Reflective Log (Family Law Coursework)

Over the course of this log, I will be documenting my learning process through the writing of
my coursework essay in Family Law. I will be talking about the research journey I took, the
different challenges it faced, the strategies I adopted to overcome those challenges, as well as
the experiences I assimilated while working with a group.
At first, I would like to talk about where I stood before this coursework assignment was begun.
To be frank, I thought that I was fairly well versed with the letter of the law, but poorly
cognizant of its spirit. While I knew what the main provisions regarding nullity were (as
contained within Section 11 and 12 of the Matrimonial Causes Act), I did not have enough
information on why they had been enacted in the first place. The same was the case with regards
to the Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Act of 2007, and other legal instruments that I have
relied on during the writing of my piece. While being confronted with the two questions, I was
fascinated by the fact that one of the question required me to dwell on the purpose for why a
legislative instrument was enacted. I found this exercise to be intellectually challenging, as it
would require me to read the letter of the law carefully, and look at hansards, academic
literature and case-law in general to identify the legislature’s wishes. The case for reform is
forward-looking, but the exercise in determining the purpose of a law goes back in time. My
interest and passion for history made this an obvious choice.
Having chosen the question that I wanted to write an answer to, I got in touch with my group-
mates, but unfortunately, did not receive a favourable response per se. It seemed as if I was
expected to lead the group myself, because there seemed to be little to no enthusiasm from my
group colleagues to engage in a discussion on which topic would provide the most stimulating
opportunity to frame an essay. Still, my colleagues from the group left the choice to me, and I
told them that we would be doing the first question, once I got my thoughts structured and in
order. They acquiesced and I told them that we would need to divide work accordingly. Since
I was most anxious to write about the purpose of the laws surrounding nullity and forced
marriage myself, I made them an offer that I would write the lion’s share of the essay. I also
offered to write the introduction, set the main direction of the argument, and the bits on the
“purpose” of the enactments in question, so as to allow them to transition on to the case for and
against reform, as well as a well-reasoned conclusion. It should be kept in mind that since the
argument for the paper had been clearly introduced beforehand, this should not have been a
challenging exercise at all. While I wrote down my part and sent it on the group on the 9 th of
December so that they could take a look at it, it was to my utmost chagrin that I discovered that
my group mates had done an extremely poor job of organizing the rest of the answer. I even
sent an email to the instructor to this effect, making clear that the situation I found myself in
was patently unfair. However, I will say that I have taken valuable lessons in group work away
from this. I now recognize that there is little to no wisdom in trusting adults to take care of their
own responsibilities in a manner befitting of them being university students.
As has been mentioned prior as well, I found my academic ability enriched by this exercise. I
will be looking forward to an opportunity to write a well-reasoned piece on the need to reform
nullity laws, and will be hoping to get it published in a reputable journal or magazine. While I
think my written expression performs the job of conveying my thoughts adequately, I still feel
that my writing could be a bit more direct. Writing argumentative pieces at a greater pace might
help me in doing that. I will now be writing more opinion pieces in both academic as well as
non-academic settings. Moreover, I have also determined that in terms of my research, I need
to improve my ability to read a lot of information quicker. I felt that while writing my share of
the coursework, it was taking me too long to peruse sources. This meant that I could only start
writing the actual piece about 4 to 5 days earlier, and while I refuse to believe that this was the
principal cause, this may have affected the performance of my colleagues in the group, since
they seemed so dependent on my direction to be able to submit anything at all. In the future, I
will attempt to start my writing even earlier.
In conclusion, I believe that in terms of intellectual enrichment, the process of writing down
this essay was very fulfilling, despite me being embattled by almost crippling anxiety over
whether the paper would be submitted at all. I hope that my group experiences in the future are
more streamlined, and for a lack of a better word, more pleasant.