Over the summer, I was honoured to join the SNS team as an intern for 6 weeks. Although the duration was short, I learnt many things that will stick with me forever.
Before joining, I had never worked in a professional environment. I was going in blind, not knowing what to expect. I was nervous, excited, and intrigued about what my experience would entail.
My lack of experience meant that during the first few days of the internship, I felt unfamiliar with how things ran. It took me some time to establish a routine, but I soon became accustomed to the ins-and-outs of the work that the organisation carried out.
Understanding the feelings and experiences of students post-Oct 7th
During my internship, I spent most of my time carrying out research. My main scope of research included the feelings and experiences of university students following the events of October 7th. Being a university student myself meant that the research I conducted helped me to gain deeper insights into how my peers may be feeling.
I also conducted research on new legislation passed on freedom of speech in higher education and explored how the changes made affected the work of SNS. Overall, I found the work I carried out during my internship very insightful and interesting.
The challenges along the way
Naturally, I was met with some challenges along the way. The main difficulty I encountered was having to work remotely. As someone who works well being surrounded by people, the idea of building new relationships and working collaboratively through a computer screen felt jarring to me, as well as unnatural. It also made navigating how to work in a professional environment difficult as I was working and communicating with people whilst being at home. It was not until I travelled to Cambridge for the Bridge Builders Programme that I was able to meet my colleagues in person and begin to learn how to build professional relationships.
The Bridge Builders Programme
The week I spent in Cambridge was pivotal in terms of helping me decide what type of work I want to carry out in the future. I spent the week surrounded by a diverse group of enthusiastic, intelligent people who shared a mutual desire to gain knowledge and learn about different perspectives and narratives of the same story.
It was moving to see and hear from people of different faiths through panel discussions and workshops that helped to display the interconnectedness of a variety of religions with their similarities and differences. The relationships and bonds created throughout the week made my experience that much more valuable as we spent our time enjoying each other’s company, singing songs in the car, partaking in workshops throughout the day, and playing mafia [the game] in the evenings. Overall, I found the Bridge Builders’ Programme to be extremely insightful and inspirational.
How this has shaped my future
My whole experience interning with SNS transformed me in many ways. Firstly, it helped me to understand what works for me in terms of career paths. I now know that I want to work with young people whether it be in the psychology sector or even working as an activist.
Learning more about the work conducted by SNS and carrying out some of that work myself provided me with an insight into what goes into running an education charity. I also now know that working remotely is not for me. I definitely strive surrounded by people rather than being cooped up by myself for 8 hours a day. Nonetheless, the knowledge and experience that I gained across the two months has put me in a position where I feel comfortable working in a professional environment and has helped me to navigate my plans for the future post graduation.