Freedom

Athletes who prepare to win are restricted to a repetitive regimen of diet, discipline and training. When they compete thus, their body does what it was trained for. Otherwise known as muscle memory. There is hardly any athletic freedom unless the coach concocts out of the box like Ma Junren. The controversial Chinese coach fed turtle soup and worm fungus to his army of women middle distance runners who stunned the world with uncanny speed and record breaking runs in the 1993 worlds.

But no matter the Spartan coaching and training, there are techniques that can’t be taught. Otherwise known as artistry. Lydia de Vega ran like a gazelle that grazed through her assigned lane. Roger Federer had footwork of a ballet dancer. He was perfection until made imperfect by the king of clay, Rafael Nadal, and the king today, Novak Djokovic.

But gymnast Nadia Comaneci scored herstoric perfect 10 owing largely to artistic freedom that combined grace, strength and precision. There too is expressive freedom especially in the media and the arts limited only by libel, obscenity and state interest. Or the unwritten rule of sense and sensibility. And academic freedom, not the kind the constitution grants the academe, giving it the freedom what to teach and how to teach, but from the viewpoint of law students, how to prepare for the crucible. Otherwise known as the bar examinations.

It correctly reverts to essay type questions not only to test how examinees spot the issue in the given facts and match it with legal remedy, but more importantly to see how they defend their answer with law, logic and language, whether right or wrong. Otherwise known as persuasion. This allows creative freedom to express without the legalese. Otherwise known as articulation.

There is no hard and fast rule to getting what the examiner is looking for. It’s reading between the lines. Otherwise known as analysis. Or beneath the lies. Otherwise known as trickery. Just as there is no formula to passing the bar. There are candidates whose routine is reading and reading and reading with nothing in between, except praying. Since day one until day gone. And yet they fail. Not because they prayed, but because they were preyed on by factors that did not work in their favor. Some did more, like laughing, drinking and partying. Since first night until tonight. And yet they pass.

Someone did a little bit of everything, with more of loving. Since freshman until he became a free man. Not from a relationship he so wanted to keep, but from hardship he so wanted to skip. Not due to lack of money, but due to agony of the journey to be named attorney. And yet he topped. Gabriel Gil Baes. This year’s number six.