Why I chose not to work in the legal industry in the UK
So for those of you who don't know, I have a law degree (said every law graduate ever and me every time I do something remotely intelligent). I would also class myself as being a very ambitious and strong willed individual...although if anyone were to look at my resume, they may think the opposite. Mostly because I have yet to really integrate myself into the legal community. Instead of working as a barrister's assistant, I worked as a barista in a coffee chain during uni. And then rather than work as a paralegal or complete an unpaid internship at a firm in Leeds, I decided to branch out and work in a bar.
There were a few factors that ultimately determined my decision, the first being is that as a twenty-two year old, I wanted more than six weeks holidays a year and I wanted more time in the day to enjoy being a young adult. As much as I loved working in law firm for an internship, it's a very demanding job and its going to be what I do for the majority of my life. So my thought process was, why don't I just enjoy my life like I'm retired, I'll do what I want, I'll read my books, learn another language, cook my favourite meals, lay out in the sun in the park and travel the world.
"You only have the flexibility (and patience) to experience crappy-minimum wage jobs for a short period of your life...but in doing them, you become a much more grounded, empathetic and appreciative person"
The second reason, is that honestly, I have my entire life to work in an office, I would be missing out on so many fun experiences if I had gone straight from uni into my industry. What if I want to go work at DisneyWorld and be a character performer? What if I went and worked on a cruise ship doing literally anything? Am I really okay with never working at a cake decorating shop or a florist and understanding how they make things so beautiful? My degree has set me up to be far more capable than just a solicitor.
So what have I actually be doing for money for the last eight months? Well I was hired as a waitress at Dirty Martini Leeds and was actually part of the Grand Opening team, which if you ever get an opportunity to do, its so much fun. I got to try EVERY single cocktail and all of the food on the menu (and get paid to do it). I was even trained how to make all of the cocktails even if I didn't need to make any on shift.
I have really loved working in at Dirty Martini during my time in the UK, not only has the staff discount led me to be a borderline alcoholic but the incredible staff and managers have really made my time in Leeds so much fun. Also to top it off, I was very lucky to receive the inaugural Employee of the Month in my last week of work winning a beautiful Copper VonShelf Cocktail Shaker Set, which sadly I won't be able to play with until I get back to Australia because we leave in a week!
I just wanted to thank all of the beautiful people who I was able to work with in the last year, if any of you are reading...I think you are all fantastic. Anyway, thats all for this week, thanks for supporting us!
With love R xo