The tough economic climate didn't stop Hannah Gates getting a training contract at a magic circle firm – nor did her decision to work as a tour guide rather than do a vac scheme.

We throw our mortarboards in the air, and try to pretend we feel old enough to graduate. Most parents and graduates have the good sense to avoid, at this one moment of celebration and goodbyes, too much mention of the future. The mundane hurdles of packing up three years worth of clothes, books and paraphernalia, securing bank loans, and finding accommodation for next year consume all our capacity to plan and to worry. For those of us aspiring to be law firm trainees, there is simply no time to think about what September holds: whether that is the prospect of facing a life suddenly lacking in direction, or the daunting thought of starting the LPC.

I was one of the lucky ones – I have a training contract lined up at a firm where I can really see myself belonging. Despite my school girl euphoria at being offered the job (carefully disguised long enough to thank the firm's representative professionally, of course), a short-lived but potent desire bubbled up in me to stage a movie-style cut-and-run. Within moments I realised this was ridiculous.

The source of my hesitation? Like so many keen graduates, I don't really have any idea what solicitors actually do. I've read the standard books about 'a day in the life', but the only time I've spent in solicitors' offices has been during my training contract interviews. Instead of doing vacation placements, I worked as a tour guide. It seemed like a good idea at the time. This meant conducting a preliminary phone interview with one of my preferred law firms while hanging out of an ice cream van. I had managed to arrange for my 50 American teenagers to ride the London Eye at the time I was meant to receive the phone call. Having shepherded them onto the wheel, I watched from the bottom, knowing I had exactly 40 minutes to get my interview done before their feet would touch the ground again. Then I realised my phone battery was dying – hence the ice cream van. After some minor flirting and begging the driver to let me plug my dead cell phone into his cigarette-lighter-turned-phone-charger, I waited for the call. I tried to remember why I wanted to be a City trainee, while tuning out the background noise of 'one 99 flake please', balancing a stack of west-end tickets and a giant tour-guide umbrella, and willing the London Eye to keep my tour group in a confined space for a little bit longer.

Given the economic climate, I put in training contract applications expecting them to fail. But, as a British-Canadian, I've grown up with the mantra of ice hockey legend Wayne Gretzky: 'one hundred percent of the shots you don't take don't go in'. When friends tell me they are considering giving up on the dream of joining the ranks of law firm trainees, Gretzky's words flash like warning signs across my mind.

Those of us about to start the LPC still have countless goals to score. It is perhaps fortunate that we remain unaware of what many of those goals truly entail. None of us can possibly know exactly what will be expected of us as trainees. One must simply have faith in our ability to learn quickly. For now, it is enough to say our goodbyes, and find a place to live.

Hannah Gates has a training contract with a magic circle firm and will start the LPC in September.

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