Lessons Learnt from Job Shadowing

After finishing a week of job shadowing at a law firm, I had some new perspective on the working life.     Often while studying the thought crosses your mind that life will be so much better once you start working, in the absence of exams and with the added bonus of a salary.
I however learned that the glamorous idea of the working life is not always realistic:

• My biggest problem during this week was that I was constantly hungry. At res, I have my own fridge, within chair-sliding distance from my desk. However at work, I was tempted to start nibbling on my lunch from 10:00 already. I also did not have the luxury of a constant supply of tea. How I missed my tea times! 
• At university my plans of studying at 08:00 are often substituted for a longer snooze. When working, snoozing your alarm and simply arriving late is not really an option. 
• Time goes by V-E-R-Y slowly when working. 
• Specifically with respect to law, the profession is not nearly as glamorous as it is depicted. I spent quite some time in court and soon realised that the judge did not have a hammer which he slammed down and ordered silence with. No one bursted through the doors and screamed, " I object", even under cross examination, the lawyers did not get excited, most of the times I really struggled to hear what they were saying. I did not see one pencil skirt. Lawyers are not detectives. The oath to always tell the truth and nothing but the truth in court is really only a formality. The job of a judge is simply determining who is the best liar. 
• On a tour of the holding cells, I literally had chills the whole time. Pay your traffic fines, keep away from drugs and stay out of trouble, you really don't want to end up in there.
• When people say they leave the office at 17:00, they actually mean at 18:00. 

This week of job shadowing was an extremely valuable learning time for me and I am very grateful for this opportunity. But more than only seeing more of the corporate world, I came to the realisation that student life is not bad at all. Yes, res food, too little sleep, exams and pocket money are not always exciting but I learned that it is really important to enjoy and appreciate the season of your life you are in right now, not always waiting for the next to arrive.