For Samantha Ramos, becoming a lawyer was never part of a carefully drawn plan. It was something she stumbled into at a time when life felt most uncertain.

“Becoming a lawyer wasn’t really my dream,” Ramos said in an interview with the DAILY TRIBUNE during her visit to obtain a copy of the 11 January 2026 issue, which carried the full list of bar passers.

She said her first love was journalism, drawn by writing and public speaking, but she was discouraged from pursuing it after being told there was no money in the profession.

“I love public speaking and I love writing,” Ramos said. “Personally, I adore journalists because I believe journalists are also heroes and they are part of history.”

With both parents working abroad, Ramos said she grew up without clear guidance on what profession to pursue and instead followed the advice of relatives. That path led her to medicine. She enrolled in medical technology at Far Eastern University (FEU), where she excelled as a full scholar. But during her fourth-year internship, she said certainty gave way to crisis.

She was diagnosed with clinical depression after realizing that becoming a doctor was not her calling. “I was really scared. I felt very lost,” she said, explaining that the responsibility of handling patients’ lives filled her with fear rather than purpose.

Ramos took a leave of absence, returned to finish her internship, and prepared for the med tech board examinations – only for the pandemic to derail her plans. Lockdowns were announced in March 2020, the same month the exams were supposed to be held.

Once again, she found herself asking what came next.

During that period, Ramos saw an online announcement from FEU Law inviting new students. Classes were to be held online. With little certainty and no long-term plan, she decided to try.

“If I can’t become a doctor, why not become a lawyer?” she recalled.

Law school began as an experiment, but within her first year, Ramos said she found purpose in learning the law, reciting in class, and helping family and friends understand legal concerns. That sense of direction, however, was again interrupted.

In March 2021, during her first year in law school, her father died of a heart attack while working abroad. Ramos took another semester off, grieving both a parent and the hope that he would one day see her become a lawyer.

She eventually returned to law school, finished with honors, topped her class, and became active in student organizations, serving for consecutive years in Centralized Bar Operations and the student council.

Ramos described the bar examinations as one of the most exhausting periods of her life. “The bar exam journey is really difficult,” she said, adding that it was the support of friends, classmates, mentors, and professors that carried her through.

She finished second honors in her batch, won Best Thesis, worked as an underbar, and has now passed the bar examinations.

Looking back, Ramos said uncertainty defined her journey – and taught her not to fear being lost.

“Don’t be afraid to be lost,” she said. “Don’t be afraid to take risks or to step away. Take risks for yourself, even if you’re unsure, because in that uncertainty, you might find the answer. You might find yourself again.”