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I want to be completely honest and open here… because why not? I’m here to share my experiences after all! Adjusting to studying the Legal Practice Course (LPC), working, being a committee member on the Lawyers with Disability Division committee and managing my condition has been sometimes difficult over the past year. Using a metaphor to describe my life, I feel like a professional juggler who has joined a circus.

However, now that I’m studying for my electives it’s become slightly easier as the workload and pressure has decreased. As such, it’s given me more time to reflect on one of the reasons I’m succeeding on the LPC.

One decision I’m incredibly proud of is my choice to defer one of my skills assessments. I made this decision so that I could fully concentrate on studying for a main module while also managing a flare up.

Last winter, my pain unfortunately worsened due to the cold weather. It made study sessions sometimes longer and I had to plan more time for rest and recovery. I contemplated deferring my skills exam, which was the day before my main business law practice exam that’s worth 60% of my overall grade.

Initially I felt ashamed that I was even considering deferring this assessment. Subconsciously, I was also comparing myself to other students and beating myself up because I felt unable to sit the exams all at once while juggling everything else. However, I soon realised this wasn’t helpful to the situation. So, I spoke to my personal tutor about deferrals and decided that it was the best decision for me at the time. I needed to take the time to recover from the flare, and stop forcing myself to push through and ignore my body. I’m pleased to say that deferring my skills assessment enabled me to achieve a distinction in my business law and practice module.

The reason why I’m writing this post is because not many people speak about deferrals, especially if you’re a student who’s disabled or has a long-term health condition. My advice would be to not feel ashamed for doing so. You need to do what’s right for you and your learning. Also, a reminder that we’re all on a different path into this career and there’s no one set way of going about it.

These learnings on the course have enabled me to effectively plan my time at work, consider what my body is saying and, most importantly, be confident in managing expectations and meeting deadlines.

I was recently reminded by a friend who’s completed the LPC that this isn’t forever and that I will have my weekends back one day! Bring on graduating the LPC and the trainee solicitor life!