Anmar: “Receiving the scholarship meant the world to me”
More than seven hundred students have benefitted from the Excellence Scholarships over the past seven years, thanks to the generosity of 440 alumni and friends of the University. Law graduate and scholarship recipient Anmar told us what receiving a scholarship meant to him.
“Receiving the scholarship really changed my experience at the University of Liverpool. One of the great features of the Excellence Scholarship was that if a student was to receive it during the coming academic year, the student must achieve a first-class score overall each year. This was a massive incentive for me to ensure that I achieved first-class scores every year. Achieving a first-class score each year, in turn, allowed me to graduate ranking second in my cohort of 496 students. I truly believe that I would not have been able to achieve this ranking but for the motivation and drive with which the Excellence Scholarship provided me.
The Excellence Scholarship was also an interesting topic to discuss in job applications and job interviews. It is definitely a unique type of scholarship and interviewers are often intrigued by it. It was typically one of the very first topics that came up in my interviews, which demonstrated just how outstanding the scholarship really was!
I have so many highlights of my time at Liverpool. I volunteered at the Liverpool Law Clinic as an Arabic interpreter for 2 years. I interpreted for a family that was fleeing persecution and got to know their story and case fairly well. I was thrilled when I heard that the immigration application that the Liverpool Law Clinic prepared for them was successful! It gave me a deep sense of satisfaction and pride to know that we made a tangible difference in someone’s life.
Now I am a solicitor in the London office of Sidley Austin LLP. It is a Chicago-headquartered law firm. It is most famous for being the firm where President Obama (who was a summer intern at Sidley in Chicago at the time) met Michelle Obama (who was his supervising lawyer). I mainly work on corporate and private equity transactions.
In the short term, I hope to continue working in commercial law, build a client base and gain some more experience with corporate transactions. In the long term, I see myself transitioning into a role in academic law or in public service.
It is important to me to stay connected to the University of Liverpool. I have both attended talks and given them. It means something to me simply because the generosity of those graduates that stayed connected and gave back to the university opened doors and opportunities for me that I never believed were within my grasp. So, it is only fair that I do the same for the next generation of students.
My mentor, a Liverpool graduate who rose to a prominent position in commercial law, helped me find my feet in the legal profession when I was a student lacking a clear sense of direction. Plus, I genuinely enjoy giving talks and mentoring students (if I did not become a practising lawyer, I probably would have become an educator).
I am eternally grateful to all those who made the Excellence Scholarship possible! Receiving the scholarship meant the world to me. You have no idea just how beneficial this scholarship has been for me, both in terms of the financial help it provided me during my university years and, more importantly, in terms of the confidence it gave me when I was seeking employment. You are indeed my inspiration to continue to give back to the university!”
If you would like to find out how you can support current students, please visit our Student Fund webpage.