Goodbye year one, hello summer (31-May-2014)

So, my first year of education here at the University of Nottingham is over. Today marks the end of my first full day of freedom; a day well spent with my older brother and his girlfriend, here in my Nottingham, hearing all about their exotic holiday away to Morrocco, looking at pictures, admiring their golden tans and being envious of the holiday they enjoyed.

It sure was amazing to hear of the wonderful memories they have created with one another and hearing of the laughter and happiness they shared was more than exhilarating to hear. It was definitely enough to get anyone’s hopes of love and happiness up, enough to make anyone want what they have after what they have been through.

Anyway, back to the main point here, first year is over. My first year of reading Law (LLB) has officially (or not) come to an end. I use parenthesis around ‘or not’ because the possibility of a retake still lingers because a pass is never guaranteed. There is, in no way, a guarantee that I will pass with ‘flying colours’ or even pass at all for that matter.

These summer exams were by far the hardest things I have ever studied for. The foundations of my knowledge developed during my first semester and my January exams definitely put them to test. My lack of revision was reflected in my appalling passes (or near misses) of 41% in contract law and 51% in tort law; a third and a 2:2. Where 40% is a pass, my 41% was close to a fail. Those January exams were definitely a kick up the backside but in no way did I expect any better. Coursework held my attention throughout the Christmas break, causing my revision for exams to fall. With my mind focussed upon the fact that ‘January exams don’t count’ and that ‘coursework makes up 100% of this module mark’ I felt that nothing was more important than the mind boggling, brain draining, understanding law coursework that had to be done to perfection.

However, little did I know that perfection was far from any comment that would be given back to me about my coursework:

Law School Coursework Guidelines:

Verdana, size 10 font

Double line spacing

7 pages

Little did I know that all my hard work would be sent right down the drain. The technological advances of Apple and Microsoft word proved too much for my MacBook Pro, causing my double line spacing to become triple line spacing, resulting in me losing almost 3 pages of content from my all important essays.

Receiving my results was definitely a daunting moment and opening them to see the grades I got was definitely disheartening. Seeing a shocking 41% in my understanding law coursework brought a halt to my step, as did the 52% I received in public law coursework. I felt as though the months of hard grafting I had put into research and essay writing had been wasted. Upon reading the feedback to my coursework, I realised there had been a massive mistake with my coursework (the triple spacing) and that was probably a huge factor in my lower grades.

‘Onwards and upwards’

After speaking to the faculty leader, I found out that my options were still open and the possibility to re-sit my coursework was available. This gave me some sense of reassurance and gave me hope of a second chance.

After a couple of sessions of tears and phone calls to my [wonderful] boyfriend telling him how much I hated my sense of failure and how much I already wanted to quit, I got myself together and picked myself back up. I told myself to keep working hard and carry on, because I can only make things better from now. On the advice of my boyfriend, crying is for the unknown and we know what we do, nothing can change the past, it’s only the future we can change.

I told myself it would be onwards and upwards from here and with the help of my most loved ones (parents, siblings, aunties, uncles and friends) I kept on going. I worked hard and made every minute count. I made sure I enjoyed myself, I made the most of my days and although I had the occasional day of procrastination and ‘nothingness’ I still made the most out of the hours I had.

12 tutorials and 9 weeks of lectures and a birthday later, came the date marking the end of semester two learning and the beginning of a season of stress, pimples, over-tiredness, procrastination and down right hard work. During Easter break, every last minute was spent reading through cases on negligence, rules on why a promisee is unable to succeed in a claim against the promisor (contract law jargon that I expect no one to try to understand), and why there can never be an absolute power vested in a single body.

Then came the 19^th May 2014. My public law exam.

3 hours after entering the examination room, I left telling myself I needed to focus on my next two exams.

For reasons of superstition i.e. I don’t want to jinx my luck, I never comment on how well I thought an exam went or how well I think I might have done.

The 27^th May 2014 slowly approached and I tried to take in as much information I could and I tried to sift my way through revision notes, alternating between contract law and tort law, just to try and strike the right balance.

Then the anticipated 3 hours of my tort exam passed and soon after (on the 30^th of May) the 3 hours of contract law had gone, and that was it. That was my first year over. That was the determination of my ability left to the hands of examiners.

And this is me today, with my MacBook Pro and a packet of popcorn, listening to Ed Sheeran, writing about my lows and highs. That’s exactly how my first year can be described; a year of lows and highs. Tears, laughter, happiness balancing out the sadness, lie-ins until 12 noon and late nights watching movies, laughing with friends and partying.

There is no inch of me that regrets anything I have done this year because I’m a big believer in the fact that, if you done something, it was right at the time, so you should never look back with regret. Another ‘motto’ of mine is that everything happens for a reason. You’re alive for a reason, we consciously choose the steps we take in life and whether you think about it too little or too much, there is always a reason behind what we do. Sometimes we cannot see that reason but that’s why we live our lives; to learn of those reasons and discover why we done what we done and why we should do what we are about to do.

University is a time of decision making, a time of responsibility and for many, a time of fear. I think there is almost definitely a piece of fear in every university student’s life, whether they consider it to be of significance or not, there is definitely an inch of it. The stereotypical view of a university student is that we party hard, get drunk, do drugs, have sex and waste our lives away. I do not doubt that there are some students who fit exactly that profile, but we need to remind ourselves that those are merely a minority. The majority of university students work hard; we didn’t get into a russell group university with the poorest grades in the country. We are here for a reason and many of us will fulfil those reasons.

Life is never easy, we face challenges on a daily basis and we will continue to face new ones everyday. This is simply how we grow, how we develop to be the people we are and how we will continue to develop into the people we will be in the future.

I thank every person who has ever believed in me, every person who has ever encouraged me to pursue my dreams. I thank my parents for every ounce of support they have given me, my older brother for showing me how to enjoy myself, my little brother and sister for bringing me the joy only a child can bring you and last, but never to say the least, I thank my boyfriend for giving me hope when I need it, for showing me love and appreciation like I have never felt and for being my best friend when the rest of the world felt like my enemy.

Without of a lot of the people I just thanked, I would not be here, in my room, in my university halls, writing this out. This year has been one of the biggest adventures I have ever been on, both physically and emotionally. I’ve felt drained, I’ve felt ecstatic but most of all, I’ve felt achievement and fulfilment.

In the near future, I have many ventures planned. June brings me to London on a City Law programme, it also brings the receipt of my results, August brings work experience with a firm close to home and most of all, the summer brings joy and happiness with my family, moments I plan to treasure for every second they are worth.

The all famous LASS of University of Nottingham.