Emal Faiz LLB JD Pathway, 2017

I chose Southampton for two main reasons. Firstly, because it was one of the recommended schools for the JD pathway by Across the Pond. Secondly, my friend who attended this university a couple of years before I started talked to me about the great approach taken by the professors here in helping students to succeed in what can be an extremely challenging degree.

After a long week of lectures and tutorials, I look forward to grabbing a beer and listening to the Karaoke with my fellow Canadian students at the Student Pub. Southampton also has a small airport, which is the perfect the location to fly all over Europe. I was able to take advantage of the holiday breaks to fly to and explore several cities in Europe.

In my first year, I had the exciting opportunity to present arguments as senior appellant in a moot, which was great fun as well as invaluable experience. This year I was able to attend a CETA talk in London. I had the opportunity to talk to the senior commissioner for Canada and a solicitor who participated in drafting the agreement. Having an EU module in my second year at Southampton meant that I was able to engage and ask relevant questions about the functioning of the new agreement at the talk. The CETA is very important for all Canadians and Canadian lawyers because it will be affecting many federal, provincial and municipal laws. It is therefore crucial to understand how the EU works in order to recognise the effect that CETA has on Canadian companies.

I really enjoy Land law and Equity & Trusts. They are exciting to learn about because of the way that they have been developed over time. The Land and Trust laws are complex and messy, but amazingly they work.

I am currently the Canadian ambassador for the University of Southampton. This role has allowed me to meet with and greet many Canadian students studying in Southampton. This has helped me to network with fellow students and lawyers. I am also part of the Canadian law society, and a member of the university law society. It is important to be part of these societies because they have organized so many events during which I was able to meet new and interesting people from all around the world. I was able to visit the Jones Day firm in London and experience how big corporate firms operate. It also opened my eyes to the many opportunities of working for international firms that have offices in many continents. I have also had the opportunity to attend several employability skills workshops at Southampton. The most exciting workshop was about the cross-examination of witnesses and learning the technique to effectively do so.

Southampton is a small town and but it has everything that you could ask for. It has a great nightlife, a big mall that is great for shopping, a beautiful waterfront and the opportunity to fly anywhere in Europe.

For the first couple of weeks it will be hard being away from home, but trust me, it gets better. As an ambassador and a fellow Canadian student you can always contact me for any guidance or enquiry.