Apologies for the slight hiatus, I've been rather busy having fun and getting back into study-mode!
My first week of holiday was spent thoroughly enjoying not having to study or go to exams, lying in, watching films and reading books. Proclamation did cast a shadow over the end of the week though due to the revelation that UA uses a ridiculous marking system when grading papers. UoD uses a system of if you earn X number of points you get the corresponding grade. UA says that instead, we'll rank the whole class's papers and then assign grades to certain numbers of people, so only the top 5% get an A, then the next 15% get a B, the next 40% get a C and everyone else either gets a D or a Fail. Translated into student numbers that means in the compulsory classes roughly only 2 people got A's, 6 got B's, 20 got C's and the other 12 were given what was left - a highly unfair system! Only 10 people managed to make the cut in every class, meaning the majority have to do a resit in August, me included (damn that Institutional Law). Luckily I can sit it in Dundee so I don't have to come all the way back to Antwerpen, however nice that would be in the height of summer. However, I did manage to get a B in Information and Communications, an A in Economic (so top 2 in the class) and an A in Children's Rights (top of the class), pretty great grades!
The weekend in Sheffield for the European Figure Skating Championships managed to take my mind off Institutional with a phenomenal display of skating. It was the Men's and Ladies Free Skate day so those who'd made it through Short Program were fighting for the title, and did they ever fight! The Men's skaters had some pretty great themes (The Matrix, The Jungle Book and Moulin Rouge to name but a few) and the Ladies, although many fell at least once, had some beautiful music and routines.
Watching all of that skating (10 hours in one day) inspired me to spend some serious training time while in Dundee for a week, resulting in 6 on-ice hours in two days at one point. I did manage to smooth out my turns and footwork, finally get the hang of the Salchow jump, polish my Waltz and Toe-loops to perfection,land some combination jumps and correctly enter/exit a 3-revolution wind-up spin - hallelujah! Thankfully my time off-ice hasn't damaged my technique too badly.
After a wonderful week with my girlfriend, which included an early Valentine's meal, it was time to head south again for a night with my parents before heading west with my grandparents to see my little brother at university in Wales (I still can't believe he's old enough to drive, let alone be at university), and heading back to see my parents again for a few more days. Phew! By the time I made it back to Antwerpen I'd travelled approximately 1900 miles in just two weeks.
Just in case I thought the lecturers for second semester were considering on easing us gently back into studying, I found reading lists for 4 of the 6 modules already on Blackboard, some of which had to be done for the day after I arrived back! Quick, to the print- and book-shops and the library!
Handy hint: allow more room in your budget for second-semester books and materials as the lecturers all set compulsory-purchase books and readers with nice big price-tags attached
This has been a truly hectic week as on top of applying for summer placements with solicitor's firms and researching graduate recruitment, the External Relations lecturer is based at the University of Bristol, so he can only come over three times in the semester, meaning we have to cram 8 hours with him into just 3 days each time. Thank goodness I can take my gorgeous netbook (a 21st birthday present) to classes to type as he speaks, otherwise I think my hand would fall off trying to keep up with him! The subject is surprisingly interesting though, although that may be due to the intensity of focus we have on it in such a short space of time. The other modules are good (not had my optional choice of European Private Law yet) and seem interesting, but I will reserve final judgement for a week or two!
Time to get back to the books if I want to make the cut for the top 20% in everything this semester...tot ziens!
Showing posts with label Children's Rights. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Children's Rights. Show all posts
21 January 2012
Farewell winter exam season, you won't be missed
Well it's been a busy and law-filled three weeks, but finally I have my semester break of three weeks before classes start up again on the 13th Feb. Hallelujah!
It has been very weird having a January exam season and not December like back in Dundee, and even weirder having so many exams and subjects - I haven't had this many in one season since doing my A-Levels! My consolation is that each module is only 5 ECTS (roughly 10 Dundee credits) so only worth around 4.2% of my final degree classification. This is especially reassuring in respect of Constitutionalism... everyone I've spoken about that exam to has said they went home and cried afterwards - it was that awful. 3 hours and just 1 question on a paper we hadn't discussed or even been told about in class. Shudder. On the plus side, the other exams were much nicer with their multiple questions and focus on blackletter law and not just theories about 'what is a constitution?', 'what is the rule of law' or 'how should judges interpret the law?' There is something curiously comforting about having a statute book and case reader in front of you in an exam.
Handy tip: if you bought a copy of Blackstone's EU Treaties and Legislation for your general EU module the year before, take it with you! It might not be this year's version but as long as it's post-Lisbon nothing important or relevant has changed.
Economic was fairly good, as was Competition (the ridiculously expensive sourcebook was actually useful...). Information and Communications took a 'wide and shallow' approach by asking a question on each lecture topic, which at least meant that I got a lot of use out of the mountain of legislation I'd had to print out (Prof. Van Eecke doesn't organise a course reader or recommend a statute book). Instituional was fairly thorough too, covering pretty much everything we did in class.
