Moving into Leamington

Having spent such an exciting, rejuvenating and productive summer, I was all charged up to start third year. This year is really significant, it ties up my entire Warwick experience and I wanted to do it right. Having spent the last two years still feeling relatively green in being completely independent, this year I knew exactly how to navigate my surroundings and I was so excited to start the year. My goals were to firstly, do the best I can academically and put in all the work necessary for an excellent grade. Secondly, I wanted to seek the best employment opportunity for myself and hand in applications I am proud of, to firms that really interests me. Thirdly, I was always conscious that this might be my last year in the UK, so I wanted to embrace every moment to its full potential and enjoy the experience being a carefree student with some of my best friends.

A major change for me this year was the switch from living in Coventry, to Leamington. When I first moved to Leamington, I knew it was a good decision. Although it is further from campus, I found myself really appreciating the distinction between campus and home life. It also helps that Leamington is profoundly beautiful. It boasts uniformed white architecture with intricate metalworks, lush gardens, expansive rivers, friendly locals and quirky independent cafes. For these reasons, Leamington felt like home from the beginning. Here are some pictures of Leamington and campus in its full autumn glory - one of the prettiest seasons!

A routine!

Term 1 was academically hectic for me, especially because I had a few 9ams per week, and I pledged to attend all. Being a morning person never came naturally to me, but I wanted to instill a sense of discipline for myself. For example, on Monday mornings, I would wake up really early and bake banana bread by 7am. Then I would get ready, go for my 9am Islamic Law lecture (which I absolutely loved learning), come back to Leamington by noon, and do my grocery shopping. By early afternoon, I'd start meal prepping for the week. Nothing feels as good as having a routine, and sticking to it.

This is an image of the type of food I would prep for myself, especially when I know I have a busy week ahead and won't have much time to spend on cooking elaborate meals.

However, when I get a chance to, I do love to cook myself a nice meal! Such as this -

This year was all about challenging myself, and one of the things I wanted to work on was being better with money - not just managing my money better, but actively making more. One of the ways I did this was through picking up 2 part-time jobs.

Student-Fundraiser

I worked for Warwick's development office as a student fund raiser for their telethon campaigns, an initiative to raise funds from alumni for the Universities’ fundraising projects. It quite a laborious role as I had to work 12 hours a week across both evenings and weekends. However, I really enjoyed it as I got to enjoy a high degree of interaction with Warwick alumni.

Though not all calls are successful, this role has improved on my ability to stay cheerful and positive in the face of constant rejections, without letting it faze the quality of my calls. It helps that I really support the cause of the campaign, as part of the money raised goes towards Warwick scholarships. As a beneficiary myself, I was proud to showcase my positive experiences as an example to potential donors - especially when they share my enthusiasm in making education accessible. For the autumn campaign, I was one of the top fundraisers, raising over £17,000 in both regular donations and single gifts. However the best part of the job for me, was that through hours of chatting with strangers on the phone of all ages, I was offered valuable and insightful career, life and even love advice. Sometimes, I'd speak to old and happy married couples who met from Warwick - these heartening interactions shaped the highlight of my role.

Elma's

The second job I took on was waitressing at a Mediterranean restaurant in Leamington, Elma's. It's directly next to my house, and I spent every Saturday evening there. Working in a restaurant is an excellent way to break out of the university bubble every Warwick student is familiar with. I made friends with the chef, and the other workers - their age completely ranges, and its really refreshing to meet people so removed from the comfort of the Warwick bubble. I also became really close with the family that runs Elma's. They own multiple restaurants in Leamington, and they introduced me to some businessmen who also own many of the cafes I frequent. Unexpectedly, working at Elma's gave me an intimate commercial perspective on Leamington's restaurant industry. Overall, it was a really excellent experience working for them and although I decided at the end of first term that I couldn't handle the rigour of 2 jobs and gave this role up, I kept these connections, and it was really nice to have a restaurant to come back to that feels like home.

