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Finding a sustainable pathway through law school
Working and studying can be tricky to balance, but this student said that those studying law should avoid overworking themselves and work to prioritise their own social lives and mental health – even if it means completing a degree at a slower pace.
Lauren Croft
Georgia Fryer is a proud Dharawal woman and University of Sydney law student. Speaking on a recent episode of The Protégé Podcast, Ms Fryer discussed working two jobs in addition to studying a double degree and completing various legal cadetships and internships and reflected on her law school journey in her final year of university.
The scholarship means Ms Fryer won $5,000 to put towards her final year of law school, which she said will go towards her HECS debt, in part, as well as to help set herself up for entering the legal profession, where she hopes to practice criminal or family law.
“I’m in the family law team now. I’m planning on hopefully being able to do my practical legal training in criminal law. Those are kind of my two interests at the moment. So, I think, once I get the experience in criminal law, I’ll be able to have a better understanding of exactly what I want to do,” she said.
“I think, though, long term, I want to be working in the public sector. That’s definitely something that I find extremely rewarding about working at Legal Aid, being able to work really closely with individuals who are disadvantaged and don’t get the opportunities that some other people do in terms of getting legal advice, helping them get some justice for whatever it may be. So that’s definitely kind of where I want to end up; regardless of what area of law I will be in, I do want to stick within the public law. I feel like I can make a real change, and I can really help people.
“My first interest was in criminal law. I think, like most people, everyone’s loving all the crime podcasts and the movies, and that’s sort of what got me into law in the very first place. So being able to sort of, I guess, be involved in this sort of investigatory work a bit. But then I guess as I’ve kind of gone through my law degree, I’ve become more interested in working with individuals and working with communities that don’t have the same opportunities.”
Ms Fryer currently has two part-time jobs, in addition to studying a bachelor of laws and having recently completed a bachelor of arts (media and communications) – and said that in terms of balancing her responsibilities, it “definitely” took a while to reach a happy medium.
“I feel like I’ve worked out what I need to do for myself. During COVID, my mental health did take a bit of a hit, so I definitely at that point was like, ‘I need to figure something out so that I can do everything that I need to do, as well as also looking after my myself and my mental wellbeing’,” she added.
“[But I’ve] managed to stay on top of my assignments pretty well, get them done a couple days in advance sometimes, plus working as well. And I still had enough time, I think, to have a bit of a social life that helps me relax and unwind a bit. So, I wouldn’t say I’ve completely mastered it, I don’t think anyone ever can, because definitely, at times, there’ll be uni or work that takes over a bit too much, but I’m quite happy with how I’m sitting at the moment.”
In line with this, Ms Fryer’s parting advice to law students was to “find a pace that works for you and don’t overwork yourself”.
“I feel like there is this big expectation to get into uni, get it done quickly, and get out on the other side and have your whole life figured out as young as you can. I’ve definitely learnt, though, that that’s not always sustainable, and you should be focusing on your mental health, your wellbeing, and have a social life as well so that you don’t go completely insane. It is very easy to go down this rabbit hole, especially in a subject like law that is so content-heavy and book-focused, it can be really easy to go down a rabbit hole of just study, study, study, and that is not always sustainable,” she concluded.
“So, my advice would definitely be, forget about the stigma, find your own pace, something that you can work that would also help you prioritise your mental health and your wellbeing and your social life and your work as well, and just be confident in that, don’t feel like you need to be ashamed about it. Just stick to doing what you need to do for yourself.”
The transcript of this podcast episode was slightly edited for publishing purposes. To listen to the full conversation with Georgia Fryer, click below:
Lauren Croft
Lauren is a journalist at Lawyers Weekly and graduated with a Bachelor of Journalism from Macleay College. Prior to joining Lawyers Weekly, she worked as a trade journalist for media and travel industry publications and Travel Weekly. Originally born in England, Lauren enjoys trying new bars and restaurants, attending music festivals and travelling. She is also a keen snowboarder and pre-pandemic, spent a season living in a French ski resort.
