As part of our graduation ceremonies in November, we caught up with a number of our incredible award-winning students, reflecting some of Arden University’s high achievers.
One of those is Megan, who recently studied Law at an undergraduate level.
In recognition of the hard work she put into her studies, Megan also received the Arden Achiever (Undergraduate) award for the School of Law, as a result of securing the highest classification mark.
On a day of celebration, Megan took the time to speak to us about what she enjoyed about her time with Arden, combining working a part-time job with her studies, and how it felt to finally be graduating.
Hi Megan, congratulations on graduating! What have you studied with us?
I studied Law with Arden as an undergraduate.
For anyone not familiar with a law degree, what sort of stuff have you learned about?
So, you obviously learn the ins and out of various laws, and there’s a lot of stuff I had no idea even existed before.
At the end, you learn how the legal system works and how it applies to not only this country, but to other ones as well. Basically everything legal!
Why did you want to study law at university?
I did law at A-Level, and I was good at it. It really interested me as well and I just wanted to learn more about it.
I'm not sure yet if I want to qualify after my studies, but I do want to do something in the legal field. I'm still considering my options at the moment.
When you were looking to choose a university, what were the most important things for you?
I've tried the traditional university experience before, and it didn't work for me. So, I wanted somewhere that I could work part-time and study at the same time.
Also, reputation was important for me as well, and I’d heard so many good things about Arden.
So, you said that you've tried traditional university education before and that it wasn't for you. Why was that?
I personally struggle with my mental health. So being on a campus away from home was really difficult for me. I couldn't cope and there wasn't enough support.
But with Arden, when I had my first interview to apply, I told them I had mental health issues and I asked them if there would be support for me? They said there would be and that studying would be flexible as well.
You said you work part-time as well as study, what do you do and how did you find it?
I'm a nanny, so nothing to do with law.
Combining work and study was really easy. Arden is very flexible, so I could work whatever hours I wanted to work, and then study in the gaps in between or after. If I didn't feel like studying one day, I could make up for it the next. It was really flexible.
What were some of your highlights while studying with us?
I think my highlight of the whole thing was probably my dissertation – being able to choose specifically what I wanted to look into. Obviously, I liked all the modules, but I enjoyed being able to pick a specific interest.
I looked at the death penalty and whether it could be reintroduced into the English legal system. I compared it with America and it was really, really interesting.
I imagine there was a lot of deep diving into pretty gruesome American cases?
Yeah. But I also got the chance to see England's history and I looked into the history of it here. And it was just as gruesome.
How does it feel to be here today at your graduation?
It’s surreal. I've been preparing for graduation for a while because of COVID, but it's finally happened. Now, I can put faces to names as well, because I studied online.
Meeting all these people that I've only spoken to online as well was also really nice.
And you’re attending today as a prize winner which is a fantastic achievement. How did it feel when you found out you'd gotten the best mark?
I knew I did well, but when I found out I was like: “Oh my god, I did it”. I’m pretty proud of myself.
So you’re here with your family, how does that feel to be celebrating with them?
It's really nice to be able to celebrate what I've done.
Like, obviously, they celebrate everything I do. But they never went to university, so it’s a big deal to them and it was really nice to focus on my achievements.
Amazing. And what do you intend to do next?
I'm actually going to travel for a year, and then I'm considering whether to do a masters with Arden as well.
I definitely want to study more law, it's just whether I want to qualify or just be somewhere else in the legal field.