Law Clinic

This academic year I fully engaged in the role of Project Leader for the Warwick Law Clinic. Although I was already familiar with the project, having been an advisor for a year, being a Project Leader offered a different perspective and carried heavier responsibilities. The start of the year was really hectic, as we had to recruit and train new advisors. Since there was an overwhelming number of applications, narrowing down to 12 advisors was really challenging and time consuming, especially since many of the candidates were excellent. However, deciding on the final 12 because we believed in their ability to thrive in the role, training them, and eventually seeing them conduct successful interviews to our clients and give excellent advice is immensely satisfying. It makes the hard work of managing the advisors, overseeing the interviews and communicating with all stakeholders involved (Wright Hassall, Warwick Volunteers & Sydenham Community Centre), worth it.

As Project Leader, I initiated a goal of improving the project by attracting more clients and hence making a greater impact on the community. We did this by making easily understandable sheets to navigate the complex legal aid system and putting up posters across community hotspots in Leamington Spa and Sydenham. These initiatives were outstandingly successful. This year, we received a three-fold increase in clients. The cases we received were also significantly more complex - for example, we dealt with tax-avoidance and immigration issues. I am really proud of how far the Law Clinic has come in this academic year, and am so excited to continue seeing how far it will grow.

Event at the Cinnamon Club

In November, I was invited to an exciting event held in the Cinnamon Club in London, to commemorate Warwick welcoming it's first Singaporean student 50 years ago. This event was an effort to celebrate Warwick's commitment to strengthening its ties with South-East Asia. It was a small gathering, attended by Her Excellency Ms Foo Chi Hsia (High Commission of the Republic of Singapore in London), Christine Ennew (Provost), Afua Osei, (Associate Director of Alumni and Events), some Singaporean and Malaysian alumni, and Jade and myself. Plenty of the alumni were in the legal industry, and it was really good to hear career advice from such established professionals. I enjoyed and honour the opportunity to sit at that table, and participate in celebrating Warwick's success.

There was a pretty sunset outside London Marlybone's station the night of that dinner.

Lisbon

At the end of such a long and exciting term, I took a short holiday to Lisbon with one my best friends. This trip was much needed, and I fell deep in love with Lisbon's seaside, pastel palaces, and their penchant for the sweetest pastries - despite being shockingly sweet, I stand my ground that pastel de nata is one of the best culinary inventions. We stayed in a hostel in Lisbon, where we met some of the most adventurous people. This trip really reminded me all over again why I love travelling so much. One of the many people I made friends with was a Brazilian guy who was on a scholarship to study chemical engineering in St Petersburg and we spent a good portion of time just talking about religion, politics and life. Funnily enough, I never even caught his name - such is the beauty of these profound yet fleeting interactions.

Here are some pictures from Lisbon!

One of my favourite parts of my Lisbon trip was a ride on the Lisbon Tram 28. The ride takes you down Lisbon, through the old streets and gives you the best vantage view of the city. I sat through the entire ride in complete awe of how stunning Portugese architecture is. This is how the tram looks like from the outside and inside!

Honestly, Lisbon looks like the backdrop I imagined only to exist in fairytales.

Xmas & New Years

After coming from Lisbon and spending some time working on essys in Leamington, I spent Christmas and New Years with the family in Durham, as usual. This time, my cousin's beautiful baby boy joined us!

Glasgow & Edinburgh

In between Christmas and New Years, I hopped on a train to Scotland as it's next door to Durham. I spent a few days in both Glasgow, and Edinburgh. Although I had some friends who I met sporadically who lived in these places, I was primarily alone on this trip. I wanted time alone to work on my essays, and to reflect on the blessed year I just completed. I think in many ways, 2019 was one of the best years of my life. I have never previously gotten the privilege to travel as extensively, I was surrounded by so much love from both friends and family, and I was loving what I learnt in university.

