Champion law students make...Nal-soar!
Sanya is ready to take off to study at the Magdalen College in the University of Oxford
By : sanchita dash
Update: 2015-08-18 23:34 GMT
The 13th annual convocation programme of Nalsar was an event full of smiles and laughter from students. There was also the trademark relief and a feeling of achievement because a select few, can be described as “super achievers”. Here are the honourable mentions:
When Sanya Samtani (pictured left) in her first year of college heard about a senior getting the Rhodes scholarship, she was intrigued. She soon got in touch with her seniors who guided her on how she too could apply for the prestigious scholarship. From putting together transcripts to writing down a statement of purpose that not just spoke about her interests but also about her achievements, after quite a lot of effort, Sanya, who won seven gold medals at the convocation, is now a Rhodes Scholar ready to take off to study BCL at the Magdalen College in the University of Oxford.
Talking about her interests, Sanya says, “I had to write about the subjects I’m interested in. I wrote about constitutional theory, political philosophy, public international law etc. I’m also interested in the third world approaches to international law, that is, how law is created from the perspective of a developing country.” But for Sanya, the goal is to pursue a career in academia. “I want to work for a while and then teach. As a part of our course, we could take up a teaching assistantship position in our fifth year. That helped me realise my love for teaching.”
Sanya along with her team had won the best overall applicant at the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court competition and Sanya was awarded the 16th best speaker at the world rounds held in Washington DC.
Hailing from Rishikesh, Uttarakhand, Anjali Rawat with a rank 95 in CLAT had a slightly difficult time adjusting at Nalsar. Now, she has graduated from the college as the topper with 10 gold medals. “It was my first exposure to diversity. But my seniors helped me a lot,” she says.
With a hectic schedule, where sometimes classes would go on till 10.30 in the night, Anjali would still find time for her regular studies. “I would study for 4-5 hours. I came from a science background and was introduced to a lot of arts subjects, I was used to handwritten projects and here we had to type everything on a laptop.”
While most parents are known to be asking their children to study more, Anjali’s case was quite different. “My parents would ask me to let go a little bit. They were even worried that I’m not spending enough,” Anjali says with a laugh.
Anjali is currently working in Hyderabad at ICICI bank. But one day, she hopes to be a lawyer for the causes she believes in. “Tribal rights is something I have closely worked with and I was also actively involved in gender studies.”
When you ask Rupali Francesca Samuel, who won 9 gold medals at the convocation, about how much effort she had to put in throughout the course, she finds it a difficult question. “It’s more about how invested you are and if you are keeping up with your daily reading or not etc. One has to dedicate many hours trying to keep up with case laws, articles and trying to build an analytical approach. Once you get the hang of it, it’s not really difficult,” says Rupali.
At their convocation, the students were asked to not just take up the corporate life. Rupali, who’s presently working with the Delhi High Court and looks forward to working in a London-based law firm next year, says, “It’s definitely more exciting to be in the courts. But working at a law firm doesn’t mean you can’t do litigation. Also, with the current emphasis on financial growth, you cannot dismiss transactional work. Who is going to design and execute these transactions? Keeping in mind the high college tuition fees, high paying jobs at law firms are the obvious choice for many.”
The first lawyer in her family, Rupali’s parents are excited of course, but ask her if they expected the gold medals, she says, “At Nalsar, you are in a class that is full of toppers. But yes, they were pretty excited for me.”
A family in law and order
It was a proud moment for R.P. Thakur, Additional DG of Police Law and Order Andhra Pradesh, and his wife Amita as their daughter Aditi passed out with flying colours. Thakur said, “Even before completing her law degree, she got an offer from Amarchand, a top legal firm in Mumbai, a year ago. We are very proud of Aditi.”
Additional DG of Police Law and Order R.P. Thakur with daughter Aditi and wife Amita.