Thomas Miletich

7.00 AM

Sleeping through 5 individual alarms spaced out at 3 minutes apiece, I manage to finally make my way out of bed. After an hour and a half, I’m seated with my face mask on the Kingsford Light Rail Service.

9.00 AM

Fortunately for me, my light rail stop is right outside my work. I tap off and the day begins. Sitting comfortably at my 9th-floor desk in the Building and Construction team, I check for emails, remaining tasks and new tasks before I make my way to the firm-provided coffee machine. I fill up and get stuck in it.

9.30 AM

I am called into the office of a Senior Associate on my team. He has two interesting tasks for me. In the first task, I will be writing an article on a new piece of legislation concerning Residential Apartment Buildings. A piece of legislation was introduced in response to the Mascot Towers and Opal Tower incidents. The second task concerns some front-end work on a design and build contract. Both tasks are new to me and important to my early development.

11.00 AM

Did I mention that I’m not a morning person? Well, if I didn’t before you know now. I’m filling up my coffee mug for a second espresso to put the jumper cables on my engine. The Managing Partner walks by the kitchen and we briefly talk tennis. After all, will we see another grand slam run as smoothly as the Australian Open in the COVID era of 2021?

12.00 PM

The Senior Associate that assigned me my earlier tasks checks in to see if I need any assistance or clarification. I ask for feedback as I’ve now had a chance to grapple with both tasks. He is very generous with his time and outlines some key points of feedback to guide my progress. At the conclusion of our chat, I consider myself fortunate to be a part of a firm and team that are so big on the development of its junior staff.

1.00 PM

Lunch is on and everyone is on level 12 with its balcony views of the city. The graduates are out in force and mingling about as they get through the lunch break. Our graduate cohort is a tightly knit bunch and often participate in as many social gatherings or events as we can together. It’s a good mix to be a part of.

2.00 PM

Was it the carbs in the potato chips that I ate or was it the lack of sugar in the salad? I can’t figure it out, but I feel the post-lunch drag reminding me how good sleep is. If only my office had a coffee machine- Oh wait. Cup number three down the hatch.

2.30 PM

One of my Partners has a task for me. It concerns preparing advice to a client and touches upon the area of law my Article is focused on. Score! Using what I have already prepared in my research article and then by both refinings that material and filling in the gaps, I breeze through it.

5.30 PM

I finish off all remaining tasks for the day and write myself a checklist for tomorrow. Today has been both challenging and rewarding. I close off emails and head downstairs to the light rail stop. After being in the office all day I have a decision to make, do I go to the gym or surf? This isn’t an Old El Paso ad, so I can’t have both.

6.30 PM

The weather is hot, so I grab my board and stash it in the car. The sunsets at 8 PM today so I have plenty of daylight and post-sunset light to surf in. I arrive at my local, Maroubra and the waves are on today. You can’t control the sea, so when it's good like this after work and you make it out there – it's extra special.

8.30 PM

I get home in the dark and still have a solid three hours before I usually clock off for the night. When I have a good day like this, I find myself with more energy of an evening to do the things I would not normally enjoy. I do the family’s dishes, I meal prep for the next day, and I do a home workout because you can never do too much.

11.30 PM

It's finally time for sleep. I put down the blue light screens and drift off to sleep. “REOW” I forgot to put the cat away in her bed. I look outside and the sensor lights have lit up the silhouette of the neighbourhood black cat. I laugh at the Mexican standoff separated by glass and put my cat to bed, and finally put myself back to bed.