In between writing my essays in cosy cafes, I went for long walks, soaking in the pretty views (and bearing the crisp Northern cold at the same time!). I people-watched and did plenty of self-reflection, and it was such a peaceful and satisfying way to end my year, and the first term of being a third year student.

Hello!

I'm back, to tell you how my beautiful summer went and to share some (read; many) pictures! It's been a crazy whirlpool of travelling, I've definitely just had the best 3 months of my life and the best way for me to share my experience is through my pictures!

My first destination was Italy! Firstly to Venice, and then Rome. Both of these places were incredibly stunning in their own ways!

VENICE

Our hostel was on off the main island, and was in an island further away called 'Giudecca'. As we were further way, we had the most perfect vantage view of the main islands and truly came home to the famous views of San Marco Venice alongside the water.

This was the view from outside the hostel!

ROME

I am really lucky to have met an amazing Roman friend over second year, and she was so excited to hear I was visiting! It was so nice to toured around by a local, as she was able to tell me the history behind the beautiful buildings and sights. I was not just impressed at her knowledge of her country and city, but also the pride with which she shared about her hometown. Margherita (yes, she has an incredibly Italian name!), thank you for making my visit such a sweet one!

Of course, I had to see the colosseum! I was in Rome after all. It's such an amazing experience to just stare at these buildings and imagine the different generations and experiences the building has weathered through.

The architecture in Rome was nothing like I had seen before! The buildings were not just made out of practicality and function, they're also incredibly intricate in both design and form. Each building tells a story about a moment in history. For example, in the image above, there are different latin inscriptions on the sides, alongside sculptures of influential Roman figures and magnificent horses.

These winding cobbled streets down Trastevere were my absolute favourite in Rome! Margherita told me that the colours of the buildings were purposefully designed to complement the sunset. During the sunset, the various orange hues of the buildings blend into the burning skies, creating a stunning horizon. So incredibly poetic and beautiful! I am just obsessed by how well thought through the architecture in all of Rome is.

This was the St Peter's Basilica, which left me aboslutely gobsmacked. This must be how heaven looks like!

My favourite part about Rome is that when I look at any part of the city, I see two eras simultaneously. The Romans now live alongside these ruins as part of the backdrop of their days. It's also incredible how these ruins are preserved so elegantly, with most of it's structure intact! One of my favourite things to do this trip was to just sit back and imagine how these ruins must have looked in ancient history. (I was also really amused that the ruins have become the homes of many cats!).

One of the spots we passed by was where Julius Caesar (JC) was stabbed by Brutus on the ides of March! As a complete theatre nerd, and someone who once acted in Shakespeare's play of JC in SOTA, I was so excited!

This pasta dish pictured below was recommended by my Roman friend. It was in a tiny little corner shop, away from the crowds and took a good few minutes of walking to get to from a main road. In other words, it's not a place I would have found myself. Thankfully she directed me here, because this was definitely the best pasta I had in Italy! It was hand made on the spot by a Nonna who runs the kitchen and came out to say hello to us, without speaking a smidge of English. Italian food is so ridiculously good, I am so glad I went to Italy just for the food alone! Writing this down right now makes me wish I could experience this bowl of pasta all over again.

After a beautiful week in Italy, I headed off to Croatia! My friends and I were really keen on visiting Croatia and enjoying a beautiful beach holiday, but we also wanted to do it on a very tight budget. Unfortunately, flights to major cities such as Dubrovnik or Krk were expensive, so we decided to book the cheapest flight to Croatia, which landed in Rijeka! Prior to this trip, I had never heard of Rijeka. Yet we took a gamble, and hoped for the best.

We got so lucky! Rijeka is the tiniest little town, nestled away from all the tourists, and I am so glad we chose this destination! Everything was so incredibly cheap, as they cater to locals and therefore do not have exorbitantly high prices. Furthermore, the beaches were extremely clean and filled with entire families - grandmothers, babies, uncles and parents. It was extremely wholesome, and the entire town was so happy to receive us! This was truly an idyllic European town, definitely the perfect retirement or honeymoon spot.

