Back To Basics

Back to basics. I seem to have gone off too much of tangent, way off track and forgotten the real reason why I wanted to write these blogs in the first place. At least that is how I feel. I feel like in all the worry and the frustration of exams and re-sits I have overlooked and taken for granted the many beauty of things around me.

I wrote in my first blog to you all that I wanted to share this journey with you all, the good things as well as the bad but lately I feel all I have been doing is telling you all the bad things and taking these blogs for granted. The feeling of which I began this had been forgotten to me but its better late than never.

Sometimes in life bad things happen, it is inevitable like death... sorry to be so morbid but that does not mean that we linger and pontificate (great word isn’t it!) on it. Life deals us a certain card and we deal with it the best way we can or sometimes not the best way. In any case what the important thing is what we take out of it. To learn, to change, to better ourselves from it. Past is past.

And yes it will occasionally loom over us like a dark cloud in winter and sometimes that dark cloud will burst and will pour down on us with memories we would rather forget... but we must not forget. Never forget the bad because it will make you take for granted all the good. Around us we have so so very much. The world at the tips of our fingers, food so easily gotten, communication (texts, emails, telephones, mobiles, letters, fax BBM stuff etc) so easily overlooked. I hate to be preachy. That is not my intention. My intention is to inspire. To show you all the beauty around you even if does appear so ugly.

I’ve complained about bills and rent etc but at the end of the day I have a roof over my head. I have a laptop in front of me in which I can write this to you, in which I can go on Twitter and Facebook etc and keep in constant touch with my friends. A whole library can be accessed through the touch of a button which saves me from paying to go to the library. All around us there are so many people who can barely afford to eat so what is there not to be grateful for when our cupboards and fridges are well stocked up?

I have the privilege of working for my beloved university and there are so many people out there who are out on the streets in the cold selling magazines i.e. Big Issue sellers or playing music just to make ends meet.

Life despite its obstacles is simply beautiful and we should be grateful for all the small pleasures we have because there are so many out who are not as fortunate as we are. Let us never forget.

xx

First Day of Placement

Hi Everyone!

Apologies for the lack of blogs lately. I have attempting to settle into back into uni and my! What a task that is!

In the simplest way: everything is terribly difficult L lots of reading to do, more than usual but hey that is law for you.

Today was my first day at placement; luckily I had a colleague with me so it was not too bad. Errrm to be honest and I can be so brutally honest on here it was not what i expected. What I expected was a really busy law firm with masses of people coming in and out but that was not the case. In fact it was relatively quiet in kind of small-ish place. The morning was ahem dull perhaps because it was the first day and we are new etc etc. We were given extremely brief details as to carry out certain tasks such as filling in forms when there was a caller with a legal query. I have no previous experience in working within the legal environment so perhaps that may explain my lack of confidence although as I have mentioned before I have major confidence issues hehehe.

Anyhoo I was privileged enough to be able to sit in on one of the appointments with a client but of course I cannot divulge the conversation that transgressed between the solicitor and client but it was an eye opener, quite educational and emotional too.

In the afternoon things perked up a bit and I started to enjoy it a bit more. I was placed on the phones and again I am unable to tell you the nature of the calls but most of what I did was to take down personal details and details of their enquiry. The day of course did not run smoothly for one I felt I almost broke the photocopier but I did not I just pressed the wrong moment ahem *bimbo moment* and also completely forgot that I should fill in the same form if another agency were to call on a clients behalf...lesson learnt J

Much of the time when I am at uni and thinking about all these fascinating solicitors and barristers I think of what their journey to law must have been like so today I took the liberty of asking the solicitor if I could be presumptuous enough to ask how she got to her position and as I asked this as I was about to leave she kindly said she would not mind and that topic could be left for next week. I look forward to it and hopefully I can be more proactive and engaging with them though I realise that they are busy with much more important issues.

Aside from placement the more academic side is going swimmingly... NOT... Company law is a puzzle to me still. I seem to be surrounded by a vast majority of people who understand it without even trying. No amount of reading and studying seems to aid me but it is still early days and I guess I look forward to the challenge.

Equity is, surprisingly not as hard to understand as Company Law, it is a vital course as it will affect everyone at some point in their lives. I will go into more detail about this later on as I am still getting used to the language that Equity uses.

And as for Family Law we have only had one lecture so far (the lecturer being absent last week) but it is the topic that most fascinates and intrigues me. Already emotions are flaring and horns are locking of some of the issues brought up. Again I will write another blog on this issue hopefully later this week so as to give you an idea as to why everyone is getting worked up.

Hopefully I have not bored you too much. I know usually I try to leave a little inspiring message but for the life of me I cannot at the moment think of anything perhaps just to stick to it no matter how hard it gets, hard work will pay off eventually.

Ooooh and guess what Kitty is pregnant yet again ahem J

Another Ooooohhh University of Greenwich Open Day this Saturday! So come along if you have any questions and would like to visit the university. Welcome Talks start at 10:00 and all of our campuses will be open.

Look forward to seeing you there J

And so it all begins again!

Lectures have begun and the work is already pilling on! Again welcome to uni life! For those of you who have just joined us I give you a hearty welcome and I hope you enjoy your time at uni. For a lot of people it has not been an easy journey but who said it would? As well as all the parties and those sorts of things which I do not actually indulge in make sure you focus on your studies because although some say first year does not count towards anything it does go on your record and writing from experience it is not worth screwing up your chances thus make sure you attend and participate. Sorry for being such a nag but once you enter your third year of Law you will realise how much all these words make so much sense.

My personal aim for this blog this year is to try and make the whole “getting a career” process a heck of a lot easier. I myself find it utterly confusing when everyone starts talking about LPC, BPVC, training contracts etc so as I educate myself on these issues I will be passing that information on to you but of course do not rely on my words. Make sure if indeed you are serious about a career in Law that you do your own research.

As you know last Friday was induction and we were privileged enough to have with us QC Tim Barnes who is Chair of University of Greenwich Law Advisory Forum, who shared his wonderful wealth of knowledge with us and regards our university very highly. In his own words he described our uni as having an “extremely high reputation” and in regards to our mooting society said “the standards of mooting at this university is extraordinarily high”. My reaction.... YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY

From my personal experiences I have had several negative comments about this uni which I do not agree with and to have someone such as Tim Barnes say such amazing things is simply amazing for lack of a better phrase. Am sure last year I mentioned we were privilege enough to have Lord Neuberger to visit us. So everyone watch out for people coming this year!

Among his advice the first thing he mentioned which to me is key, is the matter of confidence; one must have confidence in oneself, something of which I lack completely believe it or not. “Seek advice from anyone who can provide it. Do not be afraid to ask.” Time and time again I mention in these blogs to go to your tutors and ask for help etc maintain a relationship with them because you will need their support at some point or another. It is all about NETWORKING!

I know I am being very preachy/naggy but we have been given such a wealth of advice that I cannot keep it to myself. The moment QC began talking I thought of writing a blog based around the advice he has given us. Another issue he mentioned is as obvious as it may sound we all make silly mistakes but to double check your work for those irritating errors such as typos, grammar, punctuation etc.

Use your vacations/holidays wisely. Try and try and try to gain as much experience within the legal field. You will probably be rejected many many times but if you do not apply you will never know so go ahead and try.

And along with all the hard work do enjoy yourself. This is a once in a life time experience you will meet all kinds of people from all walks of life therefore make the most of it whilst you can. You only live once so seize every opportunity.

Third Year Finally :-D

Hi Everyone!

I realise it has been quite a while since I last updated the blogs. To be honest I was awaiting the results letter to come so I could have confirmation of whether or not I go into third year. Anyhooo WebCT says I have passed so now I just await the letter. So Yaaay I guess. That was really hard.

I have also decided what my final modules will be and they are as follows: Family, Company and Partnership Law and placement (Law in the Community) and of course equity is compulsory.

Unfortunately as it hasn’t been much of a summer much of the things I wanted to do have not come to fruition, alas but never mind there will be plenty more opportunities in the near future. The days have been mostly filled with job applications, flat hunting and watching Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple and Poirot.

I would like to consider myself a movie buff so here are some of my favourite all time movies perhaps you all may enjoy:

·         You Can’t Take It With You

·         What Dreams May Come

·         Mr Deeds Goes to Town (the old black and white one)

·         Bringing up Baby

·         It’s a wonderful life

·         It happened one night

As you may come to realise these are mostly old black and white classic movies most of which are by Frank Capra (one of the best talents ever) which are probably better than most of the movies that come out nowadays.

A couple of weeks ago the last of the kittens finally went to his new home L but below are some pics of his time with me. I miss my lil babies so much but I know they have all gone to new happy homes.

