Karina Rooney | University of Sunderland
June 13th, 2013
One of the perks of being a Sunderland Uni student
Hello!
One of the things I LOVE about being a student at Sunderland University are some of the “perks” that you get.
Today Sunderland uni managed to get a limited (but quite a lot!) amount of tickets to the Bon Jovi concert that is taking place at the Stadium of Light this evening and offered them staff and students FOR FREE……..FREE BON JOVI TICKETS PEOPLE!!!! Its one of the biggest gig’s that is going on Sunderland this year and we were able to get free tickets for it! WHAT A PERK!
I’ll be honest tickets for gig’s this big aren’t a regular occurrence but there are always tickets available for the theatre or for smaller gig’s either in Sunderland or Newcastle that are either free like today’s Bon Jovi tickets or are stupidly cheap/good deals! This may not be something that appeals to everyone but its something I LOVE about Sunderland uni :]
I’m just gutted I didn’t get any tickets for Bon Jovi (I’m too slow and just missed out!) :[
Anyway, I got really excited by this and thought it would be a nice thing to blog about and tell people about as I think its great! haha!
To those who got tickets for tonight enjoy! and to everyone else I hope you still have a fab night! :]
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June 9th, 2013
Update!
Helloooo!
It’s all been rather quiet since I came home for summer, I’ve really not been doing much mainly just relaxing and spending time with family and friends! I think its needed though cos as soon as im back in Sunderland and at uni in my final year its all going to be crazy again, so the time off is definitely welcomed!
I have however started doing some research and gathering some articles together that I think may be useful for my dissertation so I’ve not stopped working altogether ;] I enjoy Law too much to just stop altogether haha!
I’ve also decided whilst I’m home that I’m going to start going back to my old Karate club again to help me keep fit during the summer and also to have something to do :] I used to go before I came to university so it will be nice to go again although i am a little rusty ;]
I hope you are all enjoying your breaks! And hope those who attended the Open Day on Saturday had an amazing day! 
May 20th, 2013
What is an LL.B?
Hello!
So I’m studying for an LL.B Degree but WHAT IS an LL.B?
LL.B stands for Legum Baccalaureus which is Latin (if you hadn’t guessed!) meaning Bachelor of Laws. It is what the study of Law at an undergraduate level is called :] Undergraduate of course being your first degree :] If your wanting to study Law this is the route that most people take, during the LL.B at Sunderland you study the seven modules that give you a qualifying law degree. The 7 modules being: Criminal Law, Contract Law, Constitutional and Administrative Law, EU Law, Tort Law, Land Law and Equity and Trusts. These modules are studied over the full 3 years and alongside these you can chose other option modules to take, and Sunderland certainly have a large variety! Some universities will not have these modules as set core modules so you will have to remember to pick therm when choosing your options, and if you don’t then you don’t get a qualifying law degree! So why stress about it! Pick a university that has the 7 modules as core modules so any “optional” modules are what you are free to pick! :]
See the full list of option modules available at Sunderland University here: http://www.sunderland.ac.uk/ug/coursedetails/content/?cid=37 .
So what is involved in studying for the LL.B?
Its not a walk in the park, when studying law you have to put the effort in to reap the rewards, but trust me you really do reap the rewards when you do. The majority of your work will be spent looking through books,cases and various materials provided by lecturers. The legal data bases’s of Lexis, Westlaw and JustCite will become your best friends as these hold everything you will need when studying on the LL.B and if its not there you don’t need it! They save you HEAPS of time in finding cases and legislation and save you looking through books to find what you need, this doesn’t render books useless or unneeded as they can still provide you with valuable information that the databases don’t and give you the information in more context :] You also have the work the lecturers provide which helps to guide you in the right direction with your study, but a little deviation isn’t a bad thing (hey deviation lead me to my dissertation topic! :] )
Experience’s during the LL.B
During the LL.B at Sunderland there have been LOTS of different opportunities to get involved with and its down to you as the student to be pro-active in getting involved in them and in bettering yourself! The department organise events such as guest speakers which can range from solicitors/barristers giving lectures to other lecturers from various universities that will give subject specific research seminars. There are also career evenings put on during the year allowing students to network with various professionals that are within the desired route you may wish to take. Various competitions in mooting and debating are also held over the year and there are also options to participate in student led research seminars for those not wishing to become solicitors/barristers but are more inclined to become academics or other professions.
What about after the LL.B?
After the LL.B is dependant upon which career route you wish to take.
You may wish to continue onto the Legal Practitioners Course (LPC) which a qualification that if you wish to become a solicitor, it is something you will need to have! It can be studied part time or full time and lasts either a year or two years (depending on how you study!) and will give you the necessary qualifications and skills to move toward becoming a solicitor.
