The Penultimate Predicament

Wasn’t first year great? The excitement of university life was so fresh.

And second year? Finally shedding off the awkward teen years and getting comfortable enough to actually get into the swing of things.

And then third year? I’m basically an expert now, right?

But now you’ve come to your penultimate year. It crept up so quickly! For some of you this may be our fourth year, for others maybe more. Either way, you yearn for the days of yesteryear when you didn’t have to think about your career.

Being in your penultimate year is not as you had once thought it would be. Long and lazy summers are seemingly no more, replaced by attempts to organise clerkships or internships. Scraping through the semesters is no longer an option and marks suddenly start to mean more than they once did.

There seems to be a slight panic in the air around campus. The whisper of the word 'clerkship' can make you flinch. Realistically it’s not a whisper, it’s probably spluttering, manic shout in your face. I’ve even seen some tears.

The penultimate year might also come to be known as the year of anxiety and fear.

It’s not all doom and gloom though (I hope!) and here’s why:

The end is finally near

University is finally over next year! We can proudly tell all our aunts, uncles and other scarcely seen yet prying relatives that, yes, we will be finishing. Finally.

Making decisions about life is empowering

Making a decision about where-to-next is something that we should all embrace. Choosing our next step in life should be empowering. We have the opportunity now to decide which path to take, whether that means you’ve decided to pursue a career in the law or out. Either way, we are in charge of our fate – own it!

A year full of exciting challenges

This year will challenge not only your ability to work hard, but also your ability to cope in changing environments. We’ll get glimpses of where we think we might go in future and it’s scary to think that we might not like what we see, but that’s just all part of the process.

There’s still time

Thankfully, we aren’t at the end just yet.

It’s not too late to get on the bandwagon and start padding out that resume! The good news is that there’s still time to get involved and impress our prospective employers. Always be on the lookout for opportunities because you never know where or when the next opportunity will present itself.

Money, Money, Money

Lastly, by the end of next year no longer will we have to talk about (or listen to) our lives as impoverished students. Soon we will be slightly less impoverished graduates!

(Slightly)

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