Student Contribution: Jordan Cook
Every first year law student adorns a look of glee, excitement and anticipation before they walk into their first class. Their hopes of studying human rights law, environmental law, or helping to defend victims and make the world a better place are written all over their faces.
However, contrasted with the end of the year… first year law students have had their dreams and hopes crushed by their law professors, older law students and their ever-growing mountain of work.
A study recently done by an independent bureau has found that the expectations of law students to study human rights or environmental law plummets by 90% after their first year of law.
Our correspondent has conducted interviews with one law student at the beginning of the year and then at the end to see the difference for herself. This law student initially described her love of the law and how she has always wanted to become an environmental lawyer, with beliefs that she would be able to be on high profile oil mining cases and aid in the formation of law concerning carbon emission output, allowing her to change the world.
However, during the second interview, the student looked arguably more disgruntled and monotone. She was evidently more morose about the subject of the environment and did not believe that the world can be saved in time, additionally stating that she may as well go into corporate law to actually make money if she’s doing this degree for another 3 years.
It can most definitely be concluded that law school does dash the hopes of the next generation of law students, however every now and then someone may be able to become the next Amal Clooney.