After finishing the final tweaks on my Children's Rights paper I submitted it yesterday, so now all I have to do for the next week is wait for Proclamation, wait for Friday to fly to Sheffield for the the European Figure Skating Championships (I am so excited about this!) and buy a rucksack for my cabin bag (I stupidly left mine locked away in storage in Dundee). Exciting times ahead! Although it is admittedly quite nice to sleep in and not feel guilty for somehow turning off the alarm and getting back into bed and going to sleep again.
Tot ziens!
It has been very weird having a January exam season and not December like back in Dundee, and even weirder having so many exams and subjects - I haven't had this many in one season since doing my A-Levels! My consolation is that each module is only 5 ECTS (roughly 10 Dundee credits) so only worth around 4.2% of my final degree classification. This is especially reassuring in respect of Constitutionalism... everyone I've spoken about that exam to has said they went home and cried afterwards - it was that awful. 3 hours and just 1 question on a paper we hadn't discussed or even been told about in class. Shudder. On the plus side, the other exams were much nicer with their multiple questions and focus on blackletter law and not just theories about 'what is a constitution?', 'what is the rule of law' or 'how should judges interpret the law?' There is something curiously comforting about having a statute book and case reader in front of you in an exam.
Handy tip: if you bought a copy of Blackstone's EU Treaties and Legislation for your general EU module the year before, take it with you! It might not be this year's version but as long as it's post-Lisbon nothing important or relevant has changed.
Economic was fairly good, as was Competition (the ridiculously expensive sourcebook was actually useful...). Information and Communications took a 'wide and shallow' approach by asking a question on each lecture topic, which at least meant that I got a lot of use out of the mountain of legislation I'd had to print out (Prof. Van Eecke doesn't organise a course reader or recommend a statute book). Instituional was fairly thorough too, covering pretty much everything we did in class.
After finishing the final tweaks on my Children's Rights paper I submitted it yesterday, so now all I have to do for the next week is wait for Proclamation, wait for Friday to fly to Sheffield for the the European Figure Skating Championships (I am so excited about this!) and buy a rucksack for my cabin bag (I stupidly left mine locked away in storage in Dundee). Exciting times ahead! Although it is admittedly quite nice to sleep in and not feel guilty for somehow turning off the alarm and getting back into bed and going to sleep again.
Tot ziens!
13 December 2011
A few thousand words and a Kerstmarkt
Yet again, my life has been law filled these last two weeks, with a heavy focus on my Children's Rights paper. On the plus side? 6000 words and 20 pages written, 33 pieces of legislation, 7 cases, 7 journal articles, 2 reports and a mountain of statistics read later, it is almost done! A conclusion and a proof read to go, and it will be finished and I can start on my presentation for next week. Amazingly, considering this paper has taken over most of my waking thoughts for the past 3 weeks, I've actually enjoyed doing the research and am considering developing it further in my dissertation next year (if UoD like the idea, that is). Maybe a closer examination of the standards of care for youth offenders in detention in the different jurisdictions of the UK?
Unfortunately my final Economic paper isn't going quite as well. Having worked out that 5% of the module mark means approximately 0.2% of my degree classification, it's kind of hard to get enthused about researching 500-750 non-legal words on the Eurocrisis. I will work on it...tomorrow. After children's rights.
In an effort to kick-start the revision process before Christmas, last Monday I resolved to do a mind-map a day, and have actually managed to stick to it! My folder is all organised by subject and now has 11 prettily coloured pages of revision. It's really quite a good way of refreshing the brain after a marathon essay writing session - today I worked on my paper for 6 hours straight and it was such a mental relief to get the felt-tips out and do some colouring! And it was fun :)
Not everything has been law law law though, on Saturday the Kerstmarkt (Christmas Market) opened in town, so I wandered through after the library closed. I'll explore it properly next weekend when my girlfriend is over for our Christmasy weekend together, but even just a quick wander definitely whetted my appetite for proper exploring - sparkly lights, a merry-go-round, a fire pot, huge christmas trees everywhere, the smell of fresh waffels and gluhwein (mulled wine) floating on the air, and an outside ice-rink on the riverside by Het Steen.
Next weekend promises to be filled with lots of non-legal fun, and on Monday there is apparently a free IELSP trip to Brussel including a trip to the European Parliament. Fun times ahead!
Unfortunately my final Economic paper isn't going quite as well. Having worked out that 5% of the module mark means approximately 0.2% of my degree classification, it's kind of hard to get enthused about researching 500-750 non-legal words on the Eurocrisis. I will work on it...tomorrow. After children's rights.
