What an academic year it has been. After a tough first semester ending in a successful exam period I stepped into this semester full of vigor and enthusiasm. The latter of those has wilted somewhat over the period of the last 12 weeks or so but the vigor remains and has carried me through to the other side - well almost anyway. All that is left for me to do now is to get through my exams and I'll be half of the way through my law degree which is pretty scary. You don't really notice change in yourself when you're going about your daily life but when I've been away from university and with people that I don't see an awful lot, I notice a change in who I've become - I think it's fair to say that this degree is having the desired effect on me.
The reason why I'm writing this post just now is that it occurred to me today that this is the last week of lectures that I'm ever likely to have again. Next year I move to seminars and a lot more personal studying which I'm really looking forward to. I think that I've grown out of the lecture/tutorial format and I almost feel stifled by it - a sentiment that I sense emanating throughout my peer group. It's amazing how different we all are in just 2 years of being law students and that's testament to both the education we're receiving and the application that we're giving. I feel like I've become a young lawyer as a result of all of this which surely is top of the 'law school mission statement' at the start of each year.
Aside from the academic success that I feel flowing around me, I think the whole experience has had an interesting effect on me as a person. It's made me highly critical of the high school education system in Scotland because I feel that I could have been pushed a lot harder in my latter years there - who knows what I would be like now? Insufferable is probably the answer to that question but I still think that this whole 'curriculum for excellence' is a tarted up version of an old trick that doesn't produce what it should. I'm lucky (along with the people that I go to university with) that I drove myself to do better than I was being pushed to do - other people don't get that from within and university, sadly, becomes beyond them.
A prime example of how far I've come is this very blog - and its predecessor. I occasionally delve into the archives to see who I was 6, 8, 12 months ago and I never fail to amaze myself. Some things never change (girls and relationships remain but a mystery) but I've rounded off so many rough edges in the time that I've been at university that I'm surprised I've got time for anything else. Yes I'm only half way there, but after these exams it's going to feel like I'm making an even bigger step up again and that excites me more than I have been for a long time - anyone care to join me?
Thanks for reading and apologies about the lack of topic this evening - I'll strive to serve you better in the coming days!
Martin
