Ness' guide to team work with Ness.

After the last group work thing we did for law, we were asked to do a bit of research about team work, then to reflect upon the processes our team went through and what we learned. Here is a summary of the things that I will strictly adhere to in the future.

1) Where possible, form groups with people you already know and have contact details of. That way, if you have to you can harass them via facebook, email, phone and in person.

2) Once the group is formed and no one else wants to step up, assert some leadership. Talk about what the task is, what needs to be done, when it needs to be done by and who needs to do which part. The reason for setting a schedule is so that we can review the work done together as a group so it'll be easier to pinpoint what works and what doesn't.

3) Make sure that everyone knows exactly what they're supposed to do. In order for this to work, all team members must be present at each meeting. If you can't make it to a meeting you need a reasonable and acceptable excuse like your grandma died and you're going to the funeral or you've contracted a debilitating illness.

If your excuse is, "oh, I'm so hung over" or "I can't bother to come into uni on days when it's convenient for everyone else" my standard response from now on will be FUCK OFF. If you can't be bothered to study hard and only just want to pass, I will kick you out of the group.

4) If you haven't done your allocated task by the set schedule, then my response will also be FUCK OFF.

5) If I've told you to send something before 2am I mean it motherfucker.

6) Although I've asserted leadership, I will not tolerate doing all the work. I've allocated tasks for a reason, and I expect you to comply.

7) Compliance with all my rules will lead to handing the assignment on time. Furthermore if everyone in the group is smart and has done their parts to a good standard then we will get a fantastic mark.

This is why lawyers can't have nice things.

Sure lawyers might make a lot of money, but we all know money can't buy happiness. And while crying in a Ferrari might seem fun, it probably isn't.

Lawyers have the highest rates of depression amongst professionals, according to Beyond Blue survey.

Thinking about it now it does make sense. Mathmaticians have the best job satisfaction, outranking lawyers according to JobsRated.

Personally, I think it's because mathematicians can solve problems that have right and wrong answers. Lawyers don't. Maybe that's simplifying it, but I feel like I want to help people by fixing problems, but as a lawyer I'm not really fixing anything.

Oh well, back to more law readings.

tired mumblings

Recently I've been struggling with balancing my work load at university with my personal life, work and everyday tasks. I've often bemoaned about how everthing is so much harder than in high school and I'm frequently worried about my role in the future as a functioning member of society.

It is hard. The work is hard. There is never a right or wrong answer in law, and there is only an occasional yes or no in psychology based on what we've proven or disproven. Statistics is a bunch of maybes and 95% sure's.

It's only going to get harder. A lawyer or a psychologist, someone who fixes other problems. There's no textbook with the answers in the back, and you have to use your own reasoning to help as best as you can. You have to force yourself to think.

It's so easy not to think. It's so easy to be pulled along by the next high or low that strikes you. Love, drugs, trying to earn money, having fun and vegging out are all really easy to do. And if the tasks are enjoyable you want to do them more. It's human nature.

But tertiary students who are challenged and required to think and process large amounts of information, try and fit it into how their own logic works, and try and apply that to the world around them have a responsibility to use their intelligence.

We're the next generation. We have almost everything at our fingertips: information, basic needs, luxuries and many things that money can't buy. But we can and we have to make things better, for not just ourselves, but for the people we care about, for the people they care about , for the people who need our help. Because we're all human and I believe that all humans have a chance to develop and become a much better, kinder species if only the people we're educating use their brains and decide that being open, tolerant, well informed, fair and balanced is what's right.

Basically, I'm so tired right now. I'm not trying my best to do my best and sometimes I fall back and do things that are really easy because I don't have to think. But I know that's wrong and something has to change. I don't want to be the person who half asses their way through their education and becomes the not fully competent professional because I won't be any good to anyone. I don't want any student to half ass it through their education either because that stunts human growth.

I understand that development doesn't hinge entirely on academic success, and that students should be actively involved in what they have a strong interest and passion for, whether that be the performing arts, the environment, history, recreational sports and the like. But there needs to be a balance. The more knowledge we have, the more empowered students are. I believe this. We might be idealistic youths but I really believe that our generation will be the generation that changes the world for the better.