1) New job 

I recently secured a new job as a paralegal at a well known law firm and have found it fascinating how different it is compared to working for a smaller high-street firm. Nonetheless, the experience has been eye-opening and has been super beneficial. My only gripe is it has left me utterly confused as practising commercial law is looking incredibly appealing.

2) Another Secret Barrister book finished 

I have finished reading 'Nothing but the truth' by the Secret Barrister and I have to confess this might be my favourite from the trio. I began to appreciate the honesty from the author of the harsh realities faced by criminal pupil barristers as well as those who have been practising for decades. Yet, this still has not halted me as my passion for criminal law continues to grow deeper. 

3) Pupillage 1st interviews 

After applying for pupillage earlier this year, I found myself being offered 1st interviews at some of the chambers which was an amazing opportunity and it is something I will continue to be grateful for. However, when attending a networking event led by a chambers, I found myself with a group of people who were also equally befuddled as to why numerous people with outstanding experience had not been awarded pupillage. The sheer competitiveness and the absolute lack of diversity at the Bar will always be the mysterious duo that continues to weed people out of the profession. I could go on about this for an eternity, and maybe I will write up a post detailing my experience with pupillage applications this year but for now I will stop here. 

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If you are like me and you like purchasing books whether its hardback or not to simply read when you have a little time or on your commute to work then these are perfect, bearing in mind that they are most definitely law related but also provide a different perspective to the legal world as we know it. 

Firstly, 'Unlawful killings' by Her Honour Wendy Joseph QC, this I simply found when browsing through the books in WHSmith. Just flicking through this book quickly was enough to entice me to purchase it and start reading it as soon as humanly possible. With each chapter set out as a trial, unfolding horrific but mostly tragic details, the book takes you through five separate cases. 

Secondly, 'People like us' by Hashi Mohamed, this I discovered after attending an online qualifying session with Middle Temple, where he discussed his book and read a little passage from it too. It was incredibly inspiring watching a muslim barrister speak about his journey to the Bar. 

Thirdly, 'In Black and White' by Alexandra Wilson, now I am sure this book might be easily recognisable simply because of how well it was portrayed in the media. This tells the story of a young barrister's story of navigating race and class in a broken justice system, as described by herself. This truly does open your eyes in a world that is still typically male dominated despite the neverending strive for diversity at the Bar. 

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It has been over a year since I last posted on here. Why, you may ask? There is no simple explanation but this past year has been a whirlwind to say the least. It was one of the busiest, most stressful, and most eventful years to this date and I am grateful for every single thing that has happened. While I will not detail every single thing that has happened this year (simply because you would get bored) I shall tell you about what has single handedly consumed me this year. 

From my older posts you may have gathered that I am studying to become a barrister. What no one tells you is that the bar course is probably one of the most hardest and gruelling things you will do in becoming a barrister (until you get to pupillage applications and tenancy, another whole ballpark) and studying online (the cherry on top of this cake) only makes your life much more difficult. I have one exam left and so help me god I WILL GET CALLED TO THE BAR THIS YEAR! Nonetheless, there is light at the end of the tunnel all you need is faith, a lot of resilience, and a really good support system. 

I turned 22 last year, it was bittersweet, I celebrated my birthday whilst finishing off the last bit of my masters. My masters project started out as being this one issue I wanted to examine, domestic abuse in relation to the pandemic, but in reality it was far too large to write up 8k words on. I managed to streamline my vision by thinking about its use in practice and decided upon the use of special measures in court for domestic abuse victims amidst the pandemic. One thing I can say for sure is I will not miss education, but that's because it never really truly stops. 

After completing my last set of exams I began job hunting and applying with the intention of wanting to leave my part-time job. While it had served me well it was no longer relevant to my next stages in life. As someone who's sole focus was education for a large chunk of my life, whilst working part-time, finding a job was not on my list of priorities. That was until handing in my last assignment for my course, from having absolutely no free time to having 5 days free was extremely new and slightly unsettling. I buried myself in countless job applications, another painfully long and daunting experience but it paid off eventually. 

I began doing things I simply did not have the time for before because of studying full time, little things like reading more books. I managed to read 8 chapters of Alexandra Wilson's 'In Black and White' over the course of a few hours, it may not seem like much but for me it was amazing! I look forward to this year because there is so many things I want to do, both related and unrelated to my career. 

