King's College London

Nominated by her peers, LLM student Sneha Shrestha has been recognised for her positive impact in her multi-faceted position as LLM representative Transnational Pathway Secretary, Ethics Officer, Women's Committee Officer and an NUS Delegate in national students' conferences. We spoke to Sneha about her contribution.

 

Tell us about your representative role, what did it involve?

“As an LLM Representative, I participated in postgraduate committee meetings with the board of Directors and staff members. I represented students’ voice, contributed ideas to enhance students' experience and assisted with problem-solving within and beyond the meetings.

In particular, I highlighted issues regarding assessment feedback, library support and other common and reoccurring students' concerns throughout the year in all the PGT meetings… I was often the only student representative present, which was highly appreciated… as I offered an honest insight into students' experience. At the same time, I got to witness staff discussion and contribute to problem-solving exercises.

As a LLM representative I was also invited to participate in discussion forums, contributing ideas for the betterment of students. I also took the responsibility of chasing up student issues that I was aware of and those that students would inform me about.

I thoroughly enjoyed my position representing students and advocating for the student body. This has equipped me well for my future career… and moreover, allowed me to enhance my communication skills and commitment to fairness. This award is really valuable to me as it recognised my effort and dedication.”

 

Could you tell me about your journey to King’s and your experience studying law here?

“I had always wanted to study at King's College London, long before the time to choose universities. I worked extremely hard at the University of Essex to attain a first-class undergraduate degree and finally came to King's College for my LLM.

I learnt a great degree regarding human rights during my LLB and took a gap year to intern in a human rights NGO in Nepal. In April 2015, I experienced the most devastating time in my life during the earthquake in Nepal. I decided to extend my stay in Nepal and volunteer in numerous post-earthquake relief projects. This tested my strength, compassion and commitment towards helping those who are less fortunate. This experience played a part towards my LLM at King's as I managed to make and maintain valuable contacts that readily supported me in completing my dissertation, for which I went back to Nepal to conduct an empirical research. 

Studying LLM at King's has been a great experience and I really explored all that King's had to offer including the fantastic location which allowed me to attend insightful events at UCL, SOAS and IALS and various career events in Chambers and the Honourable Inns. Being taught by distinguished academics and inspirational barristers was the highlight of this year! I thoroughly enjoyed the Transnational Pathway that I chose as it exposed me to diverse issues and really broadened my horizons. Moreover, I was fortunate enough to publish an article in the TLI Think! series and recently funded by the Dickson Poon School of Law to present this paper at the Human Rights Research Students' Conference, at the University of Glasgow.

I am truly thankful for the opportunities and support I received from King's and the knowledge I have gained that will undoubtedly shape my future.”

 

What are your future aspirations in law?

“I aim to gain legal work experience and to work on academic articles this year. I will also be continuing work on voluntary projects in Nepal and will start my Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC) in 2018.

The area of law in which I intend to practice is a mixture of environmental, international human rights and public/private international law.  Furthermore, having studied a broad range of modules for my LLM (EU Environmental Law, Transnational Human Rights Litigation, Technological Risk and Governance, Corporate Actors and Sustainable Governance, Transnational Law: Actors, Norms and Processes), I aim to explore the emerging field of transnational law in my practice."