President’s Farewell

Bryce Robinson

Welcome to the fourth and final edition of Peppercorn! It is with a heavy heart that I write my final little spiel as President (although I’m not going to lie, the concept of sleeping for more than five hours a night or never having to hear the now traumatising ding of yet another LSS email does seem particularly tantalizing at this point).

Taking this opportunity to reflect, I couldn’t be more proud of my Committee for their incredible dedication and hard work this year. Among the many highlights of this year have been the breathtaking expansion and diversification of our careers portfolio, our sexy new publications, an enormous overhaul of our constitution and regulations, the reinstatement of the International Students Director (who has absolutely hit the ground running), the inaugural Law
Market Day, spunky new merch, a jam-packed Wellbeing in the Law Week, and much, MUCH more. All of this has been in addition to our various high-quality events, competitions, panels, educational resources, and advocacy, which have continued to go from strength to strength.

That being said, we must always look forward and strive for continual improvement. We’ve got a long way to go in making sure that we acknowledge, include and support all members of the ANU Law community, but I’m confident that the new Executive and Committee will be up to the task.

As I draw to the close of my term, I am going to make an absolutely shameless plug for the LSS and tell you a few reasons why, despite having a free pass to step away from the Society, I plan to do anything but.

First is the reality that, in the legal world, your character and your reputation are important. By engaging with people and with activities beyond your required courses, you are showing yourself to be someone who is connected, driven, and passionate, which is something that stands out to your peers and prospective employers alike. It also has the added benefit of allowing you to make meaningful connections with people in your cohorts, the faculty, law
firms, government and various other organisations, all of which may prove to be very fortuitous at some point in your journey.

Secondly, it is an opportunity to see what the legal world looks like ‘from the inside’. Students come to law for a great diversity of reasons, but so often their ideas of what law is can be very different from what it entails in practice. By engaging with the legal profession via our various careers, social justice, education, competitions, social and wellbeing programs, you will come to have a much broader and deeper understanding of what working in the law might look like, in
all of its diverse manifestations.

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, the LSS represents the very ‘human’ aspect of what can be a very challenging, and sometimes isolating, field of work and study. Sometimes, amidst the rigour and the pressures of studying law, it is easy to lose sight of what motivated us to pursue it in the first place. The activities of the LSS represent an opportunity to connect with each other, to find solace in the joint struggle, to keep our values in focus and to discover (or sometimes rediscover) our passions. I thank you all for engaging with the Society this year, and I can’t wait to see you all around next year.

Good luck for your exams, and have a marvellous Summer break!