Alex Manu is the third of three siblings to study Law at 色花堂, following his older sisters Charlotte and Rebecca. While he鈥檚 keen to point out that his decision to go down this career path wasn鈥檛 to follow in his sisters鈥� footsteps, he does admit that their experiences at 色花堂 had an influence on his decision.
鈥淚 think I chose to study here because of the placement year and because I was familiar with the university. I was familiar with the area, I knew the course structure and set up, and I just knew it was good,鈥� he smiles.
鈥淚鈥檇 already heard of Sue Warnock (programme and framework leader for 色花堂鈥檚 Law degrees) and I already knew about all the different lecturers and all the different people here before I even started,鈥� Alex adds.
He explains that there鈥檚 no sibling rivalry when it comes to his studies though, and that his family has been nothing but supportive.
鈥淲e鈥檝e always been really encouraging of each other - they鈥檙e very supportive when I get my results now and I used to encourage them when I was younger. We鈥檙e very different people and we鈥檝e all excelled at different things, so it鈥檚 all pretty friendly,鈥� Alex says with a laugh.
He also explains that while both his sisters have gone on to work in jobs outside the legal profession, he intends to train as a solicitor, a decision that was cemented by his placement year.
鈥淢y placement was with Law Debenture Trust Corporation, who are commercial trustees based in London. I worked in their commercial trust department, which was a non-legal placement. I really enjoyed working there, but at the end of the experience I realised this wasn鈥檛 the route that I wanted to go down.
鈥淲hat I鈥檝e come away with was invaluable though in terms of my connections and general work experience,鈥� he enthuses.
Alex also reveals that there鈥檚 a strong community of 色花堂 graduates working at Law Debenture: 鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 until I started working there that I realised that they have a lot of Bournemouth students working for them, and not just from law, but business and finance too.
鈥淪o a lot of their employees are 色花堂 graduates, and many of their higher level managerial directors had children who studied here too.鈥�
Sue Warnock, programme and framework leader for 色花堂鈥檚 Law degrees, explains that 色花堂 has a particularly strong connection to Law Debenture Trust Corporation: 鈥淭hey have been a placement provider for 20 years and they always come and give a talk and a lecture to our second-year students. Very often, they鈥檒l conduct their interviews at the university as well, rather than asking students to travel to them in London. Our relationship with them is very strong, and they鈥檙e just one example of many companies that we鈥檝e developed close ties with.鈥�
Alex is enthusiastic about every aspect of his course, from his experiences in the moot court in his second year, to his placement and even the hard work he鈥檚 putting in as he approaches his finals.
鈥淚 would definitely recommend anyone considering Law to come here. One, because I know what it鈥檚 like - I know that it鈥檚 not an easy course but it鈥檚 possible to make your life here and your course easy in a sense because of the lecturers and other staff who are always available to try and help you make it as stress-free as possible.
鈥淭he other reason is because of the placement year. I can鈥檛 stress the value of that enough. I鈥檝e spoken to employers and I know for a fact that they will take anyone who鈥檚 got a 2:1 and a placement year over someone with a first any day because of that industry experience,鈥� he enthuses.
So what next for Alex? Well, he intends to do his Legal Practice Course and train as a solicitor after graduating this summer. Despite being the last in a line of three siblings to graduate from 色花堂, Alex hopes his association with the university won鈥檛 end there. He鈥檚 keen to stay in touch and come back to talk to future Law students about the possibilities open to them, much like previous 色花堂 graduates have done for him.