An Interviewwith NatashaTheunissa n

Highlights from our Interview with Kramer’s very own @nattymushhi

An invigorating conversation on dealing with the stress of law school, travelling to Chile and insights into the legal system there

Natty is a final year law student who can be described as incredibly funny and a positive presence on campus. For many students, University life is not meant to revolve around academic pursuits to the exclusion of all others, but rather it is a place to grow and explore different people, perspectives and activities

However, Kramer is notorious for its intense competition and sheer volume of work that can easily bring any student to experience heightened anxiety and stress. In this interview Natasha shares her experience at Kramer and her journey in putting her wellness first, solo travelling to Chile and insights to the Chilean legal system

This is truly a story about being decisive and autonomy.

Interviewed by Vinayak Panday.

Vinayak: Just broadly, how have you found studying law at UCT?

Natasha:

Really tough. In my first year I was just doing law, but starting in second year I had to get a job and then last year, I was working almost full time. It was really, really rough to do both of them.

Law is really competitive, which is like difficult to manage. I've enjoyed it in terms of like the content, but the experience itself has been a lot rougher than I thought it would be.

V:

So why? Why did you choose to go to South America?

N:

So I am half Chilean, so my mom is from Chile. So my entire mum ' s family lives in South America. So I went there to go and stay with my aunt who is a psychologist, so that she could help me with the mental health journey as well. Because I was going through really rough stuff and the people around me , nor did I myself, know how to deal with it effectively. So I went to stay with my aunt, who obviously has the knowledge but also is like able to take care of me as well as take me around Chile.

V:

What was your highlight of the trip?

N:

OK, so I actually made a list of places to go, food to eat and activities to do in Chile before I went there. So like took all of like the tourist attractions and like extras of places to go to and I did my best to go to.

In Santiago, which is a capital, I went to almost every suburb and like everything that there was to see, I saw it. And then we also went to the beach, which is about an hour and a half, two hours away.

That was our little excursion outside the capital. My Favourite place is the Bahai temple. Which is an Iranian religion and they have temples on all the continents and the South America one happens to be in Chile in the capital city Santiago. It was very peaceful, quiet and serene to walk in the gardens and experience the architecture. It was calming and a wonderful place to be.

V:

Did you visit any Courts whilst you were there and do you have anything to share about the legal system there?

V:

Yes I did and that was really interesting experience because it is closed to the public. So you are not able to go into the courtrooms. The legal system is different because they have Spanish law and also French law influences.What seemed peculiar to me was the Chilean law of succession. There seemed to have no freedom of testation in the sense that you can write a will but it will only be valid and binding if your family accepts the will Despite that, I did notice that the law of contract is very much similar to South African law of contract.

V:

Are there any insights that youwould like to share to a student that would wish to to go on a journey, you know, take a few months off and just travel? Or that is unsure about whether or not to take that leap?

N:

I think it's definitely a good idea to do If you think you can handle it. Because in my case, I had to defer my exams. So if you ' re taking the leap during the term, then I'd say it has to be something that you ' ve thought out. But I think it's a really good idea get to know other cultures and expand your knowledge a little bit. To learn about how they practice law in different places, what you would need if you want to go there to work as well. Because there's some countries where it's really easy to practice law and others where it's a little bit more difficult And then honestly just do what's best for you For me it was really important to do this and it has completely helped me and I don't think I'd be in the same position today if I hadn't done it. So at the end of the day, it just comes to whatever is best for the person.

V:

And as a young person travelling, were there any responsibilities or skills that you developed along the way?

N:

So I travelled by myself on the planes. I actually missed the flight because I fell asleep. So that was absolutely horrible. I ended up in an airport with no Wi-Fi and I had missed my flight .So time management is a key skill to develop!

In terms of being in Chile by myself, I actually downloaded an app called ‘Bumble’ and it's got a friend function where you can like make friends And I made a really good friend through that app. So I didn't have to be alone. So that's a really good idea to like get on an app like that and make friends and then you can obviously explore. A lot of the time you get to make friends with local people, so the friend I made showed me places that like you don't hear about on the tourist sites. So that's a really good idea. And then I had to learn to be really independent and like figure out how to use the train, how to walk places. It's an experience and it's a really good one.

V:

Do you have any advice you’d like to share for a student battling with mental health?

N:

In my case it was like the combination of doing law and trying to work at the same time, so I ended up having to quit my job, which is quite a big step when you live on your own obviously. Law because of how it's like structured in the sense that like you can do your best and you still get like really bad marks. It's lonely and luckily now we ' re going back to in person so we ' re able to like connect with people but I think it's really easy to get sucked into thinking that you ' re not good enough because your marks aren't good enough, or into believing that you have to be competitive or that everyone ' s out to get to you. I think it's definitely important to put yourself first, use the resources that are available to you. Use the Universities resources, especially student wellness services

I think a lot of people are struggling even if they don't show it. So like a lot of people are going through the same thing and just learning that it doesn't end with law. Like there is life beyond it and it doesn't have to make you feel like your worth isn't defined by the marks you get or the firm you go to. Like at the end of the day, doing your best is good enough.