Every year at BN5 magazine we open our doors to a work placement student for a week during the summer months. The students, who come from local sixth form colleges, all have an interest in writing, publishing or media. We enjoy showing them how we work, setting them projects and in turn enjoy their energy and enthusiasm. We hope that they leave at the end of the week a little bit more knowledgeable about the publishing industry and hopefully inspired to further their career development.
Last summer, Henfield student Amy Johnston came to us from Brighton and Hove Sixth Form College (BHASVIC). Amy is keen to pursue a career in politics and we were so impressed with her that we recommended her to local MP Nick Herbert for a work shadowing opportunity. This is what happened next in Amy’s words:
“Despite being confident in my understanding of political mechanisms both in the UK and the USA, my knowledge of politics on a local scale is limited. To be able to pursue politics at degree level and decide on a potential career path in this field, I felt that some first hand experience shadowing my member of parliament was needed to give a clearer insight into constituency matters. To arrange this, I got in contact with Nick’s constituency assistant via email before going to meet her to discuss her involvement with constituents and local businesses through visits, meetings and surgeries. Her passion and dedication was inspiring, and she presented me with an opportunity to spend some time at Westminster on International Women’s Day, a day dedicated to a greater awareness of women’s equality.
First I went on a tour around 10 Downing Street with a group of about 12 other girls who had also been invited by their members of parliament. This was a great privilege and sitting around the cabinet table where so many significant decisions have been made in the past is a memory that will stay with me forever. We were also guided around the Prime minister’s gardens and various rooms upstairs including where David Cameron has his private, informal meetings and his dining room. Then we went to Portcullis House where Nick’s PA and his research team talked me through their roles and how they ended up working for Nick. When Nick arrived at lunch I was able to talk to him in a casual environment before he accompanied me to a debate where he explained how debates work and pointed out various aspects of the chamber.
It was extremely exciting to see the House of Commons for the first time especially with Nick next to me to answer all my questions. Then I had a detailed tour starting at Westminster Hall where I was able to see some committee rooms as well as a thorough explanation of the history. Finally, we went to the speaker’s house which was very grand and John Bercow himself was present, he gave a speech along with influential women including female MP’s and those successful in business.
This experience taught me that having a career in politics does not necessarily mean becoming an MP; there are so many roles involved in making constituency matters run smoothly on a more local level, which is something I may think about perusing in the future.”