To make it even better, our Airbnb host, Vesna, is the biggest sweetheart in the world. She picked us all up from the airport (3 different times, as we all arrived from different destinations!), she drive us around so much, and gave us so many tips and recommendations. On the weekend, she even drove us to a wet market so we could pick up some groceries to cook. She honestly mothered us, and made us feel extremely loved throughout the trip. Even having left Croatia, she still texts us from time to time and always reminds us we are welcomed back and that she misses us! Croatia's hospitality is simply incredible.

The seafood was just beautiful! One of my favourite dishes in Croatia is the black squid ink pasta, yums!!

It doesn't look it, but the water is actually deep! It's least 4 metres, but because of how clear the water was, it simply looks like a waddling pool. Croatia's waters are unreal, I have never seen waters this clear and clean. It was such a treat to swim in.

My mind was as clear as the water!

We went Kayaking, and we had a guide bring us around! He told us that the space between us and the top of the bridge, is the same as the depth of the water beneath us. That's definitely extremely scary, especially when people were perched around us to do some deep sea fishing. Regardless, I never felt very safe with the guide, and had an extremely incredible day kayaking around some abandoned islands! One of the islands was populated with just sheeps, which I thought was adorable.

At the Paradiso beach, we hired a boat for 3 hours at 15Euros (I personally think this is an incredible deal), and went so far off the coast! We explored many different islands, and went swimming deep in the Adriatic Sea. The boat simply requires peddling as though it is a bicycle, and some basic steering skils. The boat also had a slide! This was, no doubt, one of the best days of my life.

This was the fish market Vesna brought us to! Because Croatia is right by the Adriatic Sea, it's seafood is so incredibly fresh and absolutely to die for. I couldn't believe the flavours I was experiencing. We wanted to gorge ourselves on the seafood, but without spending a bomb. As our Airbnb has a kitchen, we went to the fish market and got a staggering amount of mussels, fish, prawns, squid, vegetables, freshly baked bread, and fruits for such a good deal, and cooked up a feast for dinner! That night, we ate for three hours straight and went into the deepest carb-induced coma right after.

I was honestly so impressed by our feast, and also by our appetites! We made a huge seafood tomato based stew, baked a huge tuna, roasted some vegetables and mixed a fresh salad. We even played jazz in the background and lit the candles later on! Honestly it was such a lush experience. Although there was only three of us, we finished most of it, albeit with many breaks in between to recharge.

On a side note, for some reason, the vegetables in Croatia are the freshest I have ever tasted in my life. It tastes like pure chlorophyll (or how I imagine it would taste like).

This was the last day in Croatia, and I was so sad to leave because of how perfect the entire trip had been. Definitely one to write home about, and another country on the list of places I have to return to.

CYPRUS

Being from the heart of Southeast Asia, I never knew that someday, I would step foot in this beautiful sunny coastal country called Cyprus! Yet here I was. I came primarily to visit my friend, Haya, who I had gotten incredibly close to in second year. She's Syrian by blood, but was born and bred in Cyprus.

As my main study buddy during the difficult examination period, we had both been looking forward to this trip for a long time and was so excited it was finally here!

Look at the beautiful waves crashing on the coast!

This is Haya, in the middle of a pineapple float I bought in Croatia! Look at how the trees above the float looks like it's the top of the pineapple. Haha!

Cyprus was another series of gorging on delicious food. When Haya's family wasn't cooking delicious Arabic food for me, we ate at taverns - a very Cypriot way of dining, where you order mezze platters for the number of people dining instead of ala carte dishes. I love communal dining, so really enjoyed the taverns! This fish tavern was the best! It was right next to the sea, at which there were boats docked next to the restaurant. These same boats caught the grub we were eating just that morning itself. Everything tasted so fresh, and of the sea.