In an effort to kick-start the revision process before Christmas, last Monday I resolved to do a mind-map a day, and have actually managed to stick to it! My folder is all organised by subject and now has 11 prettily coloured pages of revision. It's really quite a good way of refreshing the brain after a marathon essay writing session - today I worked on my paper for 6 hours straight and it was such a mental relief to get the felt-tips out and do some colouring! And it was fun :)
Not everything has been law law law though, on Saturday the Kerstmarkt (Christmas Market) opened in town, so I wandered through after the library closed. I'll explore it properly next weekend when my girlfriend is over for our Christmasy weekend together, but even just a quick wander definitely whetted my appetite for proper exploring - sparkly lights, a merry-go-round, a fire pot, huge christmas trees everywhere, the smell of fresh waffels and gluhwein (mulled wine) floating on the air, and an outside ice-rink on the riverside by Het Steen.
Next weekend promises to be filled with lots of non-legal fun, and on Monday there is apparently a free IELSP trip to Brussel including a trip to the European Parliament. Fun times ahead!
25 November 2011
"Mount Law-Work reaches new heights"
Well it hasn't been a very exciting two weeks, as per usual law work has taken over leaving little time for fun. Even the weather hasn't been exciting - some sun, some cloud, temperatures of around 6/7 degrees and no rain. What happened to the snow and ice I was promised? Belgium is meant to get cold in the winter yet some days I don't even need a coat on at the end of November! At least in four weeks I'll be flying home for a couple of days holiday.
My law work at the moment is focusing heavily on researching and writing my draft for my Children's Rights term paper, due 16/12/2011. 6000 words on a topic of my choice may sound a lot but since I got to choose what I'm writing about it's actually quite interesting. I decided to focus on juvenile justice rights (sometimes known as youth justice) within the countries of the UK and see how far these rights are compatible with the UK's international obligations, with my main focus on the minimum age of criminal responsibility and the adaptation of procedures, and possibly looking at detention of youth offenders. My question (as it stands at the moment, it's subject to change) is:
"To what extent are juvenile justice rights, as granted by the United Nations and the Council of Europe, applied and interpreted within the different legal jurisdictions in the United Kingdom?"
In other law news, revision has been begun alongside the usual preparatory chapters, legislation and case reading that must be done, and the trusty coloured pens have been taken out to begin the marathon of mind-maps (yes, I realise they look too fun and colourful and 'artistic' for a serious law student, but they make revision fun, and get the important stuff on handy A4 pages you can carry around on trams/trains/planes for whenever (if-ever) you feel inspired to study!). Sigh. Exams will be happening between the 9th and 23rd January with results on 26th. Unfortunately my 21st birthday falls in this period, of course on a weekday, so chances are I'll have to write an exam on my birthday :( On the upside, there won't be any classes until 13th February so I'm flying back to the UK for the European Figure Skating Championships in Sheffield (my girlfriend got me a ticket for the Mens and Ladies Free programme day) and then heading up to Scotland for a week or so and back south to England to visit family. This definitely makes up for the teeny tiny Christmas holiday i'm getting this year!
Other than having to buy a sourcebook for Competition Law (50€! For a book i'll use in one exam! An absolute outrage) nothing else has really happened lately. The Kerstmarkt starts in two weeks in the centre of Antwerpen, so that should bring some exciting opportunties to get into the Flemish culture. Tot ziens!
My law work at the moment is focusing heavily on researching and writing my draft for my Children's Rights term paper, due 16/12/2011. 6000 words on a topic of my choice may sound a lot but since I got to choose what I'm writing about it's actually quite interesting. I decided to focus on juvenile justice rights (sometimes known as youth justice) within the countries of the UK and see how far these rights are compatible with the UK's international obligations, with my main focus on the minimum age of criminal responsibility and the adaptation of procedures, and possibly looking at detention of youth offenders. My question (as it stands at the moment, it's subject to change) is:
"To what extent are juvenile justice rights, as granted by the United Nations and the Council of Europe, applied and interpreted within the different legal jurisdictions in the United Kingdom?"
In other law news, revision has been begun alongside the usual preparatory chapters, legislation and case reading that must be done, and the trusty coloured pens have been taken out to begin the marathon of mind-maps (yes, I realise they look too fun and colourful and 'artistic' for a serious law student, but they make revision fun, and get the important stuff on handy A4 pages you can carry around on trams/trains/planes for whenever (if-ever) you feel inspired to study!). Sigh. Exams will be happening between the 9th and 23rd January with results on 26th. Unfortunately my 21st birthday falls in this period, of course on a weekday, so chances are I'll have to write an exam on my birthday :( On the upside, there won't be any classes until 13th February so I'm flying back to the UK for the European Figure Skating Championships in Sheffield (my girlfriend got me a ticket for the Mens and Ladies Free programme day) and then heading up to Scotland for a week or so and back south to England to visit family. This definitely makes up for the teeny tiny Christmas holiday i'm getting this year!
Other than having to buy a sourcebook for Competition Law (50€! For a book i'll use in one exam! An absolute outrage) nothing else has really happened lately. The Kerstmarkt starts in two weeks in the centre of Antwerpen, so that should bring some exciting opportunties to get into the Flemish culture. Tot ziens!
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