When Ivan Maxino Bandal stepped into the University of Sto. Tomas to take the November 2011 Bar Exams, he never expected to land in 6th place.
“I was surprised to be on top. All I wanted was to pass the bar exams the first time I take it. Being one of the top notchers is just an additional blessing and for that I’m very thankful to God,” he said.
It was not easy for Bandal. When he was still in law school, he spent 14 hours everyday studying. He said that for every one-hr subject, he would allocate four hours for it.
And he had always been like this from the very start at law school. “The moment you enter law school in your 1st year, you have to start preparing for the Bar because if you start studying after graduating from Law, you’ll never have enough time.”
He added, “Aspiring lawyers like me should have the commitment to achieve their goal and to do everything within our capability to reach it.”
While he was reviewing for the Bar, emotional stress struck him due to the amount of material he needed to study, he hardly had time for anything.
On the first Sunday of the exams, he almost fainted due to lack of sleep; on the second Sunday, he had stomach trouble.
This is when he realized that one’s health is more important than anything else.
Bandal graduated from the SU College of Mass Communication in 2003 as magna cum laude. Although he said that being a Masscom graduate gave him an edge in the Bar, “any course that involves a lot writing” would be a good preparatory course because law involves a lot of writing.
Beginning with the 2011 Bar, 40 percent is essay writing; 60 percent were multiple choice questions.
He said the secret to achieving one’s goal can be summed up into three words, “Never give up.”
Bandal currently works at the Sebastian & Associates Law Firm in Makati, and sees himself five to 10 years from now helping people with their legal needs, while contributing his talents for nation-building.
What made Bandal’s victory in the Bar even sweeter was that his girlfriend and classmate, Michelle Lyn Apao, also passed the same exam.
Together with Bandal and Apao were 11 other passers from Silliman University: Joshua Francisco Ablong, Elizabeth Karla Aguilan, Terrence Anton Callao, Cleo Cleope-Santillan, Conrado Concepcion II, Rudy Cunanan, Aldeo Jesus Diez, Rudylyn Laurente, Melissa Grace Legaspi, Romela Mae Napao-Lozano, and Izra Elita Singson.
Meanwhile, Foundation University produced five new lawyers: Jean Paul Diputado, Remedio Gabas, Jr., Chrislyned Garces, Peter Chuck Lagos, and Mel Nick S. Logronio.
The Negros Oriental State University also produced a bar passer in the person of Peter Roderick M. Olpoc.
(Adrian Miraflor and Beverly Linao, SU Masscom interns)