In regards to starting third year I have mixed feelings towards starting the new academic new: scared, apprehensive, nervous, excited but yes, mostly terrified. I realise the mistakes I have been making over the last few years and look to correcting this in the months to come. I am sure you all share some of these feelings. Pray tell how do you all feel about starting?

Much Ado About Nothing & Carnival

Hi Everyone!

It seems to have a very long time since I last updated these blogs. In all honesty I have not been up to much. I have written an article for Sui Generis, the law paper for our uni, hopefully it will be used so if it does I’ll let you all know.

As for third year results shall hopefully be out next week and this time let us hope I actually pass and get in. I have been think a lot about my options and am contemplating whether or not I should go for the placement or not. I thought it would be a good idea to network and make contacts to help me further my career in law but on the other hand I much prefer the idea of studying the academics in more detail. Placement requires me to keep an up to date log and well the last three years have shown me that I cannot do this well so perhaps it is not the best of options. My other options are: Evidence, Family and Company and Partnership law. But as of yet I still have not made up my mind.

Last weekend was the carnival, the first one I have ever been to and it was so much fun. So nice to see so much talent, music and just a friendly gathering of so many people just out dancing and having a good time. I also went salsa the other night which was so much fun. Greenwich itself has a Zumba society to if you are joining us this year check it out J

Criminal Law Exam II

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Omg! My exam is this week! L

Part of me feels so panicky and the other half honestly does not care anymore. I am at a point, actually I think I’ve been at this point for a very long time, but I no longer really know if I am smart or clever or even wise. I just say a lot of things that I believe in whether am good at it or not is always for someone else to judge I suppose. Where was I going with this? Oh yes! Well I would love to pass but I have failed so many times I think part of me expects myself to fail because that seems to be what I am really good at. At the moment I am too hyped up on nerves for that to depress me or perhaps I am just so use to this thought that maybe it no longer bothers me. Who knows? What’s the word am looking for? Paradox? Yes I think that is it.

So criminal is on the 18^th August I hope you are all keeping your fingers and toes crossed for me. I really need it. Doing law has been my one and only ambition (apart from helping others etc) let’s hope I make it.

I did make use of one of my lecturers. He has such an amazing brain. The whole department have such amazing minds. Being in there presence I feel like a pebble compared to a mountain. So I wrote a few answers to some past exams questions. And guessy what? For rape I actually got & 72% yea miracles do happen and hard work does pay off. Of course there were some criticisms and also perhaps the fact that I did not do it under timed conditions may have helped in getting that grade. For the other paper which was duress by threats paper I got 64%. Now that’s all well and good but I do certainly hope I can manage that for my actual exam.

Oh here is a really useful tip: when you commence second year you might want to consider getting a mini suitcase thingy because carrying all those books can be quite heavy and bad for your back if like me you put all the weight on one shoulder.

If like me you are doing re-sits then I wish you all the very best of luck

P.s  Who likes the pics?

Third Riot, More to Come?

Yet again I find myself writing to you about the events of last night. Another night of mindless rioting. When will it end? This year 2010/2011 has been atrocious both personally and globally. I hope this nonsense shall end.

Despite wanting others to stay indoors and others warning me I did venture out initially to take pictures but my destination diverted to see my girl. But I must admit it was terrifying, perhaps I was watching too much news and seeing too many posts on Face Book and Twitter but what I saw speaks for itself. So many groups of youths some in balaclavas and others openly with them heading towards Wood Green, some on foot and others on bikes or in cars. My heart racing I focused on getting to my destination. Who knew that the mindless thugs would spread now hitting East Ham, Croydon, Peckham, Lewisham, Birmingham and Liverpool. Yet again more houses are set alight and people being robbed even whilst injured. Why do we have a group of mindless young folk acting out in such a despicable manner? They surely do not represent the rest of us who have ambition, who have manners and respect?

Walking down the high street this morning was weird, on a day like this it should be packed with families, youngsters and masses of people but it is unusually quote. There are still some thugs about; two were inciting the public to join the rioting. For shame!

At a time like this we need to come together as a community and clean up this mess. I would also like to clean up the thugs but let us leave that to the hands of the law and hope that justice shall be eked out swiftly and severely. Let us not forget the words of Lord Philip

“Justice must not only be done but should manifestly and undoubtedly be seen to be done.”