Like Fine Wine: Age is Never a Factor

By: Aaron Gabriel Gomez

Photo by Andre Lim | The Red Chronicles
Mendoza graduated Cum Laude with a Bachelor’s degree in Accountancy from Philippine Christian University in 1985, subsequently passing the CPA board examinations on her first try. Decades later, during the height of the pandemic, she pursued an MBA from 2020 to 2023, earning a 1.1 GPA. Soon after, she made another decision—one that dared to defy the odds.

Ambitions do not operate on a timeline—they materialize through willpower alone. While others patiently wait for the right moment to be pursued, others simply take an active step in creating one. For Maria Lourdes F. Mendoza, the dream of becoming a lawyer came after decades of building a life of her own—one shaped by a thriving career, a family, and years of professional accomplishment.

Yet none of these roles stopped her from beginning anew. At the age of 58, she stepped into the halls of the San Beda College Alabang School of Law (SBCA-SOL), ready to take on a challenge she knew would be far from easy.

Ms. Mendoza graduated Cum Laude with a Bachelor’s degree in Accountancy from Philippine Christian University in 1985, subsequently passing the CPA board examinations on her first try. Decades later, during the height of the pandemic, she pursued an MBA from 2020 to 2023, earning a 1.1 GPA. Soon after, she made another decision—one that dared to defy the odds.

But the transition from accomplished professional to first-year law student was anything but seamless. “At the start palang, I felt it na. First year, first sem palang, it was already a struggle to adjust to the studying. Nawindang talaga ako,” she candidly recalls.

Photo by Andre Lim | The Red Chronicles

For Ms. Mendoza, the transition from the corporate world to the knee-deep intellectual rigors of law school jolted her immediately. “At the start palang, I felt it na. First year, first sem palang, it was already a struggle to adjust to the studying. Nawindang talaga ako,” she candidly recalls.

The realization came almost immediately. Law school demanded a different kind of discipline—one that required her to absorb large volumes of cases, codal provisions, and unfamiliar legal concepts at a pace she had never encountered before.

“I really thought agad that, this is really hard,” she admits.

Still, the difficulty never became a reason to turn back. Even the subjects that tested her patience became part of the journey.

“Palagi akong bokya sa Statutory Construction. Pero noong first year, first sem, lahat pasado naman,” she shares with a hint of amusement.

Yet, what truly made Ms. Mendoza’s experience different was that law school was only one part of her life that was already in motion. By the time she entered the School of Law, her accounting firm was already well-established.

“When I entered law school, [my firm] was already established. The firm would run even if [minimal] lang yung aking management,” she explains.

Being a full-time student gave her something many working law students struggle to find—time. “What helped me the most was the fact that I was a full-time student. I could study for hours,” she shares with a sense of gratitude.

That did not mean, however, that she walked the journey alone. Her husband, also a CPA, stepped in to help manage their firm, while her daughter—who returned from Melbourne the previous year—likewise played a large role in managing their company. With a strong sense of support from both her home and workplace, she was able to withstand the rigors of law school right then and there from the start.

Yet perhaps most unexpectedly, it was within the classrooms of the School of Law where some of her strongest sources of encouragement came from. Unbeknownst to her,  the very people that she would sit next to would eventually be the ones that welcomed her into a tribe full of fostering and care—her very own classmates.

“Another big help were the young people who were my friends in law school. They would advise and mentor me; they would share materials and notes,” she recounts gratefully.

For a law student surrounded by classmates who are the same age as her children, the experience could easily have become isolating. Instead, Ms. Mendoza found a sense of community—proof that the walls of law school can bring together people whose lives may look completely different outside the recitations and exams.

And, naturally, not every memory was filled with codals or jurisprudence.

“A funny moment would probably be when me and a close friend were called for recitation. Sa sobrang tagal namin na nakatayo, gusto na naming maghawak ng kamay na mala-beauty pageant,” she recalls with a laugh. 

But beneath the humor were moments that reminded her why she continued. At 61 years old, she is not only a law student; she is a wife, a mother, a grandmother, and the owner of an established accounting firm—earning her the tender moniker of “Tita Lou.”

“My most memorable moments would be kapag napapasa mo yung akala mong bagsak ka na, or kapag lalabas na yung mga grades,” she says says with pride.

One such moment came during her previous semester in Public International Law, a subject she was convinced she would fail. With teardrops that glistened like shades of glass, Tita Lou recalled, “I had one subject last sem, PIL, [that] I thought I was going to flunk. Noong napasa ko siya, halos maiyak-iyak ako.” 

It is a feeling familiar to nearly every law student: the quiet terror of waiting for a grade, followed by the overwhelming relief of realizing that the work was enough.

For Tita Lou, however, those moments carry a deeper meaning. They are reminders that beginning late does not mean arriving too late. Her journey is not about proving that age does not make law school difficult—it plainly does. Rather, it is about refusing to let age determine whether a dream remains worth pursuing.

And when asked what single word she would leave with the School of Law community, her answer comes without hesitation.

“It would be faith. Faith in never giving up.”

Perhaps that is the lesson Tita Lou leaves most intimately with the students around her. Law school will test one’s patience, confidence, endurance, and sometimes even the belief that one belongs in the room. There will be recitations that leave students speechless, examinations that seem impossible, and grades that make every sleepless night feel as though it amounted to nothing.

But herstory offers another way of looking at the struggle.

The dream does not become less meaningful because it takes longer to reach. Sometimes, the journey simply begins when one finally decides to take the first step.

Photo by Andre Lim | The Red Chronicles

At 61 years old, she is not only a law student; she is a wife, a mother, a grandmother, and the owner of an established accounting firm—earning her the tender moniker of “Tita Lou.” And for those still wondering whether they are too young, too old, too busy, or too far behind to begin—perhaps her answer is as simple as her one word: Faith.

At 58, Tita Lou entered the halls of law school. And at 61, her roar refuses to be silenced.

And for those still wondering whether they are too young, too old, too busy, or too far behind to begin—perhaps her answer is as simple as her one word:

Faith.