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2022 Bar exam topnotcher 'shocked': 'Finishing first was bonus'

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<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="2022 Bar exams topnotcher Czar Matthew Dayday. Czar Matthew Dayday/Facebook" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/news/04/14/04142023-bar-exam-topnotcher_up-law.jpg"/><figcaption>2022 Bar exams topnotcher Czar Matthew Dayday. Czar Matthew Dayday/Facebook</figcaption></figure></div>MANILA (UPDATED) — When Czar Matthew Dayday heard 2022 Bar exams chair Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa announce the topnotcher for the test, he thought it was someone else.&quot;When he said that the top placer, he said &#x27;Dayday,&#x27; I was like &#x27;Oh, may iba palang Dayday who took the Bar,&quot; Dayday, who was at home with his parents when they learned of the news, told ANC hours after the Friday announcement. &quot;But I realized, &#x27;Oh, that&#x27;s my name.&#x27;&quot;Following the much-awaited announcement, Dayday, who led the successful takers with a rating of 88.8083, said tears began to flow.<figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2582223" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>&quot;It was just me crying, my family&#x27;s screaming... and shocked that I topped the Bar,&quot; he said.Dayday, a University of the Philippines - College of Law graduate, told ANC he didn&#x27;t expect to clinch the top spot.&quot;No, really not,&quot; he said when asked about becoming the no. 1 passer.&quot;After the Bar, there were some items that I knew for sure that I was wrong... I really was just hoping that I would pass the Bar on this take,&quot; Dayday shared.&quot;Finishing first was really just a really, really good bonus on top of that.&quot;<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/04/14/23/list-topnotchers-in-the-2022-bar-exams">LIST: 30 topnotchers in the 2022 Bar exams</a></li></ul>Bar 2022 second placer Erickson Mariñas, with an 88.7666 rating, also from the UP College of Law, told the same interview he also didn&#x27;t expect to land on the list of top passers but admitted aiming to ace the No. 1 spot.&quot;I was praying that I would top the Bar or pass the Bar,&quot; Mariñas told ANC, saying one of his professors in law school told them to set their sights on being the topnotcher.&quot;Para at least kahit nag-fail daw kami,&quot; he went on, &quot;&#x27;yung babagsakan pa rin namin is a passing grade, &#x27;di ba.&quot;<div>ADVICE TO BAR TAKERS</div>Mariñas told future Bar takers to have systematic study habits.&quot;Make their own calendars, I also schedule mine how many days would I devote for this particular subject, for this particular topic, that I try to hit the marks every day,&quot; he said.&quot;I think that helps to make sure na all Bar topics you hit and hindi ka nagka-cram towards finish line.&quot;Rest is also important between study days to avoid burnout, Mariñas said.Dayday, for his part, believes that success is a product of the work that one puts in.&quot;It&#x27;s a product of the small things that you do every day, be it reading one more page or studying one more case and so on. It&#x27;s really a matter of not aiming for a particular result but just focusing on your process on what works for you, so that the results will just fall naturally,&quot; he said.&quot;And also I think it&#x27;s a matter of surrounding yourself with people who will help you achieve your goals.&quot;<div>WHAT&#x27;S NEXT</div>Dayday is now with a law firm. He said he&#x27;s still enjoying working in different areas of his profession.When asked about his target focus in law practice, Dayday said he couldn&#x27;t give an exact answer just yet. &quot;I want to really experience, or learn more about the different areas of law so that I&#x27;ll be able to make much better informed decision maybe by next year,&quot; Dayday said.Same with Dayday, Mariñas is still uncertain about his specialization. But he said he wanted to do litigation since it was what he enjoyed the most during law school.&quot;So I think gano&#x27;n &#x27;yung sentiment ko na, &#x27;Oh I excelled at this subject maybe I&#x27;ll be good at it&#x27;. Pero right now I&#x27;m also exploring other — I&#x27;m also being exposed to other practicing areas that I might also find very interesting for me,&quot; he added.A total of 3,992 takers passed the 2022 Bar Examinations, the Supreme Court announced Friday.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/04/14/23/full-list-2022-bar-exam-passers">FULL LIST: 2022 Bar exam passers</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/04/14/23/43-pct-pass-2022-bar-exams-top-5-examinees-from-up">43 percent pass 2022 Bar exams; top 5 examinees from UP</a></li></ul>They account for 43.47 percent of 9,183 law graduates who took the grueling exams last November, said Caguioa.

Czar Matthew Dayday: 'It was just me crying, my family's screaming... and shocked that I topped the Bar.'