Scholarship impact: "Sometimes the right moment never arrives, so you have to take the leap"
LLM student and scholarship recipient Nitika Pancholi shares how a life-changing decision brought her from legal practice in India to SOAS.
We spoke to Nitika about what it means to explore criminal law, human rights and gender justice while gaining a broader global perspective that she hopes to bring back to her work in India.
Investing in opportunity
My name is Nitika Pancholi, and I am an LLM student at SOAS and the recipient of the SOAS International Master's Scholarship and the Anthony Dicks Memorial Scholarship.
The scholarships I received have been genuinely transformative. Pursuing a postgraduate degree in London had long been an ambition, but it was also a significant financial commitment as someone funding this journey independently after several years in legal practice. The support I received from SOAS made the decision possible and gave me the confidence to take a step I might otherwise have considered impractical.
Beyond financial support, the scholarships carry a deeper significance. There is something incredibly moving about knowing that people who may never meet you choose to invest in your education and future. That faith is both humbling and motivating. It reminds me that education is not only a personal opportunity but also a responsibility, and I am deeply grateful for the chance to be part of the SOAS community.
Before coming to SOAS, I spent seven years practising law in India, appearing before the Supreme Court of India, the Delhi High Court and trial courts. My work ranged from white collar crime and constitutional issues to cases involving women, children and undertrial prisoners.
The conversations I have here challenge my assumptions, expand my perspective and remind me that there are many different ways of understanding justice.
Studying at SOAS had quietly been on my bucket list for years. Its focus on the Global South and its willingness to examine law through the lens of history, politics and power strongly appealed to me. Like many professionals, I kept postponing postgraduate study until life became less busy.
That moment never arrived.
Instead, a serious car accident in 2024 forced me to slow down and spend several months recovering. During that time, I reflected on opportunities I had delayed and decided it was finally time to pursue an LLM.
Coming to SOAS has been both exciting and humbling. After years of being the lawyer in the room, I became the student again. The conversations I have here challenge my assumptions, expand my perspective and remind me that there are many different ways of understanding justice.
Exploring who the law protects and who it leaves behind
My research interests sit at the intersection of criminal law, human rights and gender justice.
For my dissertation, I am examining a significant gap in India's new criminal code, the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023. The project explores what happened when the law removed the only provision that effectively protected adult male and transgender survivors of rape without creating an equivalent replacement.
At its heart, the research asks a simple but important question: can a legal system justify protecting a person from sexual violence at seventeen but not at eighteen?
Alongside my dissertation, one of the highlights of my time at SOAS has been working with Amnesty International through the International Human Rights Clinic. The project focuses on economic reparations and global justice, encouraging me to engage with international and comparative perspectives and to think not only about how injustice occurs but also how societies attempt to repair historical wrongs.
Returning home with a broader perspective
After graduation, I intend to return to legal practice in India.
While I came to SOAS to deepen my academic understanding of law, what I have gained goes far beyond subject knowledge. One of the most valuable lessons has been learning to situate legal problems within larger historical and global contexts. SOAS has encouraged me to ask different questions about how legal systems emerge, whose interests they serve and how colonial legacies, economic inequalities and global power structures continue to shape them.
Most worthwhile things in life arrive wrapped in uncertainty and sometimes you have to take the leap before you feel entirely ready.
I believe this perspective will fundamentally change how I approach my work. Rather than viewing questions of justice solely through a domestic lens, I now think about them in relation to wider conversations around rights, accountability and social change.
Taking the chance
To prospective students, I would simply say: trust yourself enough to take the chance.
There is rarely a perfect moment to make a big decision. Most worthwhile things in life arrive wrapped in uncertainty and sometimes you have to take the leap before you feel entirely ready.
Scholarships do far more than ease financial pressures. They make possible journeys, experiences and connections that might otherwise never happen.
Coming to SOAS meant leaving behind a career, moving across continents and starting again in a completely different environment. It was daunting, but it was also one of the best decisions I have ever made. My time in London has been transformative, broadening my understanding of the world and helping me discover who I am beyond the professional identity I had built over the years.
The people I have met here have made the city feel like home. Some of the friendships I have formed have become one of the most meaningful parts of this journey.
To donors, thank you. Scholarships do far more than ease financial pressures. They make possible journeys, experiences and connections that might otherwise never happen. I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to study at SOAS and hope to carry the lessons I have learned here throughout my career.
Header image credit: Bits and Splits via Adobe Stock
