Semester 1 in Review

Well, damn. I blinked and half the year was over; I don’t think it’s going to quite  set in that Semester 2 has already begun until I get back to uni tomorrow. Since I haven’t posted anything since the start of uni, it seems logical to catch up and post about how last semester went!

Living in Brisbane

As I mentioned in my previous post, I landed up moving twice. Moving was a pain, but my new residence is wonderful. The house itself has… character: there are a lot of nails sticking out of things; we have yet to figure out why. The area is nice, with a few small shops within walking distance and a shopping centre about a minute’s drive down the road. Getting to the CBD is about half an hour’s commute by bus; it’s faster by car, but well, QUT has virtually no parking and driving around the CBD freaks me out.

I’m finding Brisbane itself a lot nicer than I expected. I’ve never lived in a large city before, and I’m not much of a people person, so I was a little worried the city would drive me insane. If anything, I find myself rather enamored with Brisbane’s  high culture; it’s nice to be able to head over to QPAC to listen to the Queensland Orchestra or watch a show. Admittedly, I’m the only person I know who finds that exciting, though Brisbane obviously has plenty of more mainstream entertainment too.

Of course, accessing any sort of entertainment becomes a little difficult when one has no money. I’ve yet to find employment in Brisbane and my savings have dried up, so recently I’ve had to rely  on my parents to be able to eat and pay rent, but they can’t afford to support me much longer and I don’t want them to have to. And of course, I’ve accumulated a HECS debt of $4336 this past semester; I’m  glad I can worry about that later. All in all, I feel really poor right now. The wonderful life of the impoverished uni student!

Law in Semester 1

Semester 1 of law consisted of Legal Foundations A, Contracts A, Torts A, and Law, Society and Justice.

Legal Foundations A generally consisted, funnily enough, of the Australian legal system and government. Common law, precedent, statutes, Parliament; you get the idea. I grew a rather peculiar love of statutory interpretation towards the end – heck, I found myself enjoying  doing the statutory interpretation question even in the take-home exam. For that reason alone, I’d have to say this was my favourite subject.

Contracts A. If you don’t know what a contract is, you’re probably not going to be reading a blog about first year law students, or reading anything at all for that matter. Contracts A covered the basics of contract formation and interpretation. In my opinion, this was the most difficult subject, but I generally enjoyed it.

Torts A, the subject that I dread mentioning to anyone outside of law school because any conversation inevitably needs to begin with an explanation of what torts actually is. Torts covers civil wrongs, and in Torts A we covered trespass (to land, person and property) and negligence. Some of the problems were hilarious, such as the case of the burglar who steals a diligent law student’s notes, only to discover said law student had laid traps all through the yard in anticipation. Along with Contracts, these two units were the most substantive of the first semester units. Personally, I don’t understand the attitude that seems to exist around this unit. The second years apparently found it extraordinarily difficult, and the faculty saw it necessary to instate formalised peer mentoring sessions for the unit. I found Contracts to be more difficult and did not feel any need to attend the mentoring sessions. Each to their own, I suppose.

Law, Society and Justice. The only unit I can honestly say I disliked. Essentially, LSJ felt like 13 weeks of ideology and indoctrination. I understand the idea of the unit in general, but I did not find some of the ideas we seemed obliged to assimilate and regurgitate entirely convincing. The unit would perhaps have been more enjoyable if more conversation and debate occurred in the tutorials, but unfortunately my tutorial group was full of people who, like me, were reluctant to speak up. It doesn’t help that the exam essentially consisted of writing two essays in two and a half hours. I loathe in-class essays. Although I don’t generally do badly at them, I nonetheless find them extremely stressful; I had an anxiety attack while writing an in-class essay last year, and landed up hyperventilating and quite literally running out of the exam room. That was definitely an embarrassing ordeal that I would rather not repeat, and I was quite relieved when the LSJ exam was over.

Results-wise, I did fairly well. I certainly didn’t come close to failing anything, though my abysmal performance in tutorial participation cost me a little in every unit. In any case, all things considered, I enjoyed my first semester of law. Actually, a lot of people look at me like I’m crazy when I tell them that I actually find law interesting and enjoyable. I mean, I know there are others of you out there who feel the same… right? Right?

Uni Life

Although I’m enjoying the course, I’m not entirely ecstatic about uni life. Certainly, I find it very liberating after 12 years of primary and high school, but I feel a little isolated. I go in for my tutorials and go home. I still hardly know anyone, a fact further compounded by the enormous student population of QUT. I find myself involved with only  a few of my friends from high school and their uni friends, which isn’t the best situation, but I can hardly blame anyone but myself. Ugh. I suppose I should work on the whole meeting people and making friends thing.

The Future

I must admit I have spent a lot of time considering whether studying law was the correct decision, and whether I should continue. I could easily see myself, for example, studying flute at the Conservatorium. Somehow, though, something about law intrigues me. At the very least, I’m back for another semester of it. Hopefully by now I know what I’m getting myself into!

Where is everybody?

Hi all
Well, judging by the enormous amount of blogging that has occurred, I’m quite possibly the only person who will read this. Having said that, I enjoy public journalling for the same reason that everyone else does- the mistaken belief that someone else actually might care .

Well, I passed Torts, by the skin of my teeth! I’m so relieved, I was dreading telling my Grandma that I failed something. More than my Mum! But I didn’t so I don’t have to, thank the Lord.

I also passed Foundations A, and got better grades for my Justice subjects .

I hope you are all really happy with your results! And if not, you can always do a subject again in the summer, or something, and Ace it.

Okay, enough with the smily faces, I know.

Well I have to go. Believe it or not, I am actually going somewhere today. Yay!

x Vee x

Exams, assignments, and all that.

Hi All
Just thought I’d wish everyone the best of luck with the remaining assessment for this Semester.

I’m a bit worried about the Torts A exam tomorrow; I have to do okay or I won’t pass the unit. This is because I failed the written memorandum rather miserably. My tutor now thinks I’m stupid. “Did not cover in sufficient detail … extremely disappointing … wrong …” OUCH! well, I guess its true.

Now to see just how long I can keep my failure a secret from my parents. LOL.

Well, I’ll stop whinging. Next semester I am going to do better. I swear I will!!!

All the best, don’t stress, and remember Chocolate solves everything.

xxx

A not very helpful blog title.

Uni

ONE WORD: ARGH!

Followed by the sentence: WHAT DO I DO NOW?

Broken Resolve.

I was just reflecting over my first half year of uni and especially my new year’s resolutions. Before this year, i never set any; probably because of the whole stigma. However, let’s just see what i did propose to achieve this year (which i wrote in my awesome student guild diary (how cool is it?!) to supposedly remind myself.) *flicks to beginning of the diary* maybe that’s the problem, they’re at the BEGINNING. Perhaps next time i should copy them out for each month >_>

Wow, there’s only 2. I REALLY set the benchmark for this year

1. 7 (preferably 8 ) -9 hours of sleep every night.

2. No social outings on Thursday nights. (excludes holidays and/or celebrations.)

Okay, that’s pretty pathetic. I think I stuck to my first resolution so much that i neglected studying. I have this really bad habit of ” well i better sleep now, cause if i don’t, i won’t be able to function tomorrow, then i won’t be able to stdy to the best of my ability!” rar @ self. At least i fulfilled the Thursday night one… well.. i said social OUTING not.. social NETWORKING right?

Back to Uni.

So the implication here is i’ve realised that i’m completely not prepared for my finals (Somewhat) I have no notes, there’s lecture slide handouts everywhere, my room is a disaster (no, seriously, i have to kick things around to get to my desk) It’s so DISAPPOINTING, because at the begining of the year i was like YAY UNI= NEW PRETTY STATIONARY = LOOK AT THESE BEAUTIFUL BRIGHT COLROUS, ONE FOR EVERY SUBJECT, AND I’M GOING TO FILE EVERYTHING. The filing system just died when i was panicking revision and threw everything everywhere, and stuffed lecture slides in my bag to study to fulfill the mere 15 minutes of commuting to uni.* Alas, LWB145 assignment is released at 5:00pm, THIS FRIDAY. I REALLY REALLY HOPE THAT I CAN PREPARE SOME NOTES BEFORE THEN. Okay, no more whinging.

Resolution no. 3: to blog more.

 

monjoiedevivre.

*the bus ride part of the commuting, because i think it’d be pretty fail to try to read and walk to qut from the city at the same time. You’d run into people and kick a few pigeons.**

** i have not found any evidence to support this statement.

The Sinking Boat, Logbooks, and other “Law-related” oddities

Hi all! Hope you’re all still okay out there in the depths of cyberspace…

A while ago, I was on facebook (the only place anything of much excitement happens in my life, lol), talking to a friend. She was bemoaning how much she had been procrastinating from her uni work, and I attempted to comfort her with the words, “Oh, don’t worry too much, we’re all in the same boat”. To which she very wisely responded “Yes, but the boat is sinking!”. And she’s right. I would add some really inspiring blurb about how we all need to do our best, etc, but considering that I’ve done no work myself lately, I’m not going to bother.

*you all give a great sigh of relief here*

I was wondering if law has been completely overtaking other people’s lives (and minds), or if I’m on my own in that regard? For example: a couple of days ago I was out getting some driving practice with my dad, and we had a disagreement about how we were supposed to fill in the logbook. A completely normal, minor disagreement. Until I started mentally using the rules of statuatory interpretation to assess the purpose of the logbook so that I could put the questionable aspect into context. And then it wasn’t quite so normal anymore. It’s awful – seriously, normal human beings don’t watch Funniest Home Videos trying to decide whether or not a trespass action could be brought out of the facts!

Those of you who have facebook and haven’t heard of this yet, I recommend that you have a look at the group “You know you’re in Law School if…”. It would be funny if it wasn’t so true.

Oh, and what’s the deal with those people from charities asking you if you’re over 21? Twice recently I’ve had people from social and environmental organisations asking me if I’m over 21, and when I say “No”, they *then* ask me if I’m over 18. Next time that happens, I swear I’m going to spout off whatever piece of legislation it was that reduced the age of legality down to 18, and ask them why I need to be over 21 to make a difference for their organisation? Darn, first I have to find that legislation … grr.

Well, it’s 10pm, and I’ve written a grand two sentences for my assignment. Hope you’re all well

Goodnight! xx

Breaking the Silence.

Okay, I’m going to take one for the team and post.  I know, we’ve had a bit of a lull, a mid-semester-slump, if you will, but I’m sure we can all battle our way out of it.

So, here’s my round up of the past few weeks.  Firstly, multiple-choice exam.  Despite hours of hurried cramming and answer comparison with other students desperate for reassurance, I found it surprisingly simple.  Anyone with me on this one, or was it something that could be thought of as the bane of your law studies so far? 

I guess the next highlight was the library/citation exercises, which was a relief to see I had passed both of them, even after I had firmly convinced myself I had failed the citation exercise and would have to redo it. 

After this, there is the matter of the Torts A Client Legal Interview – mine’s tomorrow, wish me luck! – and the Legal Analysis assignment for Foundations A – also due tomorrow for me.  I finished the analysis assignment a few hours ago, and by that I mean finished for good.  No more proofreading, no more angst over other possible issues to cover, no more anything except submitting it to Assignment minder and uploading it.  Both which I’ll do tomorrow.  Printing it out and clicking a link can’t be too hard.  I’ll get back to you on that.

Also, going to have to practise my empathy face tonight, hope it’ll come in handy!

Promises to update with breaking news on Torts A Written Memorandum next week!

-  Miranda

Oh!  Highlight of MY week, and not wholly law-unrelated *cough*, saw Chicago last Tuesday, so amazing!!

Sorry it’s been a while…

Well, I don’t know if it’s been a while or not. Quite honestly, I feel like I’m losing track of days, weeks, etc… But it feels like a reasonable amount of time since I last blogged, so here goes…

I was seriously surprised how easy the LWB145 multiple choice exam was. Our class got done in about 15 minutes, LOL. Of course, I don’t know how I went yet, but I’m pretty sure I passed. My library exercise also went okay (well, I didn’t have any photocopying disasters lol)… The citation exercise, on the other hand, was a complete disaster. I also decided to be smart and do the assignment in week 2, with the full intention of coming back later (when I had more citation knowledge) to fix up any errors I had made. Well, that didn’t *exactly* happen. When we went through them in our tutorial to make corrections, before handing them in, I think I got about… two right? So I’ll definitely be resubmitting that one. Grr.

You know, I thought I was just keeping up with this law thing. I was skipping a bit (read: a lot) of the readings, but at least I understand the material and find it very interesting. What happened, you ask? Yesterday’s Torts A Tute happened. I don’t mind needing to understand the law, and use it in an exam, but having to use an “Authority” for EVERY piece of information??? honestly, do any of us really have time to read, summarise and memorise the main points of every case mentioned in the Study Guide? I don’t think so! So yes, that was the end of my relaxed view of Torts.

I am pretty excited for this weekend actually, because my mum is coming down to visit me – and then over the easter long weekend I will be going to Toowoomba for Easterfest (formerly AGMF). I can’t wait, because most of my friends stayed in Toowoomba and I’ve been missing them.

How is everyone else going keeping up with readings? I can’t imagine that I’m the only one having a bit of trouble!

How was the rain today? It was so much fun. I know I’m weird, but I think it’s such an adventure when the rain is pouring down and you’re trying to get across town… dodging a myriad of umbrellas, splashing in puddles (accidentally, *of course*), and trying not to let your umbrella be blown inside out (don’t you just love it when that happens!). So yes, I’m a little strange… but I quite enjoyed it.

What I didn’t enjoy was the train trip into town this morning. This random guy standing next to me decided that the whole carriage would benefit from hearing rap music played from his mobile phone. Look out for my letter in “Vent” in tomorrow’s mX – really.

Well, it’s about time I headed off – so much to do. And I keep on procrastinating on facebook… ugh.

Well, have a good weekend all, and I shall talk to you … i mean, blog to you, again soon.

Kavita x

Even if your feet are bleeding…

Hi everyone,

 

Well, firstly I just want to give a quick mention to something I feel very strongly about. This important issue is shoes, and more presently, keeping them on your feet, haha. It might sound silly but I have a very strong rule about not taking your shoes off when you go out. I was out on the weekend with a few girlfriends and we all share a common belief that even if your feet are bleeding, it is not acceptable to take your shoes off at the end of the night in public. So next time your out girls and guys, have a think about this one because really, it just looks trashy, and money can never buy class!!!

 

Now onto uni, well im sure you are all as busy as me at the moment, it seems that now things have really started to speed up and I have real deadlines to try and keep :S This is probably going to mean I can’t go out as much on the weekends, but I’m still going to try ahaha:P

 

Also, good luck to everyone in legal foundations A, I know we all have a few things due this week.

And just quickly to finish off as always;

 

BARGAIN- Tip of the Week

In my apartment, I’ve realised I don’t have any coasters, so instead, I’ve taken to ‘borrowing’ them from clubs. So next time your in need of coasters at your house, just take some from the club you go to on the weekend, they are usually very pretty is design and colour and when you get sick of them, just take new ones from a different club… BARGAIN!!!

I don’t know how I meant to feel anymore – Can you feel the vibe now??

Hey to all!

Sorry that I’ve been so silent lately. Been busy with uni readings, work and catching up with sleep lol. Before I get further I’d just like to express my main concern: HOPE EVERYONE SUBMITTED THE ONLINE EXERCISE (BOTH PART A AND B)! LOL!!!

I’m sure everyone remembers when our awesome lecturer, Peter Black, showed us a little off the movie The Castle (1997) when too experienced Dennis Denuto suggested to her Honour: “It’s just the vibe of the thing” – referring to the Constituion of the Commontwealth of Australia. Well I stared feeling this “vibe” over the past few weeks. “Vibe” in a different context though. Obviously not just the “vibe of the Constituiton” but the “vibe of studying law” and the “vibe” that comes with it.

The library exercise is due in wk 6, however, smarty pants Gabriel decided to be ahead of everyone and finish the exercise before everyone else. He went to the library with Louise and after spending hours and hours searching the selves for those legislations and journal articles he actually happened to complete the exercise straight away in week 2! Then for some stupid reason he decided to make a copy of it – a safety copy rather. Nevertheless, he left the original in the photocopier and put the “safety copies” to such safe places that even he could not find himself. The result: well… he had to redo the exercise. So you guys had better not take example of Gabriel Smarty Pants. Ha!

As I mentioned before I’ve been trying to catch up with some sleeping too. The most useful way to do it is by sleeping on busses whilst u travel to or from QUT. The best sleeps ever. Beware of the fact thought that when you’re asleep your muscles are relaxed and you cannot control your heavy head! So don’t be surprised that whenever there’s a turn or brake, you’ll always knock your head onto the window… Best way to protect your head: wear a helmet (one of those yellow ones that people wear on the construction site) LOL!!!

One thing that I don’t like about uni is the high prices! Anyway I still keep buying like 3-5 drinks a day even if it’s not worth it! The most annoying thing is though when the vending machine says: “Sorry No Change”. That really gets on my nerves because I always have to press the cancel button and find another machine. Well it is still OK but when you put YOUR money in you would expect HIGH QUALITY SERVICE. Well some of the vending machines seem to love me because they try to prove their high quality service is assured by not letting the customer away. Seriously, last week it was so embarrassing when I reached for the drink and my arm got stuck in the machine. After playing with it for like 5 minutes I finally managed to get it out of the machine. LoL. I felt like one of those monkeys on TV (I saw an experimental film on monkeys putting their arms into a candy bottle trying to reach the chocolate and when they get a hold of the chocolate their hands get stuck) Since then I don’t really dare to use the vending machines by myself I always have some friends with me in case I need to be rescued.

Having said all these, I can truly say that I feel the “vibe of the thing”. Couple it with Lilly Allen’s song The Fear and it will make perfect sense:

“I don’t know what’s right and what’s real anymore
I don’t know how I’m meant to feel anymore
When do you think it will all become clear?
‘Cuz I’m being taken over by The Fear”

…Taken over by The Feat? Uhm not really. It’s just the vibe. Lol
I’m kind of worried about that we’ll have to learn like 200 cases for Contracts and who knows how many for Foundations and Torts.

Oh well. We’re still surviving Law @ QUT woooooooooooooooooooooo!

See youse,
Gabriel

Just a few thoughts

Hi everyone! How are we all this weekend?

Is it just me, or does anyone else think that it would be seriously cool to be both a Barrister and a Barista? I know, I’m odd. I just think it would be pretty fun, and a great conversation point.

I voted this morning for the first time, which was quite uneventful. I always find elections very amusing – anyone else agree? I mean, I think the campaigners for Anna Bligh had whole heap of spare posters when they got to my suburb, so they just put them all up in a row! ["I'll protect jobs" "I'll protect jobs" "I'll protect jobs" "I'll protect jobs" "I'll protect jobs"] Not that I have anything against Anna Bligh, necessarily, I just find the campaigns hilarious.

Well I’d better head off and so some house cleaning because we’re having visitors later, and at the moment the house is rather untidy. And then my dad’s choir has a dinner/concert so I’m going to that. So much for catching up on my reading… don’t ask me when that’s going to happen! I’m falling behind at the moment, but oh well. I’ll catch up eventually.

Have a great weekend and I’ll probably write again in a few days.

Vee x