Dear god, my law degree is boring

Twit-twoo

Hullo, just thought I’d seek an opinion here as I expect plenty of people on this board have done some sort of law degree. I’m halfway through my third year of a four year degree in law. The problem is, I don’t like it. I find an awful lot of it boring. In first year, the fun of starting college distracted me from the fact that I didn’t really like the degree. I can’t say I did much study that year until the very end, anyway. I found second year slightly hellish, but consoled myself with the fact that everyone was telling me not to worry, that second year was a very tough year. Now I’m in third year, and nothing has improved.
What I’m wondering is, when studying law, did you love it? Did it set you on fire, and so forth? Or was studying it little more than something you were capable of, something you did to occupy your time, something that was only a stepping stone to your ultimate goal of becoming a lawyer, something you did because, hell, you’ve got to do something, you were intelligent enough to get into it, and at the time you couldn’t really think of anything else you’d rather do?
A friend of mine in her final year of a business degree claims not to believe that anyone really, really likes the university degree they’re doing (at least, not those of us studying law or business). She feels that people – herself included – continue with such degrees partly because they are a means to an end and partly because of the social aspect of college. Conversely, another friend has become just as ambivalent towards his degree as I am towards mine, and is considering dropping out. He’s also in his penultimate year.
I don’t want to drop out at this stage, as it would be an incredible waste of the past two and a half years, and it’s not as though I have anything else lined up to do. I know there are many that would envy me, doing this degree, in this particular university. Looking back, I wasn’t forced to choose law, but it was strongly encouraged. The only other thing I was interested in – English – was dismissed as not being a realistic or viable path to take. (“You want to do English… that really means you want to do law!” they [not quite] said.)
Does finding law sort of boring in university mean you will find working in any area of law equally as boring? Are the two at all related? Is law the sort of thing that sets anyone on fire, even when employed, or is it fundamentally a good professional qualification, a secure job, a nice little earner, a career with good prospects, a path which can lead you to success, and nothing more?

hullaballoo

It's incredibly boring to study. If you go on to practice, it gets exponentially more interesting. Admittedly I didn't read your whole post, just the first and last line. That's a good tip for reading law as well.

Twit-twoo

hullaballú wrote: »

It's incredibly boring to study. If you go on to practice, it gets exponentially more interesting.

So I should just slog on and look forward to things improving once i get out into the real world, aye?

NoQuarter

good question OP, i cant help feeling youve just described me in that first post! :rolleyes: albeit im only in first year:(

i would say that there are a lot worse things to be doing out there than this degree (BTW mines only 3 years mwah ha ha!) and i was working for 4 years before heading back to college so thats how i know that!!

theres surely a lot of lawyers that like their job but i cant see how anyone would enjoy studying the subject!
if you werent so far along the advice might be different but i think you should definitly stick with it and just get the qualification while your in the college groove and then despite whatever decisions you make after that, youll still have the qualification to fall back on!

Rhonda9000

Sorry to hear your difficulty OP. As with all things in life I think there definitely are those out there who have a natural apptitude for it and those who don't. Obviously it's far less graft if you have a genuine interest / passion for a thing. Personally I enjoyed approx 50% of the subjects I encountered, felt indifference to say 25% and absolutely deplored the rest.

The logical choice would be to hang in there if you can. I guess if you are absolutely certain you will never use it, you could cut your losses and begin something you feel you would enjoy more but this is a much more ballsy step.

Me.... Ive taken up a woodworking class as I get truly excited about making objects It's the most enjoyable thing I have ever started learning; maybe it's a calling

RandolphEsq

I absolutely love studying it! It interests me so much reading over the past cases and all the issues raised.
My advice; finish the degree and use it as a stepping stone to something you enjoy

Jay P

In TY I did two weeks work experience in a law office, and that was the best thing that ever happenned to me, as up to that point I was obsessed by doing law. Everyone, and I mean everyone I asked about a law career told me not to do it, its boring and repetetive, and there are goin to be some major job shortages in the coming years due to the masses of newly qualifieds and a general shortage of work. But you don't have to do a law career, as with any degree, it can take you almost everywhere. Sorry, but this is exactly what I was told, good luck

bugler

The great thing I found about studying law was that it was completely and utterly unnecessary.

NoQuarter

bugler wrote: »

The great thing I found about studying law was that it was completely and utterly unnecessary.

Thank you for those inspiring words, they will really help me get through the 2 and a half years of my degree i have left!

johnfás

I did a degree in History and Politics which gives you a great education and really equips you for most things but at the same time qualifies you for nothing. I'm now at the DIT doing a Postgraduate Diploma in Law. I have to say, i do find alot of it fairly tedious and boring but some of it I find pretty interesting. I'm just hoping you can avoid some of the more boring bits once you eventually qualify as a solicitor.

By the by does anyone know what options are available for solicitors in regard to EU Law? I find it particularly interesting as I did alot of the structures, policies and so on of the Union in Politics. I don't really have French though (although I did it for the Leaving Cert) which I imagine would be a huge disability in this regard.

Duffman

johnfás wrote: »

By the by does anyone know what options are available for solicitors in regard to EU Law? I find it particularly interesting as I did alot of the structures, policies and so on of the Union in Politics. I don't really have French though (although I did it for the Leaving Cert) which I imagine would be a huge disability in this regard.

