About a year ago, while most of you were still here with me on Facebook, I decided I was going to do a second masters degree in Law.
In fact, I needed to get the Legal Practice Course (LPC) done, to be able to practice as a lawyer in the UK and since several Law Schools offered an option to get the LPC done alongside a masters degree, I went for that.
LPC with masters costs £15,000 in most of the London Law Schools, and those are closer to me.
I already have a masters degree in International Human Rights Law (L.LM from University of Leicester) so I spent weeks researching on any good ranking Law School where I could get this masters degree in LPC done, a little cheaper.
Then I found Nottingham Law School–where they were charging £11,500 for it.
What I initially thought was a brilliant idea turned out to be difficult: in that, though I was saving 4500 pounds, I live in Luton, which is about 2 and half hours drive to Nottingham Law School.
The last one year has been painful; driving for 2 and half hours there has not been easy. I get there totally exhausted and sometimes pissed.
With some of my classes starting at 9am, I mostly wake up at 5:30am–when I sleep around 1am because I have to work online too.
My seminars (compulsory classes) were on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
My lectures were on Fridays but since they were recorded and uploaded online for non-attending students, I never attended a lecture. I don’t know any student who attended these lectures due to the fact that they instantly become available online the moment they end.
Even if I could take the fatigue of driving to Nottingham twice a week for my seminars, it was costing me 60 pounds on a return journey each time in fuel–meaning 120 pounds a week and 480 pounds a month. That’s a fool’s idea of saving money.
Soon, when I realised I was screwed, I came up with a plan: I started making use of AirBnB, where I would stay over on Tuesday nights, pay about 20 pounds and attend Wednesdays’ classes, then when classes are done, mostly around 5pm, leave for Luton.
While doing the long driving, studying and sleeping at people’s houses via AirBnB, I was still publishing articles, as though I was still at my desk at home working.
My weekends were always packed. I could go a whole weekend with just about 4 hours sleep, developing websites for clients alongside the “plenty wahala.”
I stopped my usual Fridays’ cinema and movie reviews. I had to let some things go away. I stopped watching any TV series and only watched movies when I was paid a good amount to review it.
It has been one hell of a journey.
Last week Wednesday, I had my last seminar and now I just have my exams to write, with my last paper to be written on 31 May 2017.
I have until September 2017 or March 2018 (whichever one I find convenient) to submit my dissertation, which I will write from home. That’s an easy do for me, considering the fact that my first masters’ dissertation which I got a distinction was 15,000 words and this is just 7500 words.
I am telling you this because I want you to know that, while we have all been “fooling” on Facebook in the last year, some of us have been in the shadow, working on improving and bettering ourselves.
I still see the boss chicks around; with more make-ups and now flowers on their heads.
What have you been up to? What have you achieved or added to your life?
We can all play out here online but do not forget to add value to your life.
If it’s a course you want to take, go ahead and pursuit it, because time flies–and it never stops for anyone.
I am damn excited that this has finally come to an end. My car has suffered but my driving legs suffered the most.
I can’t forget to say how grateful I am to my wife Elsie Anthony-Williams. I used her for the road each time–I appreciate you hanging on the phone with me as I drove to and from Nottingham each week.
Surely, when you start your masters too, I will be here to support you and as I promised, I will pay for it whenever you are ready!
This was first written on Facebook as a status update…