On Choosing Law: Jack S-Q
Jack S-Q was not always sure he wanted to study law. That kind of certainty rarely arrives fully formed. What arrived instead, gradually and through experience, was a growing instinct that the questions which interested him most were questions that law was built to ask: questions about fairness, about how people navigate disagreement, about what it means to understand a perspective that is not your own.
At Dulwich International High School Programme Suzhou, that kind of discovery is not unusual. Academic interests here are not declared at the door; they develop through the encounter with ideas, people, and situations that ask something of you.
This process led to Bachelor of Laws offers from leading universities, including the University of Hong Kong, King's College London, Queen Mary University of London, and the University of Warwick.
A direction that did not begin with certainty
What stands out first in Jack's story is not why he chose law, but how that question seems to take shape.“I think my initial interest in law was very surface, because I had a friend back in my old school who also wanted to do law.”
What follows is not a decision, but a pattern: debating, public speaking, Model United Nations, and other opportunities. Not necessarily activities that point directly to law, but ones that keep placing him in situations where he is required to respond: to arguments, to people, to positions that are not his own.
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“It became more and more something that was close to my heart and something that I decided that ultimately I wanted to pursue in the future.”
When speaking about “helping people through law,” he is careful not to rely on abstract language. “I don't like the idea of helping people as a vague sentiment. I think the way I want to engage in law is to help people, and to actually be there for people instead of ‘the knight in shining white armor.’”
What emerges is not a fixed ambition, but a shift in orientation, the ability to remain present and reliable within situations that are complex and uncertain. His motivation sits less in abstraction and more in responsibility.
Where Law matters most
Jack's thinking becomes more precise when he considers the context in which law operates. When speaking about the kind of law he is interested in, the distinction he makes is consistent.
“I like the idea of being a barrier in a sense where people are able to rely on me and to be able to know that they're in good hands and safe hands, where I'm able to use my skills that I’ve learned in university while studying for other parts of law, to help these people go through false incarceration situations where they're treated unjustly.”
This sense of responsibility appears closely tied to how he understands imbalance within legal systems. “In criminal law, especially when the state or the country has infinite resources while the person has very few, and I like the idea that law can level the playing field, and it's able to make the system fairer and to fight against systematic injustices.”
An internship further clarified this perspective. “It was international corporate law firm, which is obviously not what I want to study, but it was a very valuable opportunity because I was focusing on translations, I was doing a lot of the evidence gathering for the lawyer I was shadowing.”
What he encountered there was less the drama of argument and more the discipline behind it. “They ended up teaching me that 90 % of law and legal arguments is preparation. If you have bad prep, the best debaters in the world would lose in the court.”
The difference between areas of law becomes clearer in how he describes their outcomes. “That opportunity was very valuable for me, just in terms of understanding law as a system. But also, on the opposite hand, it has taught me that I want to pursue humanitarian law. I want to do human rights law because international law and corporate law are interesting, but the stakes are: not meaning profit margins or not being able to make money this term. Whereas in criminal law, the stakes are literally human life, which is something that I want to use my skills to pursue.”
What seems to distinguish his thinking is not preference, but consequence, a focus on where legal work carries the greatest weight.
Learning to work in different positions
A significant shift in Jack's thinking came through the Model United Nations.
CISSMUN
“The most pivotal point was probably Model United Nations. I remember last year it was CISSMUN. I was on the women’s committee, so I was one of three guys in a room full of girls. And the funny thing is I was Palestine, which is traditionally a very anti-abortion and conservative country.”
The role required him to take on a position that directly conflicted with his own beliefs. “I had to role play as basically this figure that is completely against my own beliefs.” He does not describe this experience as a single takeaway but returns to a shift in how he approaches different perspectives.
He also notes that this did not only come from the Model United Nations. “Being house captain was very important because obviously it's a leadership role, but it also taught you how to effectively communicate with others and to be able to manage a lot of conflicting interests from people with very different personalities, to be able to work in a functioning team.”
“But going through this has actually taught me that even though there are different perspectives, you have to consider these different perspectives to be able to be an effective lawyer and to be able to actually have a successful career.”
What stays with him is the need to work through perspectives that are not his own, and the recognition that approaching any situation from a single point of view is often not enough.
Where Logic Meets Human Complexity
When asked whether his interest in law comes from understanding systems or understanding people, Jack does not separate the two. “That's a question I haven't really thought about before, but I think it's a very strong mixture of both.”
His A Level subjects reflect this balance. “If we look at my A Level studies, specifically Biology and Maths, they are very rigid systems. They're very systematic, they're very logical. And there's always a correct answer, which is something that I personally enjoy. I enjoy problem solving. I enjoy getting the correct answer.”
At the same time, psychology introduces a different kind of understanding. “It's also a science, but it studies human behavior, and it teaches you how a lot of people are the same. They think the same, but also everyone is completely different.”
For Jack, law sits at the intersection of these two modes of thinking. “In the court of law, we have firm logical rules to set out the boundaries in our societies, but we need flexibility for it to be able to be human. I think it’s a mixture of these two worlds that ultimately made me incredibly interested in law.”
This duality, structure alongside interpretation, is not something to resolve, but something he recognises as necessary.
Confidence, developed within a support system
Jack does not describe his journey as one of early confidence, but one that builds gradually in relation to other people. “I don't think I ever really considered Hong Kong before Mr Hodgkin mentioned it, because I knew it was a very competitive place that I wasn't too sure that I would be qualified for. But when Mr Hodgkin encouraged me, other teachers, my parents, my family. They all encouraged me to apply to this school, so I had the confidence to do so.”
Geography and Liberal Arts Teacher, Assistant Head Upper School, Mr Hodgkin
Looking back, he attributes much of his development to consistent support within Dulwich's environment. “All of my teachers were always willing to stay back during office hours to answer my endless barrage of questions about past papers or topics I don't understand, which I'm still so thankful for. It's helped me improve my academic and confidence so much. I see a lot of my teachers as more mentor figures rather than teachers. They have helped me through a lot of difficult times, especially with my mental health and exam pressure and all that stuff. And it's something I'm to this day so grateful for.”
He speaks with particular emphasis when referring to one teacher. “Mr Winton is an incredibly kind and empathetic person. His support alone has gotten me through a lot of rough times, especially with exam pressure, and also just studying in a general.”
Support, in this sense, extends beyond academics and into how students are supported more broadly here in Dulwich.
As Jack prepares to study law, what he looks forward to is not only the subject itself, but the environment it creates.
“I think it's very to say that I'm very excited to continue to study the topic I'm passionate for further, which obviously I am. But I think what I'm most excited about is the opportunity to meet so many new people who have the same passion as me, who have the same interest and probably more interest in the law, which is something I find very valuable.”
When asked what advice he would give to younger students, his answer returns to the consistency in his four years' experience at Dulwich. “I think it is so valuable to appreciate and use every opportunity you can get. Being able to have a community such as Dulwich that provides all these events is incredibly important. I personally recommend everyone to either join MUN or do any other public speaking opportunity, because not just in a humanity subjects such as law, being able to effectively communicate and to effectively converse with other people to exchange ideas is important in every career, in any field.”
His path does not settle into a single defining moment. Instead, it reflects a direction that has been shaped over time, through participation, reflection, and an increasing willingness to engage with complexity.
Law becomes one of the directions he returns to, more consistently over time.
It is within this kind of environment that students begin to find their direction more clearly and to stay with it with more confidence. At Dulwich, this is often how growth takes place: not all at once, but gradually, through experience.
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