Plates of olives and hummus and many many dips! I was in a Mediterranean heaven.

Look at how beautifully clear the water was! This beach was really amazing, the water was so clear and never got more than around 6 metres deep even when hundreds of metres away from the coast! Haya and I swam so far from the coast for ages, staring at the beautiful array of fishes! I brought goggles with me so I could get really close and personal, and stare at their beautiful colours.

On the weekend, Haya's boyfriend, sister, herself, and me went on a road trip. We started off by droving to the beautiful Avakas gorges, where we got off and did an insanely beautiful hike and saw plenty of flowers, natural fountains and moutain goats. After that, we continued driving through a long isolated road, at which there was a nick in the road that led to these secluded rock pools and a little coast, creating a private beach. We stayed at the private beach for hours, napping and having a picnic at the beach, and swimming in these little pools when it got too hot.

We stayed till sunset ended. The sunset-watching was probably one of the highlights of my life. The sounds of the waves crashing on the beach was incredibly cathartic, the smell of the salty sea was simply delicious, the sun was a bright beautiful ball of fire. Everything was as perfect as it could be, and I watched it alongside one of the best friends I've made in Uni, and her boyfriend and sister, who both welcomed me so heartwarmingly. The energy was unreal, and we just watched in absolute awe at the perfection of nature. This picture (unedited!) is now my phone wall paper!

These were one of the final moments I got to spend with Haya, as she will be in France for third year. So incredibly sad to be away from her, but I know that our friendship transcends physical barriers and that regardless of the distance, we'll remain lifelong sisters. I am so lucky to have connected with such a beautiful soul like herself in uni!

With that, my Cyprus trip and my European summer adventures came to an end! It was so sad, especially since the entire three weeks were so magical. At the end of my trip in Cyprus, Haya's mother called me on the phone as I was on the way to the airport, and told me that she sees me as her own daughter and that I'm welcome anytime in her home, and that she definitely wants me to return when I can.

This level of acceptance, and show of affection touched me deeply and definitely left me tearful on the way to the airport. I just hope that someday, I can come back and experience this beautiful country once again.

SINGAPORE

Coming back home is always comforting, and I was once again bombarded with stunning city views.

The majority of my time in Singapore was spent interning with 2 different law firms - Forte Law LLC for four weeks, and Nair & Co LLC for two weeks. For six intense week, I gave my complete attention towards the tasks directed at me, and grew immensely in a professional capacity. With Nair & Co, I attended a hearing in the Supreme Court over two days, and it was such an excellent experience, during which I got to listen to the legendary Suresh Nair flaunt his litigation skills in front of a pleased judged.

With Forte Law, as an up and coming law firm, I had the experience of truly getting myself involved in every type of corporate legal work. For example, I edited drafted various contracts with various levels of difficulties - ranging from employment agreements and franchise agreements, to swaps and derivatives agreement. In such a quick paced environment, I was really challenged to stay sharp and think on my feet. This internship also gave me so much clarity on the type of law I enjoyed. Where previously I was closed off to the idea of corporate law, I now know that I really do enjoy the intellectually stimulating work of a corporate lawyer, and particularly find the work involved in a mergers & acquisition really fun!

In between the two internships, I whisked off to Bangkok for a few days with one of my best friends from Warwick, Seneba!

BANGKOK

A highlight of my trip was that we tried the world's only Street Food Michellin Star! The lady who owns this stall is Jay Fai, and she has an incredible story to her name. She was featured on Netflix's show, 'Street Food', in the Bangkok special. As huge foodies, Seneba and I was so excited to see her and try her food!

Jay Fai grew up really poor, and her parents were owners of a street food stall. She wanted to forge her own path, so she became a really successful seamstress and invested all her life savings into building her craft. Unfortunately, a fire broke out and burned all her equipment and materials away. Heartbroken, her mother gave her a single wok and told her to make something of it. The wok was the only thing she had to her name. She started practising with it, and perfected her use of it. She sold the food she cooked, and eventually she was so successful, that she became the first street hawker in the world to get a Michellin Star.

