Sydni Segroves is a fourth-year honors student from Lindale, Texas, majoring in psychology and minoring in legal studies. Throughout an eight-week summer internship in London, she had the opportunity to gain hands-on experience in the mental health legal industry and gain valuable insight into her potential career field.
On my first in-person visit with a client.
Prior to this summer, I had never traveled abroad. I was eager to go anywhere and everywhere! London caught my attention as a desirable study abroad destination almost immediately: I was attracted to the immense amount of history, city lifestyle, and similarities of the British legal system to ours. As soon as I touched down on English soil, I knew I had made the right choice. I indulged in all of the quintessential tourist things – bright red double-decker buses, Big Ben, fish and chips – and was infatuated with the city. However, my true love for London came from my daily commute to work via the Tube, after-work social hours with my coworkers, and the rainy English days. It is a place that welcomes everyone. It is a place that you can deeply connect with in so many ways.
My first trip to Tower Bridge. I lived a quick 8 minute walk away, and it quickly became my favorite landmark in London!
My internship was the perfect crossover of my interests. I chose to go through AIFS Global Experiences to help me find an intern placement in London, and they connected me with a firm called Burke Niazi Solicitors! BN practices in many areas of law including family, housing, court of protection, and mental health. As a legal intern in the mental health department, I worked with clients who had been placed in, or sectioned to, hospitals under the Mental Health Act of 1983. This act allows for people who are suffering from a mental disorder that is of a nature or degree that requires detention in a hospital for assessment or assessment followed by treatment. My role allowed me to speak with these clients to take their initial instructions regarding applying for discharge from their section. Following this initial conversation, I would call the Mental Health Act Office of the hospital they were placed in to confirm the information they gave me over the phone, draft letters to the client, fill in their application for a discharge hearing, peruse their detainment papers to check for legality, peruse their progress notes and summarize them, and go to the hospital for an in-person visit. When I visited clients on the ward, I would have them sign papers and gather a general update on their progress in the hospital.
My supervisors and coworkers at Burke Niazi were brilliant. They continually encouraged me and challenged me so that I could learn and refine skills that are necessary in the legal industry. Skills like legal writing, legal research, and mental health advocacy are among the many abilities that I was able to put into practice every day. The hands-on experience and connections within and through the firm that I got from this internship will follow me for years.
Post-work trip to the Sky Garden with AIFS. Pictured is my friend Anna and I!
Life as an intern in London was much more than a 40-hour week! The program I went through planned many post-work dinners and events as well as weekend excursions. One day after work, all the AIFS interns across London flocked to the Sky Garden for canapés and a night out. A few of the weekend day trips included train rides to Hastings, Hever Castle, Greenwich, and more. Along with these outer London adventures, I used my free time to take advantage of my access to other European countries. I spent a four-day weekend in Switzerland bouncing between Neuchâtel, Lauterbrunnen, and a few other Swiss cities with a fellow Razorback who happened to be in the country. I also went to Scotland for a few days and explored Edinburgh and Dunbar. While my time and trips outside of London were amazing, I had just as much fun in the city! I toured the inside of Buckingham Palace, shopped at all the coolest markets, and became a part of the park picnic crowd.
I was sad to leave London but grateful for everything the city and Burke Niazi had taught me in my two months with them. This was a life-changing experience for me – personally and professionally! I am excited to be back stateside and on the Hill, and I look forward to using the knowledge I have gained throughout my senior year and beyond. If studying or interning abroad is something that you are interested in, my biggest piece of advice would be to, first, go for it (!), and, second, take advantage of everything the Honors College offers to enhance your experience!
Fellow hog Emma Tribbey and me in Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland