After passing the New York Bar Exam and all over prerequisite exams, the next step was to apply for admission to the New York State Bar. For this I had to complete a very through application process which included providing references from all law school and universities attended, a ten year history of all legal work whether paid or unpaid, two character references, verification of 50 hours of pro bono work, any debts, convictions, mental health information and a list of other things.
I started off by contacting the university I attended for my undergraduate law degree. It was a complete nightmare trying to get them to send the correct information off to the NY State Bar. The admin team sent off the incorrect information twice which caused delays and was quite frustrating!
I then went to Nottingham Law School, where I started my postgraduate studies. I actually took this picture (above) in July 2017 when I entered inside the law school. At that time 7 years before, I walked out of that place feeling ashamed because I had to discontinue my studies due to extenuating circumstances. I had been kicked out of my home and was a homeless young lady living in a hostel. I could not continue with my Postgraduate Diploma in Legal Practice (LPC) because of the financial hardship I was experiencing.
After graduating from university, I opted to do the LPC part time. This was back in 2008 when we were in a recession and training contracts where difficult to secure. I could not get a professional graduate loan from the bank to cover my law school fees due to having a very bad credit score. Therefore, I had no other choice but to fund the course myself by working full-time and studying part-time. When I became homeless, I had to leave the role as a housing adviser due to potential conflict of interest - advising people who may be placed in the same hostel as I was staying at.
I then got a full-time job as at a call centre but when you are living in a hostel and you work, 60% of your income goes towards the cost of staying in the hostel. After a few weeks of paying 60% of my wages to the hostel, my support worker advised me that it was not worth working full time and that it would be better for me to claim benefits. At least that way, the government would be paying for the hostel and I only need to contribute £28 every fortnight. I was then left with around £35 to live off.
Relying on welfare benefits meant that I could not save any money to contribute towards my law school fees. I had applied for bursaries, scholarships and hardship funds and managed to raise only £300. This was nowhere near the £2,500 needed to complete the final semester. I had managed to pay for the first one before losing work and becoming homeless. I was told I could not sit the end of year exams with fees outstanding. As I knew I could not clear the outstanding balance, I had to withdraw from the course. This was after spending 7 months on the course.
Before I went to visit the law school, I actually emailed two lectures who I always remembered. I was so happy when they replied to my emails. I reached out to them to let them know how I was doing. One of them said she always wondered what has happened to me so she was relieved to know I was doing well. When I had to discontinue my studies, they were very supportive. They went above and beyond for me and even donated some of their spare furniture and a computer to me, once I had settled into the apartment I was given after 7 months of living in the hostel.
It was a bitter-sweet moment, returning 7 years later to drop off a form for the law school to complete and send off to the admissions office in New York as part of my application to be admitted as an Attorney and Counselor-At-Law in the state of New York. I couldn't help but smile as I walked along the corridors because I could see just how faithful God is and that when we believe and do not give up, we will make it in the end.
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