A trip to Parliament and a thought on expectations.

A couple of days ago, I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to meet my local MP at the Houses of parliament. I would assume not many people get to casually bump into famous politicians, whilst having a drink and debating with their local MP on the exclusive Strangers terrace bar in the Houses of Parliament!

Dad offered me the opportunity to go along with him, via a charity event raising money for mental support for teenagers with depression. Of course I jumped at it, considering my interest in law and politics.

The building itself is awe inspiring. As a history student it was incredible to walk where so many men and women I have studied have been. I even got to see the closet were a sufrajet locked herself in overnight before the signing of the census!

I was struck by the humanity of the people working inside parliament and the community there seemed to be. Even across opposing parties.

A particular comment got me thinking whilst I was there. It concerned weighing up people's expectations alongside their well being. - many people EXPECT to be successful and are then disappointed when they realise that they may not turn out to be the CEO of a multi billion pound company. - challenging my long held belief that if you believe in yourself enough then you can do almost anything.

So what do I expect?

I know I have a fight ahead of me. I'm not an Oxbridge student, I don't have straight A* grades and I will probably get a 2:1 rather than a 1st. So my fight will be harder than many others.

However I do have the passion and the drive to do law. And I am beginning to build my experience ahead of many others who are in the same situation.

Therefore I expect getting a training contract is going to be difficult but achievable. I expect I will struggle to work my way up quickly and know that it will be a slow and most likely a difficult climb. I need to continue to expand my experience, network and knowledge base. All of which I feel is achievable.

However I also expect I will eventually be successful and be lucky enough to be involved in a career which, I will love and follow through with enthusiastic passion for the rest of my life and be able to make a difference in the world of law. I am sure that many would consider this (myself included sometimes) expecting too much.

Yet, is it better to expect too much or too little? An applicable quote which I think answers this is, 'Aim for the moon, then if you miss, you will land amongst the stars'. (Paula Radcliffe)