Busy mum took law into her own hands
ENeRgetIc Bethany Purvis left school at 16 with gcSes and worked her way up to being a personal assistant role in a city firm in London.
She quit at the age of 30 to focus on family life and became a stay-at-home mum to her children Abigail, now eight, and Joseph, ten.
However the 39-year-old, from elsenham, essex, realised that she also wanted to do something to challenge herself.
Bethany began studying for a Bachelor of Laws degree with the open University (oU) in 2012.
She says: ‘I had always had an interest in the law, but without any A-levels I didn’t think that I could pursue a career or study in this area.
‘then by chance I discovered the oU. I found there were no entry requirements meaning I could actually consider doing a law degree, with the added bonus that I could study from home, which worked with looking after the children.
‘I wasn’t sure I could do it at first so I tried an access course which gave me a taster of both distance learning and studying law.’
two years into her degree, Bethany’s children were both at school, so she volunteered at her local citizens Advice Bureau to gain work experience. ‘When my youngest child started primary school I began looking for a job as a paralegal and was offered positions with two different firms,’ she says.
‘Studying with the oU meant that I could work full time and fit my studies in around the rest of my life.’
Bethany achieved a 2:1 in 2017 and is now working at Woodfines Solicitors in cambridge. She has enrolled for a legal practice course with the intention of applying for training contracts to qualify as a solicitor.
‘What started as something to keep my brain occupied as a stay-at-home mum has given me the opportunity to embark on the career I always wish I had pursued,’ she says.
Bethany says that a degree on its own is not enough and anyone interested in joining the legal profession has to show commitment by gaining work experience through volunteer work or internships.
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