MANILA, Philippines — One woman proved that you be not only a doctor but a lawyer too.
Thirty-three-year-old Dr. Jean Joan D. Polido was among the 1,800 law graduates who passed the 2018 bar exams, the results of which the Supreme Court released on Friday.
A total of 8,155 took the annual licensure exams for lawyers.
READ: Ateneo de Manila University grad tops 2018 bar exam
Polido, wearing a stethoscope around her neck, posted on Facebook on Friday a photo of her sitting at a desk with what looked like law books.
“TO GOD BE ALL THE GLORY! Atty. Jean Joan D. Polido M.D.,” her post read.
Polido’s post became viral among netizens, garnering 49,000 likes and reactions, as of this writing.
‘Why not?’
Polido, who first finished medicine at the University of Santo Tomas in 2010, said that it was her father’s dream for her to become a doctor.
“Growing up kasi my father would always say na ‘Ito ung anak ko na magiging doctor.’ So it was his dream for me na eventually I came to love also,” she told INQUIRER.net in an online exchange.
The newly-minted lawyer said that she didn’t have a specialty in medicine. So she thought to pursue studying law.
“Kasi wala akong specialty. And yung dream ko to become a lawyer andun pa din. So i said, why not?” Polido said.
She then took up law at Arellano University School of Law, at the same time practicing her profession in medicine.
At one point, she even taught medical technology students at Trinity University of Asia for two years. But had to stop in her third year in law because “mas mahirap na ung subjects, kaya I need to focus.”
‘Daily tiny victories’
Her journey, however, to become a lawyer wasn’t all smooth-sailing, admitting that she struggled “every day” while studying law.
“Kasi sobrang ibang mundo ang law,” Polido admitted. “Pati terms lahat bago sa akin… yung pagaaral na ginawa ko nuon sa medicine siguro sa law school times two or three.”
Determined to finish strong, she persevered on her way to the top — while at the same time doting on her kids: a 7-year-old girl and 4-month-old baby boy.
“We have what I call ‘daily tiny victories’ kung sa isang maghapon, may oras na i can spend time with my daughter ginagawa ko,” Polido said. “Hindi naman kailangan maghapon kami magkasama, quality bonding lang ok na kami.”
She soon proved that she could beat the odds when obtained her law degree from Arellano University School of Law in 2018.
A year later, Polido was one of the thousands who took the bar exams in November 2018, while she was 7 months pregnant with her baby.
‘No best method’
Instead of joining hundreds of people anticipating the bar exam results outside the Supreme Court, Polido said that she was simply at home tending to her baby boy.
“I was scared to go there and be disappointed,” Polido revealed. “Nagintay lang ako ng abiso.”
And when she got the news she was one of the passers, she proudly went to the Supreme Court building in Manila to have her photo taken while the LED screen flashed her name.
Dr. Jean Joan dela Peña Polido had this photo of herself taken in front of the Supreme Court in Manila.
Polido had some advice for those who plan to take the bar exam this year: “There is no best method in studying for the bar.”
“By the time you graduate, you must have discovered what works best for you,” the doctor-lawyer advised. “Work harder on areas/topics you are having difficulty of and perfect the subjects that you believe you are good at.”
As for those who didn’t make the cut, Polido gave words of comfort: “Have faith in God’s timing. Grieve, cry, be sad. Ilabas mo na lahat. After that, aral ulit.”
So does she plan to drop medicine now that she’s a lawyer? Or will she practice both?
“Both,” she said.
/atm