October has left just as quickly as it arrived. Now almost 2 months into my BTC I am eagerly awaiting my exam dates. I intend on writing a whole post on the Bar Course and how I have found it so far because damn that has been stressful to say the least! 

As someone who has found it extremely difficult to work at home I have been dragging myself to coffee shops to spend a few hours doing work and it helps (not so much my coffee intake but you win some you lose some). From having to complete my undergraduate degree from home and now also my postgraduate a change of scenery makes the world of a difference. 

My Blackstone's Criminal Practice book arrived and I have to say navigating this was a lot harder than the Whitebook. When it comes to textbooks I prefer having a hard copy even if it weighs a ton the only downside to these books is that the paper is extremely thin so every time I turn a page I am faced with the fear of tearing it. 

I had some amazing food at Tamatanga and Giggling Squid. Good food is truly one of life's greatest gifts. When I am not doing work for my Bar Course, or working I am eating and I cannot lie trying new food is something I look forward to. 

I received the most thoughtful graduation gift ever from my cousin. It has my name and degree engraved into it, you better believe I am keeping this bottle for life. The fact that I have graduated still feels surreal, maybe it is because of the lack of the ceremony, but apparently the ceremony is likely to go ahead in January so we shall see how that unfolds. 

I had the most stressful oral advocacy session last week. My laptop felt the need to update minutes before my session and I forgot to backup my files onto OneDrive so there I was dressed in my blazer, shirt and pj bottoms frantically emailing my tutor. But thank god I managed to get my skeleton argument in front of me (one of the perks of performing last I guess). 

I ate runny eggs on toast a few too many times. My go-to is toasting the bread in a pan with some butter, frying the egg until the whites cooked but the yolk is still runny and then topping it off with either some spring onions or spinach and then seasoning with salt, pepper and a generous amount of chili flakes. Oh I also managed to find another bird ring and replaced my old one. 

This month has been hectic to say the least but also one of the best! Here are a few photos from the past few weeks. I ate out a little more than I probably should have, bought my first car, and started the Bar Training Course. 

The Bar Course has been more intense than I originally anticipated. Unlike undergraduate law there was no 'introduction week' and it was all guns blazing. Personally I feel like I have done more work and reading in these first three weeks of studying than my law degree. My White Book also got delivered and knowing that they are £725 each makes me want to cry ever so slightly. I had my first oral advocacy session where I had to prepare for a bail application before the Magistrates' Court and it went a lot better than I expected considering I prepared on the day. Despite being slightly overwhelmed by the workload I have thoroughly enjoyed studying so far and quite frankly cannot wait to continue and hopefully qualify. Speaking of qualifying I have booked myself onto a qualifying session centered around the Black Lives Matter movement. 

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As some of you may know I start the BTC, the Bar Training Course, this month. And for any aspiring barristers you are more than familiar with the several things you must do before commencing the course. One of the several requirements is to pass the Bar Course Aptitude Test to determine whether or not you are 'fit for the Bar'. It is based on the Watson-Glaser test designed to test logic, critical thinking and reasoning. It costs an extortionate £150 and personally in my opinion it is pointless. Nevertheless, here are a few things I did to prepare for the test. Bear in mind I prepared a few days before my test and managed to pass. 

1. TalentLens practice test. This test provides you with example questions and answers along with the explanation as to why the answers are what they are. This is by far the closest practice test online that mirrors the actual one. Unfortunately this is the only test online, I tried searching for more and I quickly learnt the sources to practice are extremely scarce. 
2. Watson-Glaser practice tests. Instead of searching for BCAT tests what you can do is practice using the W-G tests online as they are more accessible but ensure the question and answer style is similar to the BCAT. 
3. YouTube videos. The ones I found the most useful were by CareerVidz. There are two videos, one outlining the types of question and the second one revealing answers to questions from the first video. I found it helpful to watch and pause the video answer the questions myself and then going back to check if they were correct or incorrect and the reasoning behind each one. 
4. The RED model. This is the 'recognizing assumptions', 'evaluating arguments' and 'drawing conclusions' from the information provided to you. This is extremely helpful and can be memorized quickly and referenced to when taking the test, so make use of it.