Jacqueline Williams is happy to be back in her native Australia where the temperatures hover around the 30+ Celsius range. She sent a letter to Senior Recruitment, Admissions and Diversity Outreach Officer Jerome Poon-Ting, sharing some of her favourite memories while at the Faculty of Law last fall: walking through autumn leaves then snow, hearing comparisons on Canadian and Australian Law, having tea at Interim Dean Brunnée Brûlée Melee, and competing on a Varsity team. Here it is, reprinted with permission:
Dear Jerome and U of T Faculty of Law staff, (haha, or should I say G’day?)
As an exchange student, I would like to thank you for such a wonderful opportunity to study law at the University of Toronto last fall. It has been an absolutely amazing experience!
Right from my arrival, you were extremely welcoming, and I felt privileged to be invited to attend some of the orientation week events. It was lovely to get to know some other law students before the term had begun. And I even found it exciting to be shown around the campus, and have classes in some of the gorgeous old stone buildings. The fall leaves were beautiful, as was the snow in November (it was definitely the first time I have ever had to trek through snow to get to class!).
I have loved every second of my classes here, with such engaging professors. It has been really interesting to study some Canadian law and read Canadian judgments. (It was also great to see some judges refer to Australian case law!) I was glad to see that Canadian law and Australian law have a fair few similarities, but it was interesting to see how the Canadian Charter interacts with Canadian law too.
Throughout the term, I have been extremely impressed with the number and quality of out-of-class opportunities that you provide to students! I attended several health law, economic law and Constitutional law workshops and roundtables during the term. These have really broadened my insight into significant Canadian and international law issues. Seeing as I am studying a combined Bachelor of Asia-Pacific Studies/Bachelor of Laws back in Australia, I found the Toronto-Tsinghua International Law Conference to be particularly interesting. I’ve been very impressed with the quality of all the presentations (as well as all the delicious food provided)!
The fall leaves were beautiful, as was the snow in November (it was definitely the first time I have ever had to trek through snow to get to class!).
Indeed, the Fall BBQ was one of the most impressive ‘BBQs’ I’ve experienced! Haha, it definitely beat the ‘sausage sizzles’ we have back in Australia. And it was lovely to have a Brunnée's Bakery on my birthday, so I got to enjoy some yummy morning tea and chat with fellow students and staff.
It has been an absolute privilege to study on exchange at the U of T last term. In addition to Faculty of Law events, I loved getting involved in the Centre of International Exchange activities, and participating in the U of T Varsity Rowing team – I never would have thought that I would have had the chance to compete in the Canadian University Championships over in Victoria, BC!
I can’t believe how quickly the Fall term and my exchange went by! Thank you for enabling me to have such a fantastic experience. You have an incredible law school here, and I would definitely love to return someday, perhaps for further studies.
Kind regards, Jacqueline Williams
(exchange student from the Australian National University, Fall 2014)
