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If you're reading this, hello!

As my bio probably reveals, my name is Celine and I'm a current English undergraduate student at University College London or UCL (although not for much longer!). As of this September, I'll be starting my law conversion course – and, subsequently, entering what I like to call my 'lawyer era'.

In this short introductory post, I'll be providing an overview of what you can expect from my blog on LawCareers.Net, as well as what prompted me to venture into law and my journey since.

My journey so far

I started my English undergraduate degree in 2020, not really knowing where I was going with it. It's certainly not a step I regret – it put me in contact with wonderful people who are passionate about arts and culture, boosted my ability to think critically, and allowed me to explore a subject I loved at a higher academic level.

That being said, around the start of my second year I knew something was amiss. As much as I was enjoying my degree, I slowly began to realise that English wasn't something I wanted to pursue further academically. Studying a subject like English meant that my career options were multitudinous (and, consequently, quite overwhelming). As many of my peers began to think seriously about their own post-grad options –which ranged from journalism and consultancy to teaching and acting – the stress of not knowing my next steps began to get to me.

However, after evaluating the features of my degree that I’d enjoyed the most – analysis, discussion, and argumentation among them – and speaking with a few friends who were either studying or had recently graduated with law degrees, I decided to make the move into law. 

My future plans – and what you can expect from them!

This leads me to where I am now: on the cusp of completing my degree and the brink of beginning my final exam season. Sifting through my notes on Victorian literature for the last time is a strange, bittersweet experience (although I know I won’t miss studying Shakespeare…). At this stage, however, I'm excited to begin preparing for my next steps – and I look forward to what they’ll bring.

For a long time, researching law was something I put off. Knowing that there were so many other better candidates, and so many others 'ahead of me', did nothing for my self-esteem or my progress. This sense of self-deprecation left me stranded in a space of wilful ignorance and confusion. Of course, I acknowledged that law was something I wanted to pursue but I was so overwhelmed by the process and the knowledge I was expected to have but didn't yet possess that I’d continuously put it off.

This is something I hope to remedy going forward, and I'll be documenting it all on this very blog. So if, like me, you're a complete and total beginner, if you’ve absolutely no clue what the difference between a solicitor or barrister is, you can't differentiate between a vacation scheme and a training contract, and you like the sound of a legal career but have no clue where to start – this is the blog for you.

Together, we can break down grand legal concepts into small, digestible chunks, and learn all the fancy jargon that we need to succeed. This blog isn’t intended to be a linear, finite experience, but a work that’s continuously in progress and in motion. My goal is for this space to be your go-to spot for simplicity, relatability and above all fun!