Posted by Asel @ Bellerbys Brighton
At the end of last term I attended the Sixth Form Cambridge Law Conference and now I’d like to share my impressions with you.
The whole thing was amazing! It was an unforgettable experience. During the Conference which lasted four days I was living in Pembroke College which is located in the very heart of Cambridge. So it presented no difficulty to get to any place where the actual conference took place. Accommodation was very comfortable: the room was quite big, the window was on the sunny side. The only minor inconvenience was the fact that the toilet and the shower were downstairs.
The meals were absolutely the same as they are in Bellerbys. However the canteen was different. If you’ve watched Harry Potter movie you would be able to imagine what it was like: four long tables for students and one standing perpendicularly to others - for Fellows and Lecturers of Pembroke College. This hall is performed in Gothic style with typical high ceiling. Along the walls there are different portraits of College’s patrons. So it was a fascinating place to eat!))
The Conference was made by the committee which consisted of current Cambridge Law students whom I would like to thank for such splendid work and for being so fun and easy to work with! The programme of the Conference was very intense, as we had to be introduced in every piece of Law. So I had to wake up at 8 am and could go to bed only at 11 pm!
We went to the Law Faculty where all lectures took place we were introduced to Law as the whole academic subject, and afterwards had lectures about European Union Law, Intellectual Property Law, Sentencing and Penal System, Legal Problems, Land Law, Roman Law and International Law.
After a short break we were divided into small groups and taken to different workshops. I was in Linklaters workshop. Linklaters is a British solicitor’s Law firm on an international scale which specialises on Commercial Law. In this workshop I was given various valuable advice on how to perform successfully during the interview in a law firm by Linklaters’ representative.
After dinner there was a Debate at Cambridge Union - a special building for debating. The motion was: “This house believes that we are too harsh on criminals”. I have never seen such a perfect debate in my life: for the proposition were Professor John Spencer, who is also a co-director of the Cambridge Centre for European Legal studies and a President of the European Criminal Law Association, and a current Law student at Cambridge; for opposition were an MP and Paul Stanley, a barrister and a former student of Cambridge University. The debate was very heated and sharp, and in the end the opposition was proclaimed a winner.
The next day we had lectures in Constitutional Law, Contract Law, Tort Law, Criminal Law and Family. Afterwards two former Cambridge students gave talks about the job of a solicitor and a barrister. Then another person, who had attended the Conference many years ago but later went to Oxford University gave a talk about an alternative perspective for Law students - to become a teacher. I personally became very interested in working at Bar.
That day’s workshop was negotiation skills, where we were divided into teams and tried to negotiate and make a beneficial for us deal. The night’s activity was different from the previous one: instead of a serious event we had an extremely funny Mock Trial!
And finally, on the last of the Conference before departure we had two lectures. First, with the Lecturers about applying to Cambridge, and second, with the members of the committee, about life in Cambridge.
All in all, the Conference was one of the most enjoyable event in my life in England! And now all I have to do is to work hard to go there next time as a University’s student!
Asel is studying A Levels at Bellerbys College Brighton
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