Oluwatimumide Louise Akintunde LLB Law

I decided to come to Southampton because it is a Russell Group university. The University has had and still has a remarkable and distinguishable reputation in law, which is my area of study. The environment was also very serene, which was another key factor in deciding my choice of university.

For the new coming students, I can say: get ready for a wonderful experience which has a ripple effect that can only affect your future positively. It is a world-class experience filled with numerous opportunities, beyond what you expect.

My highlights whilst studying here have been the flexibility of different modules having different patterns of teaching. The enthusiasm of lecturers has kept me going even when the chips were down. Beyond academic assistance, the availability and pastoral care given by the teaching and non-teaching staff has been most encouraging.

The Students' Union is also very active which I love as they bring different activities to the University. I also really like the fact that we have Employability Skills weeks, which expose us as students in such a diverse world to different fields which may be of interest to us.

During my period at the University, I have been the treasurer of the Lawyers Without Borders student division. This has helped me to be able to manage people and has really enhanced my team working skills as this is highly imperative in the world. It has also helped me to be very accountable.

I also qualified for the City Law for Ethnic Minorities, which I got to know about from the University by Target Jobs. I was able to go to different top city law firms and have a feel of day-to-day activities of a city lawyer. It bridged the gap between what we had been taught and reality and I must say was more or less a wake up call.

I was an active member of the Lawyers Without Borders Southampton student division as well as the African Caribbean Society. Both societies helped me balance my work and social life in the activities they provided. They have also helped me to relate easily with people from different backgrounds in achieving a common goal. Teamwork is another key skill I learnt which would help as I proceed in my future endeavours.

I enjoyed certain lectures more than others e.g. Law of Tort as it was very practical. I also enjoyed the seminars where we were divided into sub-groups and could have better interactions with one another and understand the subject better. I really enjoyed the dissertation lectures in third year.

I have had job experiences in top firms such as KPMG (tax unit), Akindelano LLP and also city law for ethnic minorities where I visited Mayer Brown, Wragge & Co. among other top city law firms. This has helped give me a real life experience of what the future for me has to offer.

As a place to study, Southampton is very conducive for learning. The materials needed for crème de la crème grades are easily accessible in Hartley Library and are easily assessed through the library resources. It is also very sociable when you need to unwind. So I must say it gives a very fine balance.