Nomad

Two mooting teams of the University of San Carlos separately swept the preliminary rounds of two of the most prestigious mooting competitions in the world. Bri Unabia, Mel Joseph Castro and Yovelie Delubio blanked 4-0 the world best in the Jessup International Rounds in Washington, D.C. The seasoned and reasoned team of law juniors submitted the most memorable memorials that earned them the Alona Evans Award for Best Team Memorials.

In the Stetson International Law Moot Court Competition in Florida, Earl Max Eata, Neil Glova Jr. and Camille Aparece likewise served a 4-0 plate of bagels to their friendly foes.

The younger team won the Best Overall Memorial in the World, but lost the ticket to the finals by the narrowest of margin that separated the broadest of minds. The company of world best brings out the worldly beast to heavenly feast. The threesome of second liners did not lack for killer instinct and fought battle-scarred, not battle-scared.

Instinct or habit, either way or both. USC law bench is deep, just as their wisdom is profound. The short-listed prey on the opportunity while the wait-listed pray for their baptism of fire, and the yet listed are not necessarily the least.

Carolinian world invasion attests no school monopolizes excellence, that wisdom is beyond boundaries and nationalities. Even language is not a barrier. The accent may differ, but Filipino accent is not a defect, it is an identity.

The world academy of law has seen Carolinian presence grow bigger and stronger, neither by imitation nor intimidation. But by authenticity, homegrown with universal vision by Joan Largo and Daryl Bretch Largo joined by former world mooters Justein Redoble and Mark Lawrence Badayos. The bench of coaches is even deeper.

Any school, wherever found, has a sound. But Carolinian resonance does not create noise that bothers, it brings out the voice that matters. The kind that disturbs and moves. The kind that moots arguments yet to be spoken. Anticipation. The kind that mutes even the loudest brute. Annihilation. They also know when to pause. Calculation. Without saying a word, they can be loud. Fluency in silence.

USC beat Harvard Law School in the Jessup preliminary rounds. The Ivy League school no longer belong to a league of its own. The University of San Carlos does not claim to own a place, the world is its virtual address. It lurks where the challenge and opportunity are, and dominates familiar territory or invades the never been before. Fighting spirit. For, the warrior is not always a child, it is also a Carolinian, Witness to the Word, sharper than the sword.