Our Malaysian Ambassador En Ning Sim has alway dreamed of having the chance to study law. In this blog, she tells us why choosing LLB Bachelor in Laws at the Waterford Institute of Technology was the right choice…
When I was first offered a place on the LLB Bachelor of Laws programme in Waterford Institute of Technology, I felt a mixture of joy and nervousness. Happy I was, as it has always been a dream and passion of mine to be able to study law, and hopefully, pursue a career as a lawyer someday. Nervous I was, as whenever I tell friends and family about my decision of pursuing a law degree, I was always given remarks like “oh, are you sure your English is good enough to study law?” “But why law? Law is tough and boring.” Luckily for me, I stood by my decision of pursuing a law degree and ever since then have not regretted it once. And I would definitely say, WIT is the sole reason for me not regretting my decision of taking up a law degree.
The course
The LLB Bachelor of Laws at WIT is a three-year honours level degree. It is designed to provide a broad education that equips students with general knowledge, general transferable skills, legal knowledge and legal skills that can be applied in a range of sectors. On top of that, it has been voted as one of the finalist law school of Irish Law Awards 2017. Students on this programme are eligible for the Nolan, Farrell and Goff Merit Prize — awarded annually to the student achieving the highest result in Property Law on either the BA in Legal Studies or the LLB Bachelor of Laws. The course is also accredited by the Board of the Honourable Society of King’s Inns as well as Black Hall Place. Graduates can also choose to progress onto the LLM course in WIT.
Why study Law at WIT?
For a lot of us, the transition between secondary school and tertiary education can be described as a leap of faith. Coming from a science background, I was concerned that I might not be able to cope with a subject I have never studied before, having no knowledge in the course of law nor the Irish Legal system. Luckily for me, the LLB Bachelor of Laws programme at WIT is designed to help students coming from all backgrounds to assimilate better into the course. The course starts off with three compulsory law modules which are the Law of Tort, Foundation of Irish Law, Contract Law; An elective law module of either Family Law or Commercial Law; And two non-law related modules which are IT Skills as well as Critical & Creative Thinking for semester one. The law modules in semester one provide an insight and give a taste to first-years on how law school is like. While the two other non-law modules on the hand, will enable students to acquire fundamental skills needed to survive law school. Both modules will assist students in academic writing, presentations and critical analysing skills which are all crucial and necessary for a law student.
Before entering into college, I was always told that the college experience would be “nothing personal”. As grown adults, we would be solely accountable for our own actions. Well, I thought to myself, “what if I cannot comprehend what the lecturers are teaching?”, “What if I have language barriers?” My worries were soon gone as WIT has a low lecturer-student ratio — this means the lecturers generally will be able to remember names and face *Yikes, no skipping lectures!* , it is also really beneficial for us as students as the learning experience is a much more personal one. The lecturers are happy to answer questions and queries you have in class and also what I really find helpful is getting personal feedback on my assignments and assessments. Having a low lecturer-student ratio also means that the lecturers will get to know the students better. Thus, if you perform well in college, chances are you will get a decent job referral letter that speaks your individual strengths upon graduation!
Overall, LLB Bachelor of law is an affordable, quality degree. A learning experience you would not want to miss. If you have any questions, please leave a comment below!