Reflection Paper
Reflection Paper
Effective communication skills, both in oral and written form, are essential to becoming an
effective lawyer. Without it, a lawyer could not give a proper legal advice to a client or win a case for
them. One of the reasons I entered law school was to hone and increase my aptitude for oral and
written communication. Because of the subject, I was appalled to realize that I am still severely lacking in
this area even after three years in law school. I am still shy and awkward when talking to people,
especially those whom I do not know or with whom I am not close. This posed a challenge for me when
looking for community partners. I could have asked my coworkers for assistance since they are regularly
in contact with some of the officers in the barangays of the city because of our work. However, I was too
shy to ask them, and I don’t want to impose on them. I also thought about going to the barangay hall in
the barangay where I am a resident, but the thought of meeting and talking to strangers dissuaded me
from pursuing the idea. In the end, I only relied on my group mates.
When making my presentation and explaining my topic, I found it hard to explain the topic in
simple terms. I also had a hard time deciding how to go about designing the flow of the presentation of
the topic. I was embarrassed and disheartened when I heard some of the participants grumble that they
did not understand my discussion. I was so nervous and afraid during our open forum, even when I
studied the topic over and over again. I knew the answers and legal provisions to some of the questions
the participants asked, but I remained silent and let my team members or our supervising lawyer answer
them. Because of this, I realized that it was pointless, even if I knew the law and legal principles. I am
only idly standing on the sidelines, incapable of sharing this knowledge to help my fellowmen or my
community, because I am too shy and afraid to speak up. As a result, I began to doubt myself even
more, believing that I was wasting my time in law school and that I was not truly qualified to practice
law.