Although she is incredibly busy with customers, she still cooks each dish by herself and her helpers only do menial tasks such as chopping vegetables and cleaning up. As we eat, she is in plain view, cooking - and honestly her tenacity is so admirable! Such an incredible woman, and an inspiration for anyone.

To get the chance to dine at her restaurant, we had to go early in the morning to book ourselves one of the limited slots for dinner, as most of the slots were pre booked online months ago.

The food was expensive for street food, but reasonably priced for Michellin standard. The crab cakes were absolutely sweet and perfect, and the Tom Yam was incredibly potent with spices. Honestly the highlight of my trip!

If you've made it this far, I have to say a major thank you! This has definitely been such a long post, but I really wanted to document the highlights of what has been the best summer of my life. Summer 2019, you will be so hard to beat.

Now, it's time to get my head back into University life, as I head into final year. This will be challenging, but I am sure it will also be an incredible experience.

Till then!

Before term 3 started, I spent Easter break in America and Canada, visiting a friend training to be a marine in the Naval Academy in Maryland, and also my brother, who was doing a year of work placement in Toronto. I also made a trip to New York, and Montreal. These destinations were some that I never imagined doing, and so being there just felt surreal.

When I came back, the reality of term 3 hit me, and the rest of my Easter break and the most of term 3 was spent with my head in my books, either working on coursework or studying for exams. This was undoubtedly a very stressful period, and I was also doing some of the most content heavy core module in my entire law degree. Even though it was difficult, I found ways to work towards my strength - for example working throughout the nights, as that's always worked for me in creating a more productive environment. I also formed study groups and made sure I stuck closely to my study buddy so I never felt as though I was struggling alone. Before coming into second year, I remember being told by my seniors that year 2 would probably be hardest year of my degree. Although I don’t know how final year will turn out just yet, I do know that getting through 2nd year truly was a personal achievement and that it's flexed my muscle of handling academic rigor and that has really built up my confidence about going into final year and being able to handle its demands.

When exam season ended, I spent some time celebrating with my friends, and catching up on all the me-time that I've missed out on in the past 2 months.

I've also gotten started on my responsibilities as project leader for the Warwick law clinic, attending handover meetings and getting myself prepared to step into this role comfortably for the next year. It's going to take up a fair bit of my time, but I genuinely believe that legal advice should be accessible and therefore I am grateful to have the opportunity to help provide that to the people of Leamington in the next academic year.

Not only has this year truly tested me academically, and also in terms of all the leadership roles and side projects I've taken up, it has also given me the platform to pilot myself into a full-blown adult. Living off-campus, meant being independent of all supervision. Even simple things, for example - paying my own utility bills, was really such a necessary experience. It was difficult, but also enjoyable. I've always craved freedom, and being in complete charge of the way I take care of myself as an adult makes me feel so empowered, emboldened and free to pave my own journey.

Next year is going to come with it's own challenges, especially in deciding on what happens after university. While this is obviously really exciting, I am also aware that it is going to be another really intense and difficult year, and I am excited to spend this summer resting and preparing myself for the rigour of the year ahead.

As I am crafting this post, my room is all packed and I am getting ready to whisk off to a few more European countries before heading back to Singapore. I will be visiting my friends in Italy, Croatia and Cyprus and I could not possibly be more excited.

It also goes without saying that I am buzzing to go back home and spend some quality time catching up with family and friends, and also keeping myself engaged with a 1 month internship before coming back to the UK. Going back to Singapore always feels like a reset, and I feel like I definitely need that after this hectic academic year.

Till then!

(Continuing from the previous post).

