Self-Reflection About the Legal Management Program

My name is Chelsea Hao, and I have earned a degree in Bachelor of Science in Legal Management from De La Salle University. Prior to entering the university, I had no concrete plan of what I wanted to become in the future. I was only certain that I am an individual with strong personal views and that my interests fall on reading, writing, and debating. My parents wanted me to take a business major because it seemed like the most reasonable choice if I were to choose to help out with the family business or seek employment in a multinational firm. While I did heed their advice, I personally felt obliged to explore other options that would cater to my interest. Although my major encompasses both disciplines in business and law, my intention for choosing it was because I believed that it would be a good preparation for law school. Truly, the classes that I have had did validate my expectations of what my future in law school or even perhaps lawyering would likely appear to be.

As I progressed with my academic pursuit, I was also involved with a series of student organizations where I learned the value of trust and team effort. During that time, I was given the opportunity to plan and attend events both from student and outside organizations as well as volunteer for a tree-planting project and teaching event for youths. In addition to that, I was presented with an opportunity to intern at Estee Lauder and Shell wherein I gained skills in operations and marketing respectively. I was tasked to accomplish projects that would be key to decision-making. It involved researching, surveying, and summarizing data for consumption. Aside from that, I was assigned to organize events and even lead workshops for various stakeholders. I was able to work with unique individuals who have showed me a different perspective for a possible career in business.

While Legal Management may be considered to be a good pre-law major, its objective is to incorporate both business and law subjects together in order to produce business professionals with a distinct legal advantage. With that thought in mind, I afforded myself a chance to explore if a career in business would be a better fit for me. After graduation, I made a decision to proceed with a business career. I was chosen to become an apprentice at Microsoft. Unlike my previous internship experiences, I was trained with an intention of bridging the gap between business and technology by becoming an expert in both. Living in an age of technology, the apprenticeship program recognizes the gap between being an individual whose skills are purely technology-related or business-related and believing in uniting such gap through the skills contributed by both business and technology professionals. From my point of view, it was a good a program to gain new knowledge and build on existing ones and that their goal was nothing short of clear. However, as the program progresses, there were defining instances wherein I would question myself if this was really the path for me. I would speculate if I had made the right choice for my career and if it would be possible to bridge the knowledge amongst business, law, and technology. When the program was about to end, my family business was involved in a corporate dispute which eventually escalated into a lawsuit. At that time, I volunteered to provide assistance in any way possible which allowed me to deal with lawyers. I was given the chance to draft notices and even gather statements from previous employees to be utilized as evidence. While having to deal with the lawsuit furthered my questioning, I was still not persuaded to leave my budding business career behind since I have somehow began investing in it. However, as the issues in the dispute intensified, I had to contribute more time in aiding not only my family, but also the people who were consequently affected.

It took a lot of self-reflection before I came to a decision to leave the apprenticeship program. Although I chose to fully commit myself to my family’s endeavor, I nevertheless accomplished what was needed in the program. My interest in business and curiosity for technology will always remain and that I will still continue to strive for further learning in these fields.