Marie Shantelle Atienza Sarmiento not only passed the 2025 Bar examinations—she placed 8th overall with a 90.87 percent rating.
Working through the grind
Holding a full-time job during law school is not uncommon, but it comes with trade-offs: limited study hours, constant deadline pressure, and bar review squeezed into nights, weekends, and borrowed time.
For Sarmiento’s batch at the University of the Philippines College of Law, those pressures were also amplified by timing.
They entered law school at the height of the pandemic, spending three of their five years on Zoom while navigating remote recitations, online exams, and uneven learning conditions.
Their block also steadily shrank with just 11 graduates from 20 at the beginning.
With fewer classmates left, recitations became more frequent across subjects. Sarmiento and the remaining blockmates carried the heavier load while still working full time as managers, supervisors, or team leaders.
Showing up anyway
“Passing the bar is definitely not my achievement alone. This is for everyone who was part of the journey – my family and friends, my teachers and professors, my blockmates (truly the best people I’ve ever met), and all those who supported me along the way,” Sarmiento said.
“Balancing full-time work and law school meant late nights, early mornings, too much coffee, and constantly running on deadlines. Somehow, I kept showing up,” she added.
A magna cum laude graduate in Accountancy from De La Salle Lipa and a Certified Public Accountant, Sarmiento worked at SGV & Co. before joining AXA Philippines Life and General Insurance Corporation, where she rose to tax accounting manager while completing law school.
“To everyone dreaming of becoming part of the legal profession: take the leap and keep going. Some days will feel short, others endless, but trust that every effort matters, builds on the last, and eventually compounds into something greater. Congratulations to everyone who survived the grind and made it through!,” Sarmiento said.
—Edited by Miguel R. Camus