While all the travelling around Christmas time was perfect, of course I had to come back as usual and finish up some assignments due in for January. The following term itself was definitely my busiest one so far in Warwick. Aside from societal involvements as president for Women for Women International, I also represented my society and collaborated with some other female-oriented societies (Warwick Women Career's, Project Baala by Enactus, Girl Boss and the US Programme) to create Warwick's first ever Women's Summit. The Summit is the first of its kind in the UK, and especially the first which is entirely student-led.

The aim of the Summit is to bring together successful and ambitious women from a range of careers, to provide participants with a full day of speeches, breakout sessions, and panel discussions to raise awareness about issues facing millenial women today, and to equip them with the necessary skills in preparation for the workforce. We opened tickets to students from all around the country. All the expenses were covered by sponsors of Warwick Women Career's society, but we still ticketed the event for £9 and all the proceeds from the ticket sales went to both my societies' charity (WFWIW) and Project Baala, which gives women in rural parts of Pakisan, India and parts of Africa access to disposable sanitary pads.

We started properly planning for the summit before Christmas time, as we only come together with the idea around then. I have never been so heavily involved in something this big, and I am so proud with how the event turned out - we had over 100 particpants. We also managed to contact so many successful and interesting women to come in and share about their work, and the turnout was fabulous! we also raised around £900 for charity in total. One of the comments on the feedback form at the end of the event said the summit created an energy that was akin to a "girl's bathroom on a night out - all love, supportive energy & good vibes!".

Planning the summit has been the highlight of my university experience thus far, and I get so overwhelmed when I think about how blessed I have been to be in a position where I am inspired enough to even think of creating this event, and then to be given the necessary support to go ahead and make it happen. The girls that I was working alongside were nothing but the best, and I am also very proud to have created a position on my societies' exec called the women's summit officer, to make sure this event happens again next year! We have started something that is going to recur annually, and I really do feel like we have started a legacy here in Warwick.

There's so much I can talk about the Summit, and how much it has taught me but I will just let the pictures do all the talking!

A picture with one of the speakers - Rebecca Robins, the Global Chief of Learning and Culure Officer for Interbrand. She is an expert in branding, and so I emailed her a months ago with an invitation when the Summit was nothing but a dream. She was immediately on board, and so enthusiatic to help us realise our ideas! Fast forward a few months later, she was there in real life on the day of the summit, and she conducted a breakout session titled 'Personal Branding - How to maximise your digital profiles' which was a complete hit amongst the attendees, and she was also in the panel dicussion for women in executive positions. Rebecca's energy is electric, and people like her really just made the whole event such a successful one!

I moderated a student panel titled 'Women around the World', where we invited students from 5 different continents to talk about their experiences coming from different regions. It was such an insightful panel discussion!

Aside from the summit, my society also ran a few exciting events, and the latest and our biggest event was the #SheInspiresMe conference!. We had 5 different speakers.

The first was Amy Mackenzie, and she represented the WFWI foundation in London so she spoke about the inner workings of the charity. Secondly, we had Victoria Azubuike, a final year management student in Warwick. She is also the founder of the US programme, a project to help educate and inspire young women mainly from disadvantaged backgrounds to break boundaries and achieve goals. The US programme hosts conferences, bringing together women from similar backgrounds, helping them to succeed in their chosen careers. Thirdly, we had Amelia Stone - she is the founder of a website, Outspoken. She started this through funding from 02's 'Go think big' team for a social impact project. Her site's main objective is to provide a free and open space for the discussion of equality and justice, mainly regarding gender inequalities, for Warwick University students; and this can be through articles, art, poetry or literature etc. So far, the topics covered ranges from child marriage, period poverty, female sexuality and slut shaming. Our fourth speaker was Vanessa Munro - a feminist, and a Professor at Warwick Law School. She has worked on a number of projects exploring how the law regulates women’s agency, particularly in relation to their bodies and sexuality, and how decision-makers evaluate claims of sexual violence. She is currently co-organising the Scottish Feminist Judgments Project and is involved in a large study of jury decision-making in rape and assault trials, funded by the Scottish Govt. Our final speaker was Dr Ellen Smith-Dennis, a lecturer in the Applied Linguistics department at the University of Warwick. She has conducted research in the UK, Italy and Papua New Guinea. Part of her research was on maintaining an endangered language in Papua New Guinea.

