Back in September, we set you the challenge of telling us in no more than 100 words why you opted to study a law degree and where you expect to be in three years' time.
We received lots of great responses, and have chosen four of the most original, honest and witty to appear online.
Congratulations to the overall winner of the competition, Arike McKain, whose entry in the form of a poem impressed the judges. Arike wins up to £150 worth of Oxford textbooks per year for the duration of her undergraduate degree.
The winning entry
You ask why I chose to study law,
A question I’ve wondered before,
Though I’d never say aloud,
Making my family truly proud
Would be a bonus I couldn’t ignore.
The nerdy book-worm that I am,
Researching statutes that I don’t understand,
Because I strive to be better,
Not content with “whatever”,
Taking my education into my own hands.
For to be a corporate solicitor – my dream,
Able to implement negotiations behind-the-scenes,
Find that key nuance in definition,
Assist my wider community, initiate decisions,
Even to know I could be the difference ...
Spurs me on to succeed
in my legal degree.
Arike McKain
“Is cheer-leading a sport?” “Was the war in Iraq legal?” These are recent headlines involving the law and it is this variety of trivial and serious issues and the diversity of the subject which attracted me to law. Law is intellectually stimulating and constantly evolving and will form the basis of a career as a solicitor which I look forward to after shadowing a solicitor who climbed Kilimanjaro and who does 100 chin-ups to get rid of tiredness! In three years’ time I hope to have a good degree from Cambridge, a training contract and have completed 50 chin-ups!
Phillip Gilliland
It’s a well known fact that a law degree encompasses three of my favourite activities; persuasive technique, presenting a case and reasoning with another party (or in my parent’s words; having a child that is manipulative, bossy and argumentative). Once completed I will have earned the right to wear a fake wig and don a black cape, and what better profession to enter than one where it is compulsory (!) to dine ‘banquet style’ at least twelve times a year. So in three years’ time I hope to be found tucking into a plate of gourmet heaven.
Delicious M’lud!
Naomi Burles
Because after years of hopeless pining, I had to admit that Hogwarts wasn’t sending me The Letter. So I chose to pursue Law, since, well, it’s just like studying magic, isn’t it? All those musty tomes full of arcane knowledge and Latin-esque mumbo jumbo. If I’m lucky, I might even get to dress up in robes and elaborate hair, and get people to bow and refer to me as if I’m He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. By my third year- if Hogwarts still persists in its foolishness- I will sue Hogwarts on behalf of all Muggles for discrimination. Minister of Magic, you’ve been forewarned.
Jared Tong
Illustrations by John Taylor
