My Time in Lyon: second semester begins

With Christmas and new year-long behind us and the first weeks of 2020 passing very quickly, today we bring you the latest part of our Lyon blog.

At the time of writing this blog, I have been back in Lyon for 6 weeks. The last 6 weeks have passed by very quickly and I have done so much that I can tell you all about. When arriving back in Lyon I had the privilege of showing my partner round this beautiful city and showing her all the sites and things that Lyon has to offer. From a London eye like Ferris wheels to small quaint restaurants. Lyon really does have something for everybody.

During the first couple of week, I also took a very nice trip to St Etienne. For those haven’t heard of St Etienne it’s a lovely town to the South East of Lyon roughly 40 minutes away. Whilst there we were able to see the pride of the city including AS Saint-Etienne football club, as well a whole host of historic galleries and bouchons (small classic French restaurants).

Now moving to university, I have been back studying at Lyon 3 University for over a month now and have managed to settle back in well. A difficult aspect of returning to Lyon and something I have had to deal with whilst back is the change in students. Many, in fact almost all of my first semester friends are no longer here. This was a challenge however it taught me never to take friends for granted as well as showing me that you can make friends in any circumstance if you are willing to try and be open with others. A month later and once again I have made many new friends from across the world. All with amazing stories and pasts that I have taken a lot from. One thing I definitely have discovered on my year abroad is how to adapt to different problems, also learning how to work well with the new people around me and what they require from me to be successful. Friendships have been a massive part of my year abroad journey and during this period I have picked up some vital personal and friendship skills that otherwise I may not have ascertained.

Speaking from an academic point of view, I have once again started studying law subjects with some classes on the French language and culture thrown in for good measure. So far, I have enjoyed all the subjects that range from the Law of the Sea through to Trade law and Comparative legal traditions. All my modules have their own unique take on the law and have given me an insight into law from many different angles. This has allowed me to broaden my spectrum of thinking that is required when critiquing the law. I believe that these insights will be good to draw on in my final year and will allow me to assess the law that I read in the UK to a more comprehensive standard.

Over the next couple of weeks, I will be carrying out midterm assessments that will help determine how well I have been doing. The results of this will also help me to determine where I need to improve for the final assessments. Alongside this, I have several group projects in which I will present cases and ideas across a broad legal landscape.

To top of returning to Lyon I have recently received my first semester grades where I was able to ascertain 1^st level (equivalent) results. A set of results that I couldn’t be more proud of. I believe these results will give me the push I need to do well in my second semester assessments. As well as ultimately helping progress to achieve the grades I need to do well in my final year of studies.

That’s all form Lyon for this instalment of “My Time in Lyon” I hope to check in with you soon and I hope that the stories and advice that we lay out in our year abroad blogs can really help you if you are in a similar position or just intrigued as to how a year abroad works.

We have been the Almost Lawyers and we thank you for your time and support. Till next time Au revoir.