What I did not Expect

An internship experience at Alex Chang & Co was my first; it was during the summer break between my first year and second year of law school. What I expected, obviously, was to apply my knowledge into the real world and gain more out of this period of time, however, what I didn’t expect was a strong bond of friendship between the fellow interns and co-workers throughout the weeks.

Bombarded by the ‘books’ of cases

On the first day at work, I was truly bombarded by the ‘books’ of cases we were expected to read, adding to the fact that I lack knowledge in this area of practice,  I was lost, confused and took the longest hours just to digest a case. I was told my Mr. Chang that this is the first step; if we do not understand the process as to how a judgment is decided; we will never be able to truly think like a lawyer! ‘Encouraged’ by this, I read the pile of cases for 2 days, and following that, we were assigned to tasks such as researching for supporting grounds,  developing arguments, to prepare suggestions based on the research and to attend Court.

Friendship I gained

Albeit all these works, what I valued the most out of this internship was the friendship I gained and all the valuable times we shared.  These amazing occasions varied from lunch time, teatime, in the office, out of the office, and even on car rides to Courts.  During these moments, we bonded and have definitely escalated our friendship.  At this point, I would like to extend my gratitude to Mr. Alex Chang and Miss Lim Soo Zee for giving us opportunities to learn and grow, to patiently assist us even when we did not do something right, and most importantly, to treat us alike members of the firm, instead of mere interns.

Even though my term of internship was short in comparison to others, I must say that this was one of the most rewarding internships I have experienced. I am sincerely grateful for all the help received and for all the life lessons I acquired in the 3 weeks that I am able to carry through as a lawyer and as a person.

Jenny Lee Jian Yee
University of Manchester