IMHO: People can juggle work, formal school, informal school, advocacies and relationships thru the Internet

For a working law student, it is such a pain to juggle everything. EVERYTHING. In the past 5 years of my life, I have been trying to strike a balance between commuting to work, finishing all my tasks for the day, reading cases in MRT trains and UP-Pantranco jeepneys, not spending lunch time for eating but studying, checking my calendar for midterm and finals schedules vis-a-vis my available leaves, making money from 8 am to 5 pm so that I can pay my bills, rent, tuition and photocopies and dinners and parties with friends. On some days, you spend more for medicines and hospital bills because your immunity system just breaks down.

For the life of me, I don't understand too why I still involve myself with a lot of extra-curricular activities such as student council and advocacies. But when I look at my blockmates, I know I am not alone and it consoles me. Some travel from Manila or Makati to Diliman everyday, even on Saturdays, to make ends meet. On Sundays, some still give the time to volunteer for some causes they believe in. Professors in our block use the net to communicate with their students. Some of us research for work while inside the classrooms as we wait for our professors.

The internet has played a major role in helping us juggle everything. For cases that we can't photocopy because we are still at work, we email each other. For digests, sample exams, reviewers that our block can't make, we find them online. For catharsis, we use instant messengers to rant. Facebook is our escape and Lawphil our partner in saving money from all those photocopies which we may never even have the chance to read.

Now, I am waiting for a confirmation from an online part-time job I applied for (RareJob). I thought, since I now have a DSL connection, I might as well use it to earn income. Since I can't always see my friends in real life because of work-school-extracurric, I use the internet to connect with them. Since I don't have the money and the time to enroll in Language schools, I just go online to learn some German phrases. Since my boyfriend is in Europe, I thank Skype for giving me a way to express how much I feel for him. Since I don't want to spend P18 a day for newspapers, I make PDI my homepage. Since I am for protecting the environment, I check my bills online. Since I don't read all the cases I photocopy which is really a waste of money, I just read my cases online or thru E-juris. Some of the jobs I am eyeing for after law school, I found online.

I manage my work, law school, advocacies, council work, and relationships online. And I only pay for the monthly fee for DSL, electricity, and the purchase price of my laptop.

In my humble opinion, internet is the cheapest management tool there is now.

Paulyn Duman
Blog #15
(for September 24)