Introduction

Students will experience placements differently based on their own identities, goals, experiences, and relationships. Understanding that “wherever you go, there you are”, professional practice requires bringing yourself to the workplace. How much – and whether this can and should happen is explored briefly in this section. We take as a starting point, however, that “oneself” includes the cognitive, emotional, behavioural and spiritual. The degree to which each aspect of oneself is welcomed in the profession, and how much the lawyer wishes to share are, again, complicated questions.

This coursebook touches on some ideas and tools regarding situating oneself personally before piecing together the personal-professional self. This is not an exercise in deep psychotherapy – although that may be of great use to many – but rather an opportunity to consider how a student’s personal identities interact with the burgeoning professional identity, specifically in the context of an externship.

“Situating Yourself”

A professional work placement asks students to actively step into the role of a lawyer. Before beginning to take on a professional role, many disciplines ask student to “situate themselves” – basically, to better understand their personal identities before delving into the professional. This is important for many reasons, including understanding one’s own biases, strengths, and weaknesses in working with clients and legal actors, and wellness in the practice of law. There are many ways to begin this journey – journals, autoethnographies, discussion groups, religious and cultural ceremony, mentorship, meditation, and so on.

An initial way to investigate one’s personal identit(ies) is based on the work of Taiye Selasi, who introduces a first and important question for consideration that reframes the narrower and sometimes irresponsible question “where are you from.” Instead, she encourages us to engage with the question “where are you local?”.