Arlia Wanstall
Arlia Wanstall – Bachelor of Laws and Science
SETTLING INTO QUT
“First year of law was a very good experience. I'm very happy with how my first year went — looking back on my first year though I wouldn't study as hard as I did.
I would've toned down on studying seven days a week to four days of the week. I would study more efficiently and effectively by making a properly organized timetable of what I should be doing within each span of time. I would be organizing myself to get the best grades as I possibly could while at the same time also just trying to relax and not worry about the uncertainty of what you want to do when you're older. Everything will fall into place eventually.
I would strongly advise all law students or any student, in particular, to really just get out there and not spend your whole time studying. Yes, studying is very important to get good grades, but it isn't the be-all and end-all. But you need to have a social life, and you need to really make sure your mental health is at its finest, especially when it’s exam times. That's when you really need to be healthy and in your ballgame.”
GETTING INVOLVED AS A FIRST YEAR
“I just really want first-year students to be able to get involved in the events, competitions and other QUT law society events as a whole because I feel that first-year students feel that they are excluded and further away from other students. This is because they're so new, and to many of them it's daunting coming to uni especially if you are a rural or external student. Trust me; I was just a first-year last year. I feel like the cohesiveness needs to be increased for first-year students because they should be as involved and included as any other student at QUT. I really want to increase their attendance in events, competitions, all that sort of stuff.
In my role as the mentor officer, I am the person who organises and runs the QUT PLT Mentoring Program, which is an excellent initiative for first-year students involving first-year mentees and older year law student mentors. We basically pair first years with older students. This year I will be creating these pairs which I'm very excited about. We pair students up based on a range of things such as similar interests, hobbies and degrees, etc. For example, if you're doing business and law, we might pair you up with another business and law student if we believe that it is suitable. We pair you up with people who are similar to you so that if you are new to uni and you join the program: you would hopefully make a connection with your mentor and make a new friend through the mentoring program. The connections you make with this program are amazing. I know numerous people who still keep in contact with their mentors. Your new friend/mentor can guide you, give you hints and tips for first-year; all of this is amazing stuff especially when you’re new to the degree that you will be spending four a half years of your life with.”
HOW DO YOU KEEP MENTORS AND MENTEES TOGETHER?
“One of my plans to encourage mentor and mentee connections would be to attend the First Year Pizza Party, which will be at QUT with all the older law student mentors and first-year mentees present. From there, mentors and mentees would be keeping contact with each other, adding each other on social media and adding phone numbers. I seriously encourage every first year to sign up for it. It's very beneficial. It just gives you a new friend who you can rely on, get advice from and show you what uni life is really like.”
LAW AND SCIENCE
“I chose law and science because just coming out of high school I liked both of them and I didn't really know what career I wanted to pursue. So law and science gave me a bit of an insight into both of the fields. Now that I’ve done my first year, it's really guided me into what I want to do in the future and what legal field I want to do when I do graduate, which is criminal law, if not criminal law then wills, estate planning and succession law.”
WAS LAW YOUR FIRST CHOICE?
“Okay. So this is actually quite a funny question. I initially didn't apply for a law degree on my QTAC application. I had actually put in a science degree. I had a dream of becoming a forensic scientist. It was my legal studies teacher in high school… He pulled me aside, he told me to come to him after lunch, and he was like, “Arlia you're silly if you don't put law on your QTAC application”, and I was like… okay. So I went and changed my QTAC, and it was the best decision I've ever made. He said, “I can see you becoming a barrister when you're older. So I really think you should pursue a career in law.” I haven't looked back since.
I don't think I would be where I am today if I hadn't chosen law, it's really just changed me as a person and changed my whole outlook on life. Really. Like, I don't know where I would be right now if I didn't do law. I think I'd be disliking my science degree. But I appreciate the balance of science and law, particularly when it comes to the evidential and analytical processes.
It really just helps having experience in both. It just consolidates your knowledge. So I wouldn't look back on doing science and law even though I have had tendencies to drop science. I love both, and they really just helped my mind work and function. Two different ways of thinking! That's what I would put it down as; one way for law, whereas science you think another way and it just really helps your brain. I feel like I love both; QUT offers the best of both worlds!”
Humans of Lawbry interview conducted by Gideon Caturla
This interview was conducted in the 2020 series of Humans of Lawbry.
Humans of Lawbry was created by Helen Driscoll in the 2015 Torts Illustrated.