It's been a while! 182 days to be exact at the time of writing this. The last couple of months have been eventful, to say the least, I can say I learned a lot and experienced a lot of new things. I definitely didn’t forget about this blog - the monthly fee reminded me haha - I guess this evening I thought for some reason it’s a great time to get back into blog writing. I’m back at uni now but let me go back to a couple of months ago.

The day was May 28th, why is this day relevant you may ask? This was the day I started my first ‘official’ job at Superdrug. When I started this job I had one more economics exam left, it was weird because I kinda forgot I applied to this job and randomly got an email about a telephone interview which I later had. After the interview, I thought I absolutely flunked it but somehow I got offered the job and later on, I officially became a worker. I was there for about four months, only leaving about a week before I went back to university. Over these months I learned a lot; working as part of a team, meeting targets, customer service etc. Working in customer service is something I’d recommend to anyone because you learn so much as you get used to dealing with various people as well as many transferable skills. Getting thrown into the real world when you’ve been used to a school environment your whole life changes your perspective. I’m very grateful for the time I had there, meeting everyone there, connecting with regular customers and being part of a team - money is always great too.

When I wasn’t at work, I tried to keep my main goal in mind which is eventually becoming a solicitor. During this time I did various law-related things; I was lucky enough to be put forward by my university for the Freshfields Stephen Lawrence Scholarship Scheme. This scheme was designed to address the disproportionate under-representation in large commercial law firms and other city institutions. Hundreds of university students around the UK were selected to apply and thankfully I was one of about 80 students chosen after submitting a personalised application along with a video to attend an application centre. This was the first time I was in such an environment, being there truly reaffirmed my goals in wanting to pursue a career in law; while I was there I was put through many difficult tests which assessed many different skills and attributes. The main highlight for me was spending two days at such an illustrious firm and getting to speak to all the people who worked there, one of my objectives was to speak to as many people as possible to get a true sense of the firm - I think people forget to realise that you also need to decide whether a firm is a great fit for you personally not only if they think you are good enough for them. While I was there I got a true sense of the place and enjoyed every second, one thing that stood out was the food they gave us. For me, it wasn’t about the food but rather the respect and care they took in making the two days there truly memorable. This whole experience made me put Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer towards the top of my list and made it a place I can truly see myself working.

Unfortunately (but also, fortunately) I didn’t get the scholarship but I got to the final stage and got so much invaluable help from it. I say, fortunately. I was put in a position that many others don’t get the chance to experience. Looking at it with a glass-half-empty attitude is a waste. From this experience, I got so much knowledge and feedback on how to do better but I was also offered many other things such as CV coaching, work shadowing at the firm and a Freshfields mentor. I documented my whole experience on YouTube so you can check it out.

I’ve been back at university for about 4 weeks now, it's been nice, to be honest considering last year when everything was online. The second year of university is definitely harder but I think it's about keeping on top of your work and staying organised as well as having hobbies outside your academics. At the start of the term, I decided I'd pick up a new sport, so I chose rugby. I only played a limited amount of rugby growing up, it was mostly football, and where I grew up rugby wasn’t popular. But for this year I wanted a change and wanted to try something new. It’s been a challenge but fun, learning a whole new sport with weird rules and stuff is tough but over the last few weeks I have steadily made progress. I try to watch videos and ask as many questions as possible to improve because I want to get as good as possible; for me, there is no point in trying if you’re not going to try your hardest. Joining the rugby society is a good choice, it’s allowed me to meet new people, get out of my comfort zone and have a healthy hobby outside of law.

Currently, my plan over the next couple of months is to apply to vacation schemes, I've got a couple in mind (about four). My approach is to apply to law firms with people I have met so I can have a personal touch and having a lower number means I can better tailor my application to them. Hopefully, I’m successful and can complete some vacation schemes with training contract offers at the end of those two weeks meaning I can just focus on university for third year and get the best possible grades.

Of course, I will keep this blog updated and hopefully not have another hiatus for many months at a time.