Thursday 26 February 2009

Update

So much for my posts on the Death Penalty - I'm not the most reliable of bloggers, am I?

A little update on my life- the BVC is still a magnificent waste of time and money, ICSL practically had to prise their second cheque out of my hands. Upcoming assessments have my nerves all a-twitter.

I'm really disappointed with the Advocacy Training in the BVC. The major skill of a Barrister is surely advocacy, written and oral. I expected much more than a weekly session late-September to February. If assessments were at the end of the year, that would be another 3 months advocacy training. If you're going to make the course a year long, then make it worthwhile.

In other news Boy went ring shopping and when he presented me with a suitably sparkly one, well - it would have been rude to say no, wouldn't it?

I'm so looking forward to all the cake-tasting.

11 comments:

Barmaid said...

Congratulations on the sparkly bit, commiserations on the BVC.

I too had expected BVC to be far more practical than it is and yes the advocacy needs to feature far more regularly on the course.

Now back to my revision...

Mel said...

Thanks BM.

Crim lit is a lot harder than Civil, isn't it? I'm going to start revision for that this weekend. Civil lit seemed to go ok with a bit of common sense.

Good luck!

Swiss Tony said...

Mel, congrats and all that stuff.

Civil lit is common sense? Huh? I have common sense in buckets loads, but Civil Lit, Crim Lit, English Lit, not a scrap of anything that makes sense, common or otherwise.

Swizzle

Mel said...

Merci Swizz!

By common sense, I mean whatever's cheapest is probably what the rules say. Unless someone is seriously taking the Michael.

Lost said...

Congrats on the shiny rock!!!

Mmm cake..

Android said...

Hey Mel! Like everyone already said, congrats on the rock!

Good luck with your revision!

Anonymous said...

Congrats!!

Not feeling good about the ICSL stuff- I am suposed to go in a few months, and I already know it can be bad but I thought surely not that bad...but not feeling very optimistic about it..

Mel said...

Lost- thanks. Cake is so good to us, isn't it?

Hello Android! Thank you :)

Lawgirl - thank you, and I'm sorry if I'm being discouraging in any way. ICSL isn't so bad, I think I had big expectations is all. Different people respond to the course very differently. I am fundamentaly lazy. Someone said to me on the blog that you get out of the BVC what you put in- I think that's very true. I do think the course needs improving - but I think I did choose the right provider for me, and the staff are really nice and well-meaning. Hope that helps!

Anonymous said...

Oh I didn't mean you were making me feel bad about it! Sorry I wasn't too clear. Ive just heard a lot of bad reports and am just hoping that it will turn out to be bearable! Ive been keeping an eye on your experience of it, and your right about the put in get out stuff, but also I think its just a really tough course volume of work wise- and not always well organised.

Minx said...

OOOH, a Big SHINY Rock!! Do I need to wear safety goggles to evade its truly DAZZLING Glare, and is it sooooooo big that it has its own signal on the Radar at Heathrow Airport?! How did Boy propose?! Was it really, REALLY romantic?! When can I buy my virtual wedding Hat/Fascinator?!?!?!

Seriously, though, Mel, hearty congratulations on your engagement! :)

You have my sympathies with respect to Advocacy; for something every single provider highlights as a vital, if not THE most vital element of the course, the training related to it is either poor or conspicuous in it's absence.Then again, the BVC is really only a grasp of the absolute basics ( which is why its a rip off); the real learning curve comes with pupillage- and that will come to us all before too long!!

Mel said...

Thanks Minx! It's not a massive shiny rock actually, more of a family heirloom and quite lovely in it's own unusual way. I'm a fan- and was amazed that it fit so perfectly!

No date set yet. Soonish. But not that soon. Who knows?!