More information here:
Full Time http://www.sunderland.ac.uk/faculties/bl/course/1070/legal_practice_lpc
Part Time http://www.sunderland.ac.uk/faculties/bl/course/1092/legal_practice_lpc)
To become a Barrister you would need to enrol onto the Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC) which is offered at many universities and is much like the LPC, it will teach and train you in advocacy, legal drafting and all other essential skills required when becoming a Barrister. The course is for 1 year full time however some institutions may offer this part time (its best to just look around :] )
If however becoming a barrister or solicitor isn’t for you (I’ll be honest its not for me!) you may wish to move onto something else! You may want to continue Legal study further and study for a masters degree, Sunderland offers two Masters degrees (LLM’s) ,
Criminal Law and Procedure (http://www.sunderland.ac.uk/faculties/bl/course/671/llm_criminal_law_and_procedure ) and the other in Human Rights (http://www.sunderland.ac.uk/faculties/bl/course/925/llm_human_rights)
Or you may wish to go into teaching, at which point (depending on the age group you want to teach!) you may wish to enrol on the Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) (http://www.sunderland.ac.uk/course/162/pgce_primary_education_5_11_years) Which is a year long course for ages 5-11 OR the Post Compulsory Education and Training (PCET) (http://www.sunderland.ac.uk/course/575/pgce_post_compulsory_education_and_training_pcet) which is aged 11+ and is also a year long course!
So there is a whistle stop tour of what an LL.B is, what it entails, experiences whilst on the LL.B and what you can do after it! I know its a rather long post but hopefully you find it beneficial! If you have any questions feel free to comment here or to message me on my Facebook page! (https://www.facebook.com/sunderlandlawstudent) I’d be happy to help!
May 1st, 2013
A Recipe For A Student: Cottage Pie
Hey guys!
So one of the biggest questions asked by students is about what too cook at uni that is fun and cheap! Well every week my flat makes a flat meal and this week was my turn so I thought I would give you the recipe for Cottage Pie! Cheap and cheerful! It fed the 3 of us nicely but would easily stretch to 4 people and in total only costs around £3.50 for all the ingredients and that’s uber cheap for 3/4 people to eat on! but some ingredients I’m sure you will already have in the cupboard :]
Ingredients:
- Mince
- Potatoes/smash
- Veg
- Gravy granules
- Butter (only a little bit! Makes the mas task nicer!)
Method:
- Pre-heat the oven to between 150-200°c .
- If using potatoes then cut these up into quarters (or eighths) and put them in a pan of water to boil for around about 10-15 minutes before starting on step 2
- If mince is defrosted defrost in microwave but it is better if defrosted then Cook mince in a frying pan until all brown and no pink bits!
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- Add some boiling water and the gravy granules and stir in making sure there are no gravy lumps and leave to simmer whilst preparing the mash!
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- At this point if you are using smash then make up the smash how you normally would (whether that is by using the packet instructions or your own!)
If using potatoes then drain them of water and then mash up with a bit of butter (and salt if that’s how you like it! Yummy!) -
- Place the mince into an oven proof dish and top with the mash! You can add a little cheese here as well but my flat mate is lactose intolerant so no cheese for me :[
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- Leave in the oven for approx. 20 minutes to cook thoroughly through :]
- About 7 minutes before the cottage pie is due to come out the oven place the vegetables in boiling water and boil until the cottage pie is ready.
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- Take the cottage pie out of the oven, and drain the veg off.
- PLATE UP! YUM! You may want to do some extra gravy to pour over the pie and veg too :]
- ENJOY!!!
April 23rd, 2013
Sunderland University – Moot Court Room
Hello!
So I promised you all a video of the moot court room, it’s not the best but hopefully it gives you an idea of what the room is like and the facilities that are on offer at Sunderland university! The Moot Court room is used for many things, mooting and debating classes are held in the moot court allowing students to get a feel for the atmosphere that they would be in if presenting a court case in real life. Mooting competitions are also held in this room and recently held the internal Mooting and Debating competition, in which the final was held at the Supreme Court in London on Monday (22nd April) which was judged by Lord Hope of Craighead. It also held this years Criminal Litigation module oral exams, in which like mooting and debating students had to present a court case as either Prosecution, Defence or submit a Plea in Mitigation. Any who here’s the video which I took a few days before my criminal litigation exam hence the references to that in there, but I did that yesterday and think it went well :] I was prosecuting in a Bail application hearing, I lost the case (bail was granted and I was opposing bail, but the winning/loosing is not counted to your grade!) but it was still a good experience! :]
April 22nd, 2013
Busy Busy Busy
Hello everyone!!
Just a quick post to keep you all updated! Its a crazy time at university at the moment!
Today is the deadline for one of my assignments, Studies in Public Law (don’t worry I handed it in on Friday ;] ) so now im all finished with that module for the year! So fingers crossed on that assignment :]
I have also finished my last assignment for the Law of Evidence! So all of my assignments for second year are done and dusted! With Evidence just to be handed in now which is due next week! :]
Its quite strange having all the assignments for 2nd year completed, its all going so fast!!
Aside from all the assignments I’ve been revising for my up-and-coming exams also which start next week as well! So its all hands on deck for the last sprint of the term!
I have my criminal litigation exam tomorrow and that involves presenting case, we were given 3 scenarios a Prosecution case and a defence case (that were based on the same case facts!) and also a Plea in mitigation hearing which was based on another case with different case facts! Its been great practising for it and I’ve really enjoyed it and will enjoy dressing smart for the actual exam (we must look the part too) so hopefully tomorrow night I will get a chance to put the Video of the mock court room up for you all and get to chat a little bit about how the exam went on :]
Until then I must revise for my Tort, EU and Land Law exams which start next week! Bye!
