Plato and principles of business law combine to give student career inspiration

Bachelor of Arts student Louka Ewington-Pitsos says enrolling in a Breadth subject at Melbourne Law School has helped him decide what he wants to do next.

With an eye on getting a job post-graduation, it was with this in mind that the second-year undergraduate student decided he would enrol in the Breadth law stream after a friend told him about the Taxation Law Breadth track.

"I had a great time in First Principles of Business Law, so I decided to keep at it."

Louka says it is a combination of the teachers, the content, and the marking system compared to arts subjects that he enjoys the most about Breadth law.

He says it is also a welcome boost to his grade point average provided he puts in the hard work.

"The tutors are excellent. Almost all of them are practising professionals and they all seem to have a very impressive knowledge of the subject matter," he says.

"The content is very tangible. If you are asked a question, there is either a well-defined answer or else clear guidelines to rely on in answering it. This might strike some people as a bit dry but I find it makes a nice break from all the tough abstract theorising you do in arts subjects, and it always feel nice to leave your tutorials feeling like you've really learned something concrete."

The 20-year-old says studying law has helped him develop a methodical approach to problem solving in other subjects, and has been useful in structuring his revision materials for all of his second-year classes.

Although he is still unsure of what he wants to do following completion of his undergraduate degree - whether that is to find a job, an internship, or undertake further study – he says that his experience in the Breadth program will have some influence on his decision.

"Studying law is…more restrictive and there's more memorising involved but you really get the feeling that you're going somewhere productive, which, for me at least, is a really big thing," Louka says.

"I'm not sure I want to do the Juris Doctor yet…Whilst law really does seem like a lot of fun, I want to be sure I want to be a lawyer before I take that plunge."

And Louka's advice for any student that, like him, was unsure what career options existed beyond an arts degree?

"I would definitely recommend law subjects to anyone who's still not really sure where they're headed, especially First Principle of Business Law," he says.

"I had a lot of fun in that subject and learned a lot about what law really is."

Read here for more information on the Breadth law stream.By Andy Walsh