Today we had the privilege of sitting down with Alia Bi – a postgraduate law student who has immersed herself in pretty much everything you can imagine within the BCU community, representing her faculty and having a lot of fun too… let’s go and meet her for today’s new student case study!
Hi Alia, it’s great getting to chat with you today! Tell us about what course you study and how you got involved with Graduate+?
“I am currently studying a postgraduate course known as LLM Legal Practice.
I first began using the Graduate+ awards framework when I started my undergraduate LLB course. I knew I wanted to engage in extra-curricular activities which would complement my degree. The scheme was perfect as, it allowed me to gain different awards and certifications. As a result, I worked at the office as a Graduate+ Student Support Assistant by the end of my first year. This was a wonderful stepping stone into my proactive and positive journey at BCU of engaging in the opportunities on offer.”
How many of our award levels have you completed and what would you say you have gained from each one?
“I am flattered that I completed all of the 4 awards (Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum). Each of the awards has helped me to gain a range of experiences, the Bronze award taught me the importance of taking part. The Silver award supported me to go out of my comfort zone, in the same way the Gold award helped me to expand my interpersonal skills and take part in amazing opportunities like networking. Finally the Platinum award combined all the skills and experiences of the previous awards into one award.”
Out of all the different resources we have on offer, which one has been your favourite and why?
“All the resources available have been amazing, but more recently I have found the CV360 tool to be very useful. I was very excited to use a resource which enhanced my skills. The resource is great, it has a number of checks which are used to score your current CV and get instant feedback, for example consistency, sentence structure and time read. It also has a tool which allows you to build your CV from scratch and offers templates. It’s amazing!”
Along with getting involved with our award we hear you have also been a Connect Mentor for your faculty, along with taking part in several law conferences for your law course – tell us more about these experiences!
“The role of a Connect Mentor has been very insightful and rewarding. I was selected for this role at the end of my first academic year based on academic merit and I have continued to pursue this role into my Postgraduate studies. The role has allowed me to support first year law students by facilitating workshops in personal skills, academic skills and professional skills. As a mentor for the Law School I have had the opportunity to meet so many new people and work as part of a great team. The role has been truly incredible.
The School of Law has been organising law conference events for the past 3 years. These conferences allow students from all Law courses to engage and share their personal experiences. I have found the conferences to be truly inspirational and fulfilling. The most recent conference I presented a presentation on Volunteering at the Law Clinic where I discussed the many wonderful opportunities and my personal experiences. The opportunities at the Law Clinic have been unique and phenomenal in allowing me to develop transferrable skills, to support me for my role as a solicitor.”
We heard that you’re a previous Dean Award winner, what an incredible achievement! Can you tell us more about this?
“I was awarded the Academic Awards Scheme Student of the Year at the 2019 Dean awards. This was a remarkable and amazing way to end my undergraduate studies.
The Academic Awards Scheme is a scheme which recognises its members for their academic achievement, their progression and for excelling whilst studying. I was fortunate to be on the scheme throughout my whole undergraduate degree and because of actively engaging in the opportunities it offered I was able to receive the first ever award.
I also contributed to the scheme by organising the first Academic Awards Scheme charity fundraiser in my final year of my undergraduate course. I continue to help out, I assisted to organise a second charity fundraiser this year as well.”
What is the number one thing you’ve gained from taking part in our award and the resources we offer?
“The number one thing I have gained from taking part in the Graduate+ Awards and its resources is curiosity. Curiosity enables us to gain new experiences. There are so many opportunities available to us whilst at university, the list is endless. It’s all about getting stuck in, going out of your comfort zone, making mistakes and reflecting. I only wish I could have taken advantage of even more opportunities!”
If you had to give advice to new law students about Graduate+ what would you say?
“Go for it
Reflect on experiences
Accomplish all you can
Dive right in, the opportunities are endless
Unfold your true potential and become the ultimate graduate
Achieve your wildest dreams, anything is possible!
Terrific resources to build transferrable skills
Everyone can engage, it’s easy
+Extra-curricular activities that boost your employability.”
Finally Alia, what does the future hold for you, where are you planning on going next?
“My career goal is to become a qualified solicitor. Once I have completed my LLM Legal Practise Course I would like to start working and ultimately secure a training contract to qualify and then become the best lawyer I can be.
Also, I have truly cherished being creative and organising events for charity, and I hope one day I am able to have my own charity organisation.”
During her time at BCU Alia has taken part in both internal and external opportunities, from being involved in the AAS scheme to representing the university as a Connect Mentor, and diving straight into her Graduate+ award – once again showing just what can be achieved during your time here at university.
We’d love to hear your own story, please email the team at graduate+@bcu.ac.uk or message us via social media where we will arrange a chat to speak further.