Here some snippets from the conference!

3 generations of WFWI presidents!

Members of the society writing letters to our WFWI sisters!

My lovely exec members.

It has been the most enriching experience and privilege to work alongside and lead my exec for the past year, and I am so proud of how far we have taken the society! It has grown exponentially, especially with the collaborations as part of the Summit. I have also grown as a person, team player and leader and the experiences of my time as President has truly shaped my work ethics and it was nothing but an honour. I will no longer be on the exec from this term onwards, as we just had our elections, but I have successfully gotten a different position!

For the next academic year, I will be running Warwick Law Clinic alongside 2 other girls. I have spoken about this briefly in a previous post, but just to recap it is a programme that offers free legal advice on the weekly. I used to just be an adviser, but for the next year I will be a project leader and manage the law clinic! I strongly believe in the need to make legal advice more accessible, and so am honoured to have this position and can’t wait to see where this will take me!
For now, it has been one crazy term and I deserve some rest. As I type this blogpost, I am buzzing for my upcoming trip to America and Canada! It has always been a dream to go to these countries and I never thought I would, but here we are! I will update pictures from this trip in the next post - for now, that’s all I have to update this space with!
Much love,

Hayati Bee

The past Christmas break and Spring term was probably the busiest I have ever been in Warwick. This post will be mainly consumed by pictures, to show you how much has happened over the past few months! Picking up from where I left off at the last post, here are some pictures from Budapest!

After Budapest, I visited Poland. Poland was so beautiful and being there felt like coming home. Polish people are very family-centric, so being there on Christmas was the perfect way for me to immerse myself in their culture. I spent the first half of my trip to Poland in Zgorzelec, the city in which my friend Ala lives in. This is where I spent Christmas eve and day. Zgorzelec is also the nearest Poland city to Germany, and it is connected to the city of Görlitz, Sachen.

The 2 countries and cities are connected by a bridge, which is literally next to Ala's house. So on Christmas morning, we took a ten minute stroll to Germany (there are no customs or borders!) and because it was Christmas day, we had the whole city to ourselves to explore. Gorlitz is one of the most popular places in Germany, for it has some of the most picturesque buildings and the whole city is paved with cobblestones. It has been dubbed as one of 'Hollywood's favourite cities'. Multiple movies have been shot there, for example - 'The Grand Budapest hotel', 'Around the world in 80 days' and 'Inglorious Basterds'. So being there was a dream, and Ala and I took advantage of the setting and took many pictures around this beautiful city.

The second part of my trip to Poland was spent with another friend, Jagoda. She lives in Lubin, a tiny and rural part of Poland. We also made a daytrip to Wrocław (did you know this was pronounced as Vrotzwaff?!) Again, it was the most amazing time. Jagoda was the perfect guide and she taught me so much about the history of Poland. She is so passionate and invested in the stories of her parents and the generations above them and she was so quick to spew all the knowledge she has about the war, and about the communist regime her mother had to live through, and amidst all these took me to the best spots to eat! I even tried the famous Polish tartare, a meal entirely comprised of raw ingredients - including raw beef and egg. Wrocław quickly became one of my favourite European cities. Everything was affordable, the city was intensely rich in history, everyone was so friendly and welcoming, and it never felt like a tourist trap. The food was also some of the best!

Both Ala and Jagoda's family were so hospitable and they truly bent over backwards to make my stay as perfect as possible, despite the language barrier and this really warmed my heart. While sometimes it can be difficult to be away from home, most of the times I feel like I have just found more places to call home.

(To be continued in the next post!)