By Samar Alam
The first day or week of anything new can seem overwhelming as you may not know what to expect and feel under prepared due to this. Just remember that you are in the same boat as so many others that are feeling the same way as you! However, if you’re still feeling nervous, here are a few pointers that can help you to get started for your first week.
Set up your university email
This is where most of the information you need will come through such as university portal log in, library details, timetables etc. So, make sure to have this set up as soon as you can so you can stay informed about the first week and know when your tutorial sessions will be throughout the week so you can plan ahead.
Pre-reading
Your university usually sets a pre-reading for the LPC to bring you up to speed on some of the subject areas that are necessary as a foundation for the LPC (e.g. land law etc). If you had a long break between your LLB or GDL, this will be helpful for you especially just to remind yourself of these subject areas.
First week of SGSs
You will start tutorial sessions (called SGSs) on your first week which you should also have the required preparation for ahead of time. Make sure to complete this and do the activities that will be covered in the SGS. This allows you to understand what is going to be covered in the tutorial, gives you the opportunity to engage more in the session so you can get the most out of it, and puts you in a position to ask the tutor any questions you had regarding the topic which you might not have understood during your preparation.
Organise your time
Depending on your timetable, you might have your tutorials spread out throughout the day and week. Plan your time effectively so that you can use this time in between the sessions to do prep work or consolidation so that you can free up time in the evenings.
Feeling behind
Okay so, you might feel behind already. There is a lot of work on the LPC and it is very easy to feel overwhelmed quite quickly. But don’t worry as everyone feels this way during the first few weeks as it is quite a different way of learning, and the course is quite different to LLB at undergraduate level. Just keep following the prep requirements for each session and make sure you understand the concepts that you are covering, whilst making a list of thing you need to clarify within the sessions. If you do this, you should stay on top of the work regardless of much you feel like you aren’t.
Consolidation
You’ll hear this word a lot. What everyone means by this is that learning on the LPC is done in various layers. First through your prep work via the reading, watching the lectures and trying to answer the questions relating to the reading. Then you review these activities within the tutorial session and the second layer of learning is done here as you have group discussions with your peers, you rectify any answers you may have gotten wrong as the tutor will go over the work and you add to your notes with any new understandings you may have. Then the last layer is through consolidation. This is done after the session where you merge all this learning together in a nice format which you can revise from later. Include the notes you made from lectures and reading, the notes you did during the tutorial and also fill in the gaps using any solutions your university might provide you with. It is usually recommended to do this as soon as possible after the session whilst fresh in your mind.
Have fun
I know, it’s hard and there’s so much work, but it is also a great opportunity for you to meet new likeminded people who are following the same career aspirations as you. There could be potential friends and colleagues for you to get to know and tutors to network with. Your LPC peers could end up at different firms where you work across each other on transactions or even end up close friends through a shared experience.
Try to keep this element of the LPC in mind as there is definitely fun to be had!
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