Meet Farhan Zia (they/them), student, B.A.LL.B, Batch of 2022, Jindal Global Law School (JGLS). They have held many significant roles at JGU. From being a part of the Student Academic Committee, the JGLS Legal Aid Clinic and a peer tutor at Apoyo – the Disability Inclusion Society; they also became a Board Member at the Academic Writing Society, an Assistant Manager at GirlUp JGU and the Chief Editor of the LEC Blog!
Farhan says “I most associate JGU with freedom. As unfree as a JGU student might feel trapped in a campus at the edge of Sonipat, within the four walls of it, they can be whoever they would like to be and do whatever they would like to do. For many people, it becomes a space to experiment and to understand one’s own self.”
For them, undergraduate study at JGU was something akin to a rediscovery of the self and their surroundings. They say: “it haunted me with questions; questions that I would not have even been able to articulate if it were not for the faculty and peers there. JGU provided to me an environment where I could question myself and the things around me. I got to study far more than what is in the confines of my course manuals. I have had the wonderful experiences of faculty sitting with me for hours to discuss theological questions that had nothing to do with my studies; of leading me to books that shape my career even today; and of the support and encouragement from peers that has helped me come to terms with my identity. Jindal has fostered that freedom: of thought, expression and academic inquiry that pushes you to think of your studies as far more than just a means of acquiring a job.
I was quite frustrated with the idea of just studying law. Far more than practicing law in courts, I was interested in the history and philosophy behind laws and how people perceive them. The Law School’s policy that allows students to bid for electives in other schools has helped me a great deal with this. It allowed me to take wonderful electives from schools such as the International Affairs and Liberal Arts schools. The highly competent and kind faculty of the law school who taught me courses on history, literature, and jurisprudence, and that JGLS encourages a more critical study of legal concepts gave a satisfaction that I perhaps would have not received in any other law school. All this has equipped me with critical thinking that is essential for an aspiring academic such as myself.”
Farhan will soon be embarking for higher studies at Central European University, Vienna to pursue a career in academia.
We wish them the best!
