Extracurricular Activities
An LLM student can engage in a wide range of activities at LSE. The centre of social life here is the Students’ Union comprising more than 200 societies. They include national and cultural groups, special interest societies uniting those who enjoy things ranging from hitch-hiking and yoga to wine and chocolate, or academic ones dedicated to competition law, venture capital and many more.
In order to join a society, you need to pay a symbolic fee which usually amounts to 1.5-3 pounds. Once you are a member, you get regular updates regarding society’s upcoming events via email. Each society has a committee that gets re-elected annually, so if you join early enough in the term, you can apply for a position within it.
Law society is probably the most popular one among LLM students. It not only organises festive (and not-so-festive) socials throughout the academic year, but also a wide range of career events such as application workshops, breakfasts with law firm representatives and other recruiting events. This term I attended law society’s flagship event called Know the City Legal Forum which took place at Allen Overy’s office. The event consisted of panels and Q&A sessions delivered by lawyers who work in the city to demystify the term 'commercial awareness'. I found it very useful because it provided an insight into the different practise areas and sectors as well as the state of the market and pro-bono opportunities offered at magic circle law firms. That particular event, like many others organised by the law society, also gave students a chance for informal networking with legal professionals.
The other group that I’ve joined is LSE Pro Bono Matters. It’s a postgraduate group that volunteers to work for social justice, protection of human rights and furthering public interest causes. This student organisation is coordinated by the law department. As its members, our main role is to assist internal and external organisations and practitioners on human rights cases and international strategic litigation as well as doing research and writing reports for non-profit organisations. I’m very excited to be part of it and we’re currently doing research for a project on reunification of child refugees with their families in the EU.
Finally, I’d like to briefly tell you about Students’ Union facilities. Apart from a couple of stores, in one of which I saw this beaver toy (which happens to be LSE’s mascot), there is the main building which comprises several cafes, study spaces, a faith centre where you can go to pray and a gym.
I personally prefer the 6th floor cafe of the Students’ Union building to the LSE library. Although it’s much smaller and it gets pretty loud there at times, the cafe is very cosy and I find it easier to concentrate when I study there. Plus, if you get hungry, you can eat right there without having to think about where to leave your stuff while you exit the library in search of food. But it’s clearly a matter of choice - some of my classmates find it harder to study anywhere but the library or their room.
As I’ve mentioned above, there is also the gym. Although I admit that having purchased a membership I hardly went there because of the amount of studying I had to do for my modules, it’s always very refreshing to engage in physical activity after a long day of lectures and seminars.
