him. Lucky for us one good fellow has a seat in the Senate and I hope he gets the chance to continue his advocacies in the Malacañang Palace.

"Aim High, Shoot Low" is an archer’s creed. The bow and arrow are scientifically designed. Archers learn that wind resistance, trajectory, weight, and obstacles all come into play when making an effective shot. Arrows are agile. A well aimed shot can slice through a minuscule target. Knowing you can hit a target, despite constant variations of uncontrollable elements, requires a degree of skill and faith.

The same is true when we set our goals in life. We should set our goals high even if we aren't certain of success. Accepting disappointments when we fail would be easier because it's not a bad fall having set high aims. Don't get me wrong but I am not patronizing mediocrity. We still need to work our asses off to get everything done, maybe not as perfect as everyone did, but something that would give us contentment and a feeling of self-fulfillment. We need to muster enough courage, strength and faith to accomplish these goals, because along the way we will be facing a lot of obstacles. We don't need to be perfect. We don't need to be masters. We just need to believe. Believing that we are special or that we have something special in us that would help us achieve our goals.

We might have failed a few times or more but this should not be the reason to quit. When we start something, we actually have accomplished something. Starting alone is an achievement. It's part and parcel of accomplishing your goals. The books or the the vast resources in the internet would give us a list of people who have failed a lot of times but have become successful in their fields eventually. Truly, everything has its own time.





The Paper Chase. I thought I needed to get inspired again so I watched "The Paper Chase", a 1973 film based on John Jay Osborn Jr.'s novel, about a struggling law student(Hart) at Harvard Law School. He tries to balance lawschool and his relationship with a girl (Susan), who happens to be the daughter of his terror professor, Professor Kingsfield. He joined a study group which helped him to impress the strict professor. The group's objective of sharing notes and outlines weren't achieved as the other members of the group cannot go along. But this did not stop Hart from taking the exams seriously and even getting an A.

An incoming law student should watch this film. Aside from it being inspiring, it could give him a glimpse of how one should face law school. The Socratic method which is the method used by almost all law professors in the conduct of the recitations is shown and explained in the film. The crucial point in the study of law is to analyze, and this is likewise depicted in the film. In fact, one student in the film (Brooks) who has a photographic memory dropped out a week before their final exams, because he just cannot excel and catch up with their courses.

Maybe being a law student all boils down to the words of Senator Chiz Escudero. Aim High, Shoot Low. When we chose to enter Law School, we started to aim high, and that is to be a lawyer. We may not be as brilliant as everyone else, but when we set our mind to our goal, we will reach the finish line.

So why am I posting this? I don't know, maybe I just want to inspire myself by my own words when I get to read this again, and try to think back when I first stepped law school and realize where I am right now, and hopefully resolve this confusion in my head. Oh!, I guess you get inspired too.