Through the Looking Glass

A HOMAGE TO  BLOCK D

The rare creature that became
known as Block D was introduced in A.Y. 2004-2005, the first batch of its kind in
60 years. (Of course there had to be a D years before so there would be a Block
E, right?).

It was organized as an experiment
by then Dean Pangalangan to address the increase of law students in the U.P. College
of Law by the innovation of non-interviewing for the Top 100 of the batch who
took the LAE on the year 2003.  

Since then, the block was trimmed
down from the original 35 to 26 by the time 2nd year came around. Although some
would grumble that Block D had no identity of its own, unlike for example A for
being the so-called smart block, B for being bibo and C for being the party block,
D emerged triumphant as being a hybrid of all these traits.

It soon became apparent that D,
led by the first D block D2008, would not be leaving the

College

of

Law

without a mark. As early as freshman year, D’s Al Siason surprised all by
winning as Ms. Freshman in the Freshman Week, thereby clinching the title for D
as Best

Freshman Block for the year 2004.
2nd year marked the start of the fight against block dissolution, with D formerly
being the default choice. Since the members of the block cared for each other
so much, they petitioned the College Secretary for the draw-lots system as a
more equitable way of determining who would be the block to be dissolved. 

The succeeding batches to follow
Block D would later do D2008 proud by consistently winning as Best Freshman Block
for Freshman Week. As of the year 2008, Block D has been the champion for four
consecutive years and Ms. Freshman for 3 of those years.

Perhaps the spirit that best
categorizes that one is from Block D is the genuine spirit of concern and
support that each and every blockmate gives to one another, be it academics,
campus politics, moot court, sports, etc. Each member of the block feels the
importance of staying together and of
lifting the other person’s spirits during the ups and downs that is
characteristic of being in the hardest and most prestigious law school in the
country.

Certainly, without the Block D
spirit most of us would not be in the positions we are in today. If we were
assigned in another block from Day One, imagine how different our lives in law
school would have been! We would not have met our 20 sisters and 3 brothers
that we feel such an emotional and intellectual connection to. We would not be
as complete and as fulfilled as we are right now. I am glad I was assigned to
this particular block. It has turned out to be the

College

of

Law

’s
greatest experiment.