I’m a 43 year old single parent about to sit my BPTC finals before starting pupillage in Jan. I’ve been knocked sideways by the pandemic which hit in the middle of exams in March and has left me without childcare or any sort of support until now. I briefly considered postponing exams until December (my son can go to school from September) but my pupillage is already 4 months delayed and I’m dying to get started.
I’ve managed to get my son a place in summer camp for 5 weeks so I can study. I haven’t opened the White Book or Blackstones since March as I had to return to work in April and May to support us, even though it meant working from home while full time parenting. It means a crash course in civil litigation and a much lower mark than I would otherwise have had, but I’m still hoping to pull off a pass.
I had also planned to take August off to spend time with my son before entering the crazy world of chambers but now we only get a week before he’s back in school. I’m already feeling guilty about him not getting a holiday but I think we will both have to get used to that! Every time I read legal twitter I wonder if I’m doing the right thing for both of us, but I’ve wanted to do this for years. Only one way to find out!
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