All entries for Tuesday 18 December 2018

Au–term

Autumn term always fly past in a busy blur, and emotions are high with the excitement of arriving back. This time last year, I was excited for the unknown. Now, I know what to expect but for that precise reason, I am excited to return. My birthday falls right as we all return from the summer break, so my group of friends came together to celebrate it. We played games, had pizza and just basked in each other's company and it was everything I could ask for.

The view of campus in autumn is gorgeous as always!

The main extracurricular activity I have been busying myself with is my society, Women for Women International (WFWI).

Over the term, my society ran different fundraising events – such as a 5K run, 24 hour fast, a halloween bake sale & a movie night where we screened Hotel Rwanda. In total, I am proud that we’ve managed to fundraise slightly over 2000GBP, which is enough to sponsor at least 7 women through our training! Although leading WFWI takes up such a huge amount of my time, it is very rewarding when I know the work I am putting in will directly affect someone’s life so positively.

Being the president of a society has taught me so much about being a leader, whilst providing me with the platform to hone on my leadership skills. As a leader, I tend to be more understanding and sympathetic but I now realise that it’s important to couple those values with being assertive when necessary skill. I will be handing over my title of president in the exec elections at the end of next term. I am excited to see what else my time of being president will teach me, as I think it has been such a steep learning curve.

A further extra-curricular activity I have been involved with is the Warwick Law Clinic, in collaboration with a local firm, Wright Hassall. The Law Clinic offers free legal advice in a community centre in Sydenham, provided for by the students and vetted by a partner and trainee at Wright Hassall. So far, it’s been a satisfying and exciting experience, as we really get a taste of how it feels like to have clients to be responsible for. The law clinic only started about halfway through term, so I am excited to be spending more time with it next term!

As for my course itself, the most exciting module I’ve been working on this term is Shakespeare & The Law. I remember literally speaking about this module during my interview for this scholarship, because I found it so interesting and I couldn’t comprehend how the 2 topics collide. Having done the course, I can honestly say it was one the highlights of my degree and I highly recommend it. It is convened by Paul Raffield, one of my favourite professors. He was an actor with the Royal Shakespeare Company for 25 years before deciding to be a lecturer, and he is full of fascinating stories. Due to his theatrical background, the way he presents his lectures and engages us in the content is much like an actor telling us stories, drawing us deep into the content.

The course allows you to appreciate the relationship between the art of advocacy, and how the skills of theatre allows you to push hone on it. For example, the art of persuasion and pulling at the jury’s heartstrings when creating a case for the defence. The texts we learnt were King Richard the 2^nd, Merchant Of Venice and Measure for Measure. All of them involve a trial scene, which we analyzed critically in the context of English Law. The lessons comprise of group presentations, moots on behalf of the character’s actions, as well as a grand trial with Paul as the judge.

This module has been the highlight of my term. There is only 8 student who took it, so all of us became good friends by the end of it, due to how interactive the course is, and it’s always good to make more friends.

This module is a cross between the literature and law department. Thus the content and assessment style is very different and creatively invigorating, allowing me to flex a different part of my brain. I know this module is something very unique to what Warwick has to offer, and I am so happy and grateful to be here, enjoying what I’m learning.

This term has been extremely challenging, but with its challenges comes the excellent opportunity for self-growth and development.Regardless, I'm due for a break andI am so excited that Christmas break is finally here. I will be spending it catching up on work, finishing up essays due in January, and overall resting and hibernating from the cold. However, I will also be heading to Budapest tomorrow and spending Christmas itself with my friends and their family in Poland! Even though it is going to be cold, I love the warmth of being with a family on Christmas and so I can’t wait for it!

Hayati Kamaludin : 18 Dec 2018 16:19 |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem