“I wanted to achieve my law degree to prove to myself that I was capable of doing it.”

“I wanted to achieve my law degree to prove to myself that I was capable of doing it.”

For the Love of the Law

“I don’t see why anyone should only have one dream or one passion,” says Faye Fitzjohn, a UK-based nail tech who is currently in her second year of law school, with one more year to go. Fitzjohn, the owner of Nails and Beauty by Faye in the town of Milton Keynes, is pursuing her degree through the Open University, which offers home-based learning. “I can access all the materials online,” she explains.

It takes both dedication and organization to carve out the 40 hours a week required for full-time studying on top of a full schedule at the salon. “Studying from home is no less serious and no easier than studying at a campus,” she says. “I still have the same deadlines to meet.”

Fitzjohn had always hoped to study law, but her life took a detour  when her parents separated and she found herself at college training in beauty therapy — a career she loves. “As I got older, my curiosity about studying law was still there. I wanted to achieve my law degree to prove to myself that I was capable of doing it.

“I really enjoy studying the cases that I have heard about on the news. The trials rarely get much coverage, so it’s interesting to find out how they were decided,” she says. “It’s also interesting learning about things that affect our day-to-day lives without our realizing it, such as contracts and duties of care.” Less enjoyable to Fitzjohn is deciphering case law. “It can be like reading another language,” she says.

“I often get asked if I intend to give up beauty when I graduate and become a barrister or solicitor. My answer is that I have no intention of giving up beauty. I’m studying law because I’m exploring my interests and I find it satisfying and fulfilling to challenge myself. There are no rules about how many career choices we can make, so for right now I’m doing what I love and seeing where life takes me next.”

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