Ain’t no mountain high enough for JD students over semester break

Volume 9 Number 1 January 14 - February 11 2013

Melbourne Law School JD students are pushing the boundaries when it comes to “What I did during the holidays” stories. By Liz Banks-Anderson and David Scott.

 

Never those to remain idle, Juris Doctor (JD) students from Melbourne Law School are adding a new meaning to the term ‘taking a break’ by spending their time outside semester helping people in the community who need it most.

These students are extending their learning beyond the classroom, whether it be climbing Mount Kilimanjaro for a charitable cause or applying their legal knowledge in a practical setting by volunteering at Victorian community legal centres as part of a number of internship programs arranged through the Melbourne Law School Careers Office.

Melbourne JD students Bethany Rose and Liam O’Hanlon are both spending their summers as legal interns. 

Inspired by contributing towards equitable access to justice for all, Bethany Rose is taking an internship at Victoria Legal Aid. Having volunteered at South Port Community Legal Centre in the past and continuing to be part of the legal team at the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, studying law was the logical next step for Ms Rose to pursue after graduating with an Arts degree from La Trobe University.

“There certainly wasn’t any grand revelation about studying law. I guess my focus was always on international studies and international relations and I found that law seemed to be the next natural progression from that,” she says. 

Motivated by the law’s potential to facilitate major change in people’s lives, Bethany chose to study the Juris Doctor at Melbourne because of its international recognition.

“Ultimately, I chose law because I see it as a tool with which you can bring about change in a practical way,” she says.

Ms Rose believes one of the key benefits of completing an internship is that it reinforces what she has learnt studying the Juris Doctor and provides the opportunity to apply legal principles to a real-life situation. 

"Doing an internship is very different from writing an assignment. You have the facts about someone’s life in front of you and how it is you come up with a solution for that person at that point in time. I’ve only been there a short time but it’s been really interesting in that sense.”

The most valuable role of the internship at Legal Aid for Ms Rose has been realising the barriers faced by certain sections of society in accessing justice.

“I think that the law, no matter where you are, is very inaccessible. As a law student, I struggle on a daily basis to access and fully understand what the law is. So for people who don’t have legal training it can be incredibly difficult for them to understand the complexities of whatever legal question they have in front of them.”

This reinforces the importance of organisations like Legal Aid in ensuring that people who are most in need can receive legal assistance.

“Legal Aid is an incredibly important organisation. Throughout your law degree, no matter what subject you’re taking, you become aware that people who are socially and financially disadvantaged just cannot access the law. It’s important we recognise there are challenges in accessing justice,” she says.

For Liam O’Hanlon, a keen interest in criminal law has led him to take an internship this summer at the Commonwealth Department of Public Prosecutions’ Melbourne Office.

“It’s certainly been a good learning experience so far, both in terms of beginning to understand the complexities of how sentencing works, and also in just being able to talk to people who live and breathe criminal law,” he says.

Mr O’Hanlan is one of three students completing internships at the DPP arranged through the Melbourne Law School Careers Office. 

When it comes to trying new things and testing yourself in the real world once classes are over, they don’t come more adventurous than what Henry MacPhillamy pulled off at the end of November just as exams were wrapping up. The vision-impaired first-year student, motivated by the passing of his guide dog Billy, climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania to raise money for Guide Dogs NSW/ACT.

“It came out of left field actually. I wrote an entry on my blog in May when my guide dog Billy passed away, discussing the bond that exists between guide dogs and their owners. I expressed a desire to do something in Billy’s memory, and all of a sudden Guide Dogs NSW/ACT got in touch to ask if I wanted to join their expedition.

“It wasn’t until after I said yes that I did more research and realised…wow, that’s actually a pretty big mountain!”

Despite only having two months to prepare, Henry, a keen rower, threw himself into training, making daily trips to the University gym for weights, cardio and altitude preparation. 

“The Melbourne University Sport team were instrumental in making it happen. I think they took great pleasure in pushing me to my absolute limits ahead of the trip. My rowing training helped a bit in terms of mental preparation, but in terms of physical training it requires a completely different type of fitness.”

The five-day trek up the mountain’s face was well worth it, with donations still rolling in and pushing the total raised up past $30,000.

“It felt absolutely awesome to conquer it, really great,” Mr MacPhillamy says. “You have to get up at 11pm the night before you want to get to the summit so you can get to the top in the best conditions for sunrise, but even after eight hours of climbing in 15 degree weather, it was amazing to attain such a challenging goal.

“I didn’t really see it as something that was overly inspirational, but I’ve received so much support from everyone I know and a lot of people I don’t, both inside and outside the Law School community,” he says.

“It’s cool, but I’m the one that’s been privileged to get to know a lot of very bright people doing law here at Melbourne and doing cool things in their own right. So to have support from them is great.”

As for what he’s going to do on his next semester break? 

“Well I need a cold beer now! But I’ve decided to do something like this each and every year,” he says. “It gives me a break from study, keeps me fit and gives me another goal to achieve.”

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