This interview has been taken by Dafny Monalisa Dcunha, Campus Leader at Lawctopus and a fifth-year learner at SDM Law College.
Tejaswi Shetty is pursuing law at SDM Law College as a 3rd-year law student. She is an avid mooter with several accolades to her credit. She has secured first place in the National level virtual Client Counseling competition conducted by GLS University, Faculty of law, Gujarat.
She has a keen interest in Legal research and has successfully completed Lawctopus Certificate Course on Legal Research and Writing with the highest grade. She has published a paper titled “Glorification of Harassment in Bollywood Movies: Can the Censor Board Undo It?” at “Academike”.
She is passionate about research and writing, poetry writing, and literature. She had been a Campus partner intern at Pride Circle and also at Lex Auxilium.
You studied in the science stream in grades 11 and 12. What prompted you to change streams and pursue law?
After my 10th, I was interested in pursuing science but I knew I wanted to work in a field that is closer to the social aspect. I chose science as I believed that I can, later on, pursue any field and if I wasn’t interested in the social sector by then, I’d just pursue engineering.
During this process at Pre University, I discovered the potential that law has in society and I was instantly connected. I remember that after my 12th results wherein I scored around 96% on boards and was waiting for my CET results, I was told by many to think about the decision to take law.
However, I was sure that law has great potential as a career and it was in my best interest, though I was not aware of the process of joining law school or different areas as I was a first-generation lawyer.
You have completed Lawctopus Law School’s certificate course on Legal Research and Writing, having scored the highest. Could you please share your experience? How has the course helped you in your research endeavors?
I decided to take up a research course because I knew that in the area of law, research is substantially important. We were between the pandemic and due to a lack of exposure, I wasn’t getting many resources to pursue research writing. I looked up many courses and the course provided by Lawctopus seemed more promising.
The course was a two-month program taught by Vershika ma’am. We were told to write a research paper by the end of two months and the whole process was beautifully divided wherein we submitted bits and bits of every aspect of the research paper and we were evaluated on it.
It felt incredible to receive the highest grade for the paper I wrote and it was positive to get the help of mentors who were patient and knowledgeable. The materials shared in this course assisted me to understand the nuances of research writing. Overall it was a great experience.
Could you please share your experience as a Campus Intern at Pride Circle?
Pride circle is a remarkable organization and it was a great experience to work with the team. I was allocated to be a part of the LGBT+ and commerce team. We were a group of 7 students, some from law schools. Our project was to build a template that would assist the LGBT+ community to develop a startup business. It involved researching various capital ventures, funding available in India, and the legal framework for registration of start-up businesses.
You have published a paper titled ‘Glorification of harassment in Bollywood Movies: Can the Censor Board undo it ’ in Academic. Could you please enlighten us more about this?
This was an exciting journey for two months. It was my first research paper and it was a part of the learning process developed in Lawctopus’s research writing course.
I chose this topic as it was very evident that I found watching Indian cinema and pondered why the idea of harassment is glorified in the shield of heroism.
The audience’s view on this particular issue seemed to be veiled by the colorful silhouette of normalizing stalking.
You also share a huge passion for poetry writing and literature. How is your creative process and how does it help you to deal with the stress that comes with being a law student?
Literature and poetry in particular have been a sense of calm between all the chaos. The art of writing is only developed through practice. And when such practice is incorporated with passion, it turns into something beautiful.
Creative writing has helped me to grasp legal vocabulary effectively. It’s true that being a law student is difficult but it’s important to find something that you are passionate about and make use of it as an act of relief.
Do you think there is a need for changes in the teaching methods or the curriculum for law students and what can be the changes to ensure holistic and better learning?
Absolutely. There is a great need to teach the basics of law. We as students learn the general aspects in class but when we step into the real world for an internship, these concepts are rarely used. I believe that it’s always in the basics.
Law schools must make sure to adopt a mode of examinations that tests the knowledge and skills of students and not mere memorization of some answers. It’s important to develop skills that are not properly taught in law schools.
However, as a student, we must make sure to develop these skills even if they are not provided in law school.
What is your advice for aspiring law students and freshers?
It’s hard to know where to begin. But one must start somewhere. It doesn’t matter what point you are at, just start somewhere and let the slope of your graph increase linearly. Research, write and participate. Involve yourself to every aspect of law and enjoy the process.
I believe that one cannot do the work efficiently if there’s no passion for the subject. The graph may look linear but if we magnify it, there will be a lot of variations, however, never give up. That’s how the graph will ultimately appear to be linear.
This Interview is a part of our Star Student/Faculty interview series wherein our campus leaders interview the star student/faculty of their college. Stay tuned for more!
Source: Lawctopus
