Moots, mum and mutts.

Today marked the end of my placement at the USW Legal Department, and my exit meeting with Tara felt wonderfully bittersweet. Since starting in January, this placement has felt like true immersion. Not a token experience, not something to tick off, but a real job, a real challenge, and one I am deeply glad I took on. It feels like an ending, yes, but also like something quietly satisfying has settled into place. I say “quietly” because admitting that I loved it would be an understatement. I truly did. Not only the content, which was stimulating and thought-provoking, but the department itself. The office layout, the friendly faces, the genuine effort from everyone to make me feel welcome and fully integrated into the team. That will remain one of the highlights of these past weeks. I learned so much. Beyond office etiquette and professional rhythm, I discovered the culture of respect and humour that makes teamwork not only productive but enjoyable. And the content? Utterly juicy fo...

  If I have ever felt inspired to put myself forward for a role, today is that day. Like many students, I constantly feel that I know very little about anything. Law, in particular, has a remarkable ability to remind you of this on a daily basis. Just when you think you understand one concept, ten more appear, each more complex than the last. As a mature student, this feeling seems amplified. I sometimes sit in lectures surrounded by brilliant minds and wonder how on earth I ended up here, quietly hoping no one will realise I am still figuring everything out. And yet, today, something shifted. Today, sitting amongst my cohort, I felt that little me might actually have every chance to shine. That perhaps, one day, I could become part of one of the most sought after firms. Capital Law. We have had guest speakers before, and I always enter these lectures slightly anxious, hoping to absorb some fragment of wisdom from those who have already crossed the bridge we are still carefully ste...

  I’ve thought about changing my career for a long time. It’s been like a recurring dream, each time returning more vivid than before. Yet realistically, the comfort of knowing what I have to do in my current role feels safe. But if I’m honest about where that “safety” has taken me, I feel disappointed. The lack of challenge, the absence of real problems to solve, the sense of standing still instead of moving towards something meaningful, all of it has forced me to reconsider the future of the middle-aged woman I have become. Perhaps it’s hormones quietly packing their bags. Perhaps it’s the last few stray good intentions wandering off to greener pastures. Or perhaps it’s simply dissatisfaction refusing to be ignored. Whatever it is, the dream is getting closer. My current legal placement has been a revelation. I was fortunate enough to be placed within the Legal team at my university, and stepping into that environment felt like entering another world. Serenity and professionalism...

  Yesterday, as part of my law degree, I had to attend a session at a different campus of the University of South Wales. It’s a campus I will attend exactly twice across the entire degree, solely to use a specialist Hydra suit facility, a top-of-the-range, real-time simulated IT rooms used for tort law. High-tech. Sophisticated. Very expensive. What I wasn’t expecting was that the most intense practical lesson of the day wouldn’t come from the Hydra suit at all but from the car park. The last time I attended this campus, parking required a £1 payment at a machine to exit . It's already annoying. There was no signage at the entrance, no warning before you were parked, and no alternative once you were on site. Still, I paid, left, and filed it away as “one of those things”. This time, the machine was gone. Instead, I was told that payment was now only possible via a third-party app called Trust . To leave the car park, I was required to: download the app create an account provide per...

  A Lot Happening for a Monday… First of all, how is it possible that a year ago I was mooting? One minute I was standing there, heart thumping, notes clutched like a life raft, and now it is the turn of the Year Ones. There they are, in their sharp suits, pacing the corridors, ready to plead their case in front of our tutors. And no, I don’t look at them with envy. Alright, maybe a tiny bit. Mostly, I look at them thinking, I wish I could do it again. Or at least attend quietly from the shadows. Mooting was such an exciting time. Although, if I am being completely honest, it also felt stressful, terrifying, and slightly unhinged. With minutes to spare, our team finally ready, adrenaline doing cartwheels. I was ready though. I had pleaded my real case in front of a real panel only months earlier, so fear was not the issue. Being graded on a performance, that was what made me anxious. But I had my Uni girls beside me, and with them there, I felt invincible. We were prepared. And whe...