Why study the Law?

The word law and everything about it intimidates me. Way back high school, I didn’t have that much knowledge about it because I did not invest much time to see its significance and the only thing I knew was that it requires a high level of understanding, patience and hard work to fully understand it and a person studying the law must spend most of his/her time reading which is a nightmare for me. Because of this, I viewed the law similar to that of a boss-level monster in a video game that is difficult to overcome or to get through.

As I enter college, I know I need to prepare myself for a challenging fight against this “monster” because this is the only way I can become a Certified Public Accountant. And as I learned more about the law and about business laws, particularly the laws on partnerships and corporations, I was surprised because it was not as intimidating as I imagined it to be. But still, I had a hard time fully understanding the topics because of many unfamiliar words and the amount of information to be processed but the discussions we had served as the lighthouse in the foggy ocean of law articles and topics and it also became a factor for me to change my initial perception about the law.

During those discussions, even though it felt like we were just reading and understanding numerous articles, I had observed that the more I learn about the law, in general, and about business laws, the more I was able to realize the reason why we study law. And that is for us to gain knowledge that will serve as our guide in order to live as responsible citizens of our nation. And regarding business laws, studying them prepares us, students, who aspires to become a part of the business world in the future.

Because of this realization during the discussions in our subject, the “monster” that I viewed years ago transformed into something less intimidating. At present, I now view the law as something like a spirit companion that acts as protection and guide in doing the things that are in accordance with the accepted standards and norms of the country.

I’m not going to be a lawyer, should I still study the law? YES, you should!

Studying law gives us the opportunity to know more about life – how taxes work, what are our rights and how to exercise them, as well as the rules of the society we live in. As I learn more about it, especially on the part of Partnerships and Corporations, I was able to see the law in another perspective that I can apply in my daily life.

Applying what I learned in real life

A partnership is a contract, and for a contract to exist, there must be consent between the parties involved. In connection with consent, this can be applied not only in the legal parlance as an essential element of a contract, but also in real life situations especially in borrowing things that we do not own. Asking permission shows respect for the rights of other people and by doing this, we are also giving them the chance to exercise their rights whether to allow us from doing an act like borrowing something they own. In addition, assuming that the permission to borrow and use the property of another is granted, it is an unspoken rule to always take care of the borrowed property with the diligence of a good father of a family.

I also learned that for a partnership or a corporation to exist in the eyes of the law, it must have a lawful purpose, and I can apply this in my daily life in a way that I must live my life also with a lawful purpose, therefore, my goals as well as the means to achieve these goals should not be against the law.

 One important element in the formation of a partnership are the contributions promised by the parties, and keeping promises is as important in partnerships as in real life. I must stand by my words and I should do what I promised to do because keeping promises strengthens trust between the people involved and this would result to a stronger bond or relationship.

Moreover, there must be trust and confidence among the partners for the partnership to successfully grow and reach greater heights, and inside the family, trust and confidence is also needed in order to have a stronger bond between the family members. A stronger bond benefits not only the family as a whole but also strengthens parent-child communication, improves behavior and contributes in the character development of all the family members.

The additional contributions made by the capitalist partners to save the business when it has imminent losses can also be a basis for a lesson to be applied in my daily life. Though this is not exactly how the law applied it in partnerships, it can be interpreted in a way that it can become an inspirational message for every action we do. "Putting in additional or extra effort in our work is always a great thing because at the end of the day, we are the ones who will reap the fruits of our hard work and sacrifices."

 As we can see, studying the law does always mean we're going to be lawyers. Gaining knowledge about the law makes us more responsible citizens and we're able to learn more how the real world works.