Courtney Howarth
Court Howarth - Bachelor of Laws (Hons)
WHY DID YOU WANT TO STUDY A BACHELOR OF LAWS?
So, I actually started studying law when I graduated from high school eight years ago. I was barely seventeen when I started and, while it had been one of my dreams, I realised that I was still young and I wasn’t entirely sure if it’s what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I went away, studied a BA at UQ (sometimes part-time, because life got in the way) and when I finished, I realised that my deep desire to study law had never gone away, but I was concerned about studying for another three plus years. A chat with my then-manager changed my perspective, and she encouraged me to keep one of my favourite quotes in mind: “Don't let the fear of the time it will take to accomplish something stand in the way of your doing it. The time will pass anyway”. At that point, I decided that it was now or never.
I mean, I've always known that I wanted to be a lawyer because of my general interest in how the law intersects with politics, as well as civil rights, the rule of law, and the preservation of rights. However, I find that a lot of time, equality before the law isn’t a reality. I think I’ve always been conscious of this, growing up as a woman and a person of colour. There are power differentials everywhere around us, whether it's racial, gender, or even wealth distribution inequality. Part of me wants to use my law degree to challenge this.
HOW ARE YOU COPING WITH STUDYING LAW AND WORKING IN THE LEGAL INDUSTRY?
When it comes down to it, I really do enjoy the complexities studying law and just how many different areas of the law that there are. I really do enjoy that, and the feeling of working in the legal profession is also very fulfilling. I’m also very lucky to work for four very experienced and supportive barristers, who I genuinely look up to and consider as mentors. They're certainly teaching me a lot. Not just about the law, but also the practical skills I'll need as a future practitioner.
However, I do think there are so many issues in terms of mental health with law students and the pressure felt by law students. But you know, QUT is doing a lot to make sure we’re all healthy and safe and I’m glad law students themselves are also looking after each other. I’m also really glad that we have a subject like Dispute Resolution (shout out to James Duffy) that took its time, you know, at the beginning of the degree to talk us through things like imposter syndrome and how to overcome it. That’s particularly useful if you’re a bit of a perfectionist, I think. It’s really good to know that the faculty, staff and other law students are also looking out for you while you’re studying this degree.
There will always be times when you feel like you're the odd one out or that you're not as smart as everyone else in the room. But realistically, for the most part, I think everyone's in the same boat. They just don't realise that that's the case. Or people are too scared to talk about the fact that they might have failed a subject or they didn't feel confident about, you know, something in the exam. I think people are too afraid sometimes to put their hand up and ask questions in case they look dumb, when the hard reality is that they’re probably not the only one in the room with that question. But you know, I think getting into this degree is an achievement in itself. That’s not to say it won’t be hard work, but each semester passed is another step towards a larger goal.
There's also that whole thing about worrying what comes after the degree. I think that work-life balance is definitely a concern amongst graduates now, and with the revelations last year that some firms were grossly underpaying grads for their overtime, I’m not particularly surprised. There’s also a lot of concern brewing now that Covid-19 has affected so many people’s jobs, whether in the legal profession or otherwise. I’m fairly lucky to have not been affected too much by it (touch wood!), and the barristers I work for have been nothing but supportive. I think times post-Covid will be interesting, to say the least.
WHAT IS YOUR DEFINITION OF SUCCESS?
So I try to think of success as a moving target. It’s always important to recognise the successes that you have had in the past because if you're always looking ahead, you can sometimes feel a little down if things are going poorly. This happens because you're forgetting the amazing successes and great things that you've achieved previously. I always think that success is a goal, so once you reach that success, there should always be something else that you're striving for, and that's what I mean by like a moving target. It's always going to be something that's ahead of you and something that you're reaching for. Once you've reached that goal, then that success is something that you should then put in that achievement bank and be proud that that's something you've done. Because that's how a lot of people get caught up with feeling like they're failing or feeling like they're not a successful person anymore - they forget how many awesome things they've achieved.
In the past, I felt like I was behind some sort of imaginary timeline (sometimes I still do). I found myself comparing myself and my career path with people who I went to school with or went to uni with or whatever. I find that it's really important to not do that because you are on your own journey and I think it's important to remind yourself that that's always the case. The reason why I don't actually like comparing people is because at the moment things would be completely different if I hadn't done all those extra things in my life. I left school, and I went straight into a law degree, then realised I wasn't so sure about it. Left law and I did my BA. Then I came back to law six years later after graduating with my BA. I now have the benefit of hindsight of knowing that law is actually what I wanted to do all along. Those issues are all behind me but don’t fall into that identity/progress trap I fell into. I still think you should remember your achievements and that you should be proud of how far you’ve come.
IF YOU TRAVELLED BACK IN TIME TO FIRST YEAR COURTNEY, WHAT WOULD YOU TELL HER?
In all honesty, the advice I would give to first-year Courtney would be the same advice people would always give about uni and that would honestly be to go to your tutes! Obviously this is a little more difficult now that everything's online, and sometimes I still struggle with that myself, but honestly, go to your tutes because that's where they give you the format for how you should be answering your assignments and how you should be answering your exams.
Another piece of advice I would give is to start outlining early. Do it week by week, just so you know that by the time you hit SWOTVAC then you won't be scrambling trying to study for four subjects from day one.
Also, make sure that you make that you make friends at uni, either through classes or clubs and societies. Most of my closest friends are those I met during my experiences in clubs and socs during my BA at UQ. Your uni friends will define your uni experience, and they can help you in the same way that you can help them! This will be especially important in group assignments, haha! Make sure everyone's pulling their weight though. Group assignments suck, but you will have to do them. Just power through it. Also, don't be afraid to talk to your tutors for any advice you need about the units that you are studying. After all, they know what you need to get those good marks.
My last advice to first year Courtney would be to be kind to yourself! It's a huge learning curve and you'll make mistakes, but you will learn and grow. And that's ultimately what's important.
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.