As mentioned before, I’ve heard of rumours swirling around in Amsterdam but I did not want to confirm it until I’ve returned back to England. Anyways, I’ve deduced on the possibilities of situation by figuring out that if I had gotten a mere 2:1, people would not have start to message me on facebook with such excitement. There is a high possibility that my results could have gone beyond 2:1. Of course, at the same time, I was also worried and did not want to be so upbeat about it only to find that my deductions were wrong. Afterall, people could be just be nice to offer customary notes of congratulations for doing well for degree at a 2:1. Not only that, mathematically, it seemed very improbable in my prediction of my own marks that I can hit a First based on my own evaluation of performance.
I came back on a Saturday, so there’s no way that I could find out from the law office. The only way to get a clue on that was to check from the online portal to see if they had released any list. There was no list at all, so I searched deeper by going to the LFL webbie where there list career opportunities etc. I checked to see if they had updated my profile and true enough, they did update it! So I read through to result and..and I just went WOW! It wrote down there – Classification: ONE! =D
Let’s start from the main talking point first from the bottom. I’ve always expected my EU Law paper to be a major screw-up and I would be contented just to have passed it. I honestly didn’t think that I would get higher than a 2:2 grade for it but It turned out in the end that I secured a 2:1 for it at 63. The surprising eye-brow raiser was that Jurisprudence was actually the one which got the honour of being the lowest marks at 61. Ahhhhh, perhaps I should not be that surprised considering that I didn’t submit a good performance for the law as fiction question .
Now for the good news for the rest of the subjects which helped me to seal the grade – Criminology was the subject which I placed the highest expectation on and it duly delivered a first class grade as expected at 70. Evidence is somewhat like my A Levels Eng Lit paper – not a guarantee First but a possible one. And yes, in the end it was 70 marks for Evidence for another first grade! Evidence was one subject I would say that I would not have expected to get the first grade but I guessed my focused calibration during preparation paid off in the end, especially with that last minute decision to focus on bad character. The most glorious of it all is of course, my long dissertation – a whopping 73 marks and I’m glad it turned out well after months of working on it. For LD, I already had predicted that I would get at least a 2:1 without much problems and a small nagging feeling that I would get a first if my supervisor sees my work and ideas as revolutionary and fresh. I, to a certain extent, felt surprise at the given mark at 73 because this meant that my supervisor found my dissertation to be much better than the prerequisite first class 70 borderline marks. Like football, additional goal difference is welcomed and having 73 for LD is a tremendous boost for the average marks classification. (A win is 70, anything more is goal difference) Since LD occupies 40 credits, it’s akin to scoring 73 for two subjects. Big gamble to stake two lives with one attempt, but in the end it paid off big time. That additional 6 marks could be used to shore up the deficit in EU and Jurisprudence. Mhmmm..analysis wise on the distribution of marks, it looks like I woke up my ideas for the last two papers and got back on track for my aspired first classification unknowingly along the way.
The final average marks that I’ve accumulated was 6.83/10, 0.02 marks off the guaranteed 6.85 border for First class. It would be inequitable to deny me of the first for that 0.02 difference, but in anycase, my grade was secured by a proviso which states that any average marks difference of 0.10 would see the student being awarded the higher classification which he is eligible for. Furthermore, a student can also score a first if 50% of the credits that he has taken is a first class grade. I’ve scored a First for 80/120 credits that I have taken, so that factor would have secured me the grade too.
I told Mama to keep the excitement down when I saw the results over the weekend since it is not finalised yet. Then today, 1st July, I popped down to the law school to see the finalised list and praise God, the first class grade was confirmed. It turns out that my fellow Lee sister, WY, got a First too! Haha, I knew it that she would get it! I had the feeling about that in Amsterdam and I’m not surprised considering that she put in quite a lot of hard work into her studies compared to a slacker like me. My average of 6.83 was right at the borderline and if I had gotten anything less in any subject even by just 1 mark, I would have been off the scale. Part of me figured that if I had prepared for my EU paper properly, my average marks would have been higher and I would not have sat at the border. Hence, this gift of first class for my degree can only be attributed to divine intervention and it is only by God’s grace that I have gotten it. Such a small margin, and it could go either way in the slightest change of circumstance. The laurels of being exceptional and being average are just separated by a thin thread. It’s a big difference in future opportunities or the response of the people around. Honestly, I did not really believe that I would get a First Class for my degree. Mama told me to pray about it, but I shrugged it off telling her it’s a mathematical impossibility. Yet again, I’m proven wrong by God for the umpteenth time. O ye of little faith! Is anything even too improbable for God! I felt disappointed at myself for doubting Him but at the same time, thankful and glad that God never stopped watching out for me.
Then, I remembered the words of one of my friends, who pointed out that God will give us the necessary grades that will help us to advance in life according to His plans. I’m not sure why He has given me a First class award eventhough I didn’t do anything to deserve it but I’m certain that it’s a key that He wants me to have it in order to open doors which He wants me to go through in the future. Thank you Lord once again!
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