My First Month

Ben Braidwood – Graduate Intern

I was attracted to this position at Hello Future due to its versatile and varied nature and my first month has been exactly that. I’ve been challenged with many different tasks and my skills have grown massively in the small span of one month.

I’ve had the opportunity to work and beginning leading on a project called Young Cumbrian Males, which, as the name suggests, attempts to tackle and assess the issues associated with this particular demographic. I was surprised to learn that this was a demographic that required specialised targeting. Being in this job has opened my eyes to a myriad of underlying issues and challenges for young people which I would have otherwise cast aside or not even realised existed.

I’ve had the pleasure of delivering my first intervention which was My HE Journey, which was a great one to start with since it let me reflect on my journey and how I could extrapolate tips and advice to young people.

On the personal side, this is my first full-time position since leaving university since I’ve mostly worked part-time. I’ve adapted extremely quickly to the full-time work routine and wouldn’t change a thing; I feel everyday when I get out of bed – no matter how trivial the work may seem to others, it ultimately leads to the distribution of knowledge about higher education to young people, which I personally think is invaluable.

For all this to happen in one month is quite astonishing; I’m looking forward to the next few months of the internship and see what challenges and personal development it brings, but more importantly, how much more assistance I can provide to young people about their future options.