Current Lawscot Foundation student, Jordan, explains how the Lawscot Foundation has helped him during his time as a law student at the University of Dundee and why you should apply for funding.
Why should you apply? Well, university is a big step. For years you’ve been in usual school hours, in school uniform with limited freedom but now you’re going to university. A place with no usual hours, definitely no uniform and a whole lot of freedom. Coming to study law at university is a whole new experience, one very few coming out of high school have encountered. With this big step, there will be a need for help and although universities are often great for internal support, for some of us it may not be enough. The Lawscot Foundation is the external help some of us need. As so many factors go into success at university, the Lawscot Foundation has many of those factors covered. Here's what I mean:
Help and Support
I’m a second year law student at the University of Dundee studying both English and Scots Law. Going from high school to university was a jump for me. The workload, meeting new people, the expenses. Here‘s where the external help came in. I was given a student mentor two years above me. Often mentors are adults, teachers, people we cannot always relate to fully. My student mentor and also a fellow student, is great at offering study tips, course advice and being able to help with all the worries that come with being a first year law student. As good as my student mentor is, he isn’t in practice as a solicitor. Further, I have a solicitor mentor who works in the private client sector and is perhaps the most helpful aspect of the Lawscot Foundation aid. I’m able to speak to my solicitor mentor about her university experience, how she applied for jobs, how she then got her job, and then all the things about her career. An insight into the profession you may not otherwise get.
Financial Assistance
University is expensive and it’s also the first time many of us have had to handle our own finances. Given my parents financial circumstances, they weren’t able to help out like some of my friend's parents do, and so paying for things such as rent, food and course books start to exceed a month's student loan. The Lawscot Foundation therefore grants us a very generous bursary which allows us to pay for these things and therefore allow us to prioritise our intense studies. But the help doesn’t stop there. Many trips have been organised to places which practise law, not just law firms but also other organisations such as RBS, the courts and the Scottish Parliament. These trips give us the opportunity to see what law is like in practice as we see work spaces, speak to trainees, partners and those in between.
The Lawscot Foundation is an opportunity. An opportunity to be a successful law student. An opportunity to become a successful graduate, whichever field one goes into. I say in great confidence, that I wouldn’t be in the advantageous position I am currently, with my studies, career choices and finances, if it wasn’t for the help of the Lawscot Foundation.
I therefore strongly encourage you to make an application so you too can be part of the Lawscot Foundation! Find out more information or apply here.