Depends how serious you are about it. Would you be prepared to move to Brussels for a while?

johnfás

Duffman wrote: »

Depends how serious you are about it. Would you be prepared to move to Brussels for a while?

Would be a joy! I was thinking about this sort of idea, although I don't know a whole lot of information so feel free to critique. I'm half way through the DIT course and am not sitting any FE1's this Spring. I am hopefully going to intern in one of the large firms for a month over the Summer (I worked in a smaller firm last summer) and then will attempt to sit half my FE1's next Autumn. Obviously I will then study from Autumn until the following Spring in an attempt to pass outstanding FE1's (which may of course also continue onto the following October). I am curious as to for that gap between March and October 2009, when I will have either passed most, if not all my FE1s (or certainly on the way to doing so), whether or not there is oppertunities available for internships in Brussels which may give one a foothold?

I'm currently in 1st year of B.Civil Law.

I personally enjoy knowing & studying Law. Ever since I can remember all I wanted to do was law. I find Law extremely interesting.
On the other hand, I do have to admit that I don’t like the amount of cases that you have to learn and some of it can be boring to study.

I don’t think studying law is an easy task for any one, by no means, it’s challenging at the best of times. But I know it’s what I want to do & will do what ever it takes.:rolleyes:

My dream is to qualify as a solicitor, so doing a law degree is to some extent is a means to an end.

CantGetNoSleep

A lot of EU jobs require three EU languages (including Irish)

I'm the same as you OP, half way through a law degree and I f*ckin hate it, well most of it anyway. Every few months I decide that i'm going to drop out, but after a few drinks and a bit of thought I realise there's nothing else I could do - college wise I'm not a science person so that rules out a lot (it would be much less interesting than law too) and would something like arts or business be much more interesting? The only other option would be to get a job which would mean you earn a lot less money than if you had waited and finished your degree, or go travelling which would surely be better without having to worry about coming home eventually and going back to college or looking for a job

I'd say you should finish the degree, and see where to go from there, as there are a lot of options with a law degree (or so people keep telling me), but 2 1/2 years of a law degree is worth nothing in the future if you drop out now

hada

haven't a lot of time to respond to this question, so i'll be sparse and get to the point.

if you're good at it (i.e. reading judgments, articles and compiling this into your own thoughts) then this will probably make life easier.

with that said, law is what you make of it. if you are good at the corporate and commercial subjects, then you're probably quite technical, good at figures and business minded. or if you decide you have a flair for constitutional, human rights, disability, employment, whatever, then you should be actively encouraged to go that route.

a law degree itself is ONLY a stepping stone to a career, I find the more you emerse yourself in it, the more you enjoy it. Meaning, the more you understand a particular area of law, the more passionate you will get about it.

last point, and this may be off topic a small bit. Don't study law purely for exams. Study it for yourself, or at least try to. Exams by their very nature are not the best way to examine ones knowledge - but it just so happens it's the way we're tested nowadays.

hope that makes some sense to you OP

jack da Lad

Im in my final year of a bachelor of civil law degree. And I must admit i hated first year .So much so i hardly if ever attended a lecture or tutorial... After a few weeks of the degree I thought I never wanted to practice law. By second year I knew I had to drop it for good or work at it; I chose the latter and slogged away for another year and slowly but surely I began to like the subject. I also done a number of law and banking internships both here an abroad and discovered that practising law is a whole lot more interesting than ploughing through McMahon and Binchy.

My advice echoes much of the above; try and stick with it unless you truly deplore the subject. There is much speculation regarding the lack of job opportunities in the legal area and one things for certain- law is definitely a competitive career path. Though as bad as it may seem a good law degree from a good university opens many doors both within and outside the legal profession.
Good luck ! As for me i've got 12 weeks of law left and then surprise surprise I join one of the worlds largest law firms as a lawyer- never say never!:D

EdgarAllenPoo

king-stew wrote: »

Thank you for those inspiring words, they will really help me get through the 2 and a half years of my degree i have left!

It's true unless you name happens to be Gerard Hogan are any of us really likely to use any of the stuff we learn in Constitutional law.

I look at studying law like a fulltime job, do your work and get in and out as quick as possible. With a few exceptions it really is boring stuff but then I would imagine the same could be said for most subjects.

When you have to study something it sucks whatever little enjoyment you might otherwise get from a subject.

Tom Young

GDM wrote: »

It's true unless you name happens to be Gerard Hogan are any of us really likely to use any of the stuff we learn in Constitutional law.

Sorry, but yes. More frequently than not and I think that you should realise the importance of knowing and understanding the constitutional aspects of just about everything and every facet of the law.

GDM wrote: »

I look at studying law like a full, do your work and get in and out as quick as possible. With a few exceptions it really is boring stuff but then I would imagine the same could be said for most subjects.

I expect then you are not really on the right career path. If you don't have a real interest there are other things you can engage in. Or do you just mean the pure study aspect/part?

GDM wrote: »

When you have to study something it sucks whatever little enjoyment you might otherwise get from a subject.

So, having versus wanting, always a debate. Like wearing a rain coat or not? or no?