Week five had come faster than I originally anticipated it would. It was bittersweet – I was happy because I’ve been working in a job I adore for the last five weeks but then again it would end in seven weeks.
This week, my focus was on one my many tasks from a key contact within the Faculty of Education this task was to organize a schedule for a ‘Reading for Pleasure’ Twitter takeover as well as create a logo and banner for them to use during this event, and as an avid reader – I couldn’t wait.
Monday:
I think after the weekend, I am always a little groggy Monday morning, but my daily meeting with my team got me out of this rut, they really are a Monday morning cheer up. This week, it was my turn to lead the daily meetings and at first, I found the task a little daunting but I realised that they have had to do the same, so they’ll understand if I make any slip ups… I didn’t! Alas I think my team would agree that when I am leading a meeting it’s short and snappy so, we can get on with our tasks for the day.
For me that meant research, I had no idea what or how to create a brand image, after a few websites and a pep talk from a fellow intern who studies marketing I felt a bit more comfortable. When I create content for social media, I usually use Canva as it has a range of different templates to play with.
My first logo included a golden yellow background and a boy reading a book however, after receiving some feedback that it wasn’t as inclusive as it could be, I got back to work and am currently waiting on feedback for my new design. After completing the usual admin for the day it was 5’O clock and I was logging off.
Tuesday:
Tuesday’s meeting went a lot better than Monday’s, this time I discovered my flow and had everyone’s goals for the day clear and sorted. I quite like leading meetings – I think anyone who has can agree that the small sense of power behind it can be fun.
Today I was back onto my ‘Reading for Pleasure’ task and today’s goal was to create a schedule of content to release. I spent a while trying to find a template of a monthly planner from Canva but decided to go back to a reliable spreadsheet instead (which back in my first week of the Internship, I would have been less willing to use).
I think one of my favourite things about this task is it required research. What kind of things do readers want to engage with on Twitter? How can I convince somebody to pick up a book? I like to thing I have an advantage with this task because not only do I read avidly but in the future, I would like to be a published Author so these little tricks of the trade I was learning will really help me in my future.
So I created a schedule of events and content to post over the month of September. I sent it over to my key contact and they loved my ideas so much that they would like to run the content over the next academic year instead of it all into one month!
I was beyond happy!
Wednesday:
And just like that half the week had gone! I did my usual morning routine and settled down at my desk, with my huge new water bottle (because I keep forgetting to drink at work, so this really helps!) My task for today was to get to grips with Google Sites. In Education they use Google Sites for a heap of different things, so if we were to help the Education staff, we had to be as comfortable with it as they are.
Sarah gave us a little free reign with this task and we could create any kind of website as long as we became comfortable with the tool and that our site was accessible. I created my site to act as a portfolio to showcase my creative pieces as well as to show off my photography.
Thursday:
I think Thursday’s always go in a blink of an eye, unlike Fridays. My Thursday felt like I hardly did anything but when I look back on it, I did actually did a lot! So once my meeting was out of the way I settled down and started on a new task; copywriting for the CPD website to make it more enticing for professionals.
The rest of the day I alternated between various tasks which were almost completed and finally sent them off to be checked. I really enjoy that feeling of bliss when you send a project off to be finished, the feeling of pride and accomplishment.
The final thing we did was publish our 60 seconds with an Student Intern videos on Twitter. Once shared on Twitter they had reached an audience over 200 people per intern. This was fun to do, and it was really interesting to see what my colleagues dream jobs where when they were 10… keep your eye out though because I have heard a whisper more are on the way!
Friday:
Friday! At last, everyone who works a 9 till 5 job everyday has to admit that when the clock hits 5pm on a Friday all the stress from the last week floats away.
An excitable task I started today was to create a digital escape room for teachers to use in September as a creative online ice breaker. Initially I had no idea how to even approach the task, so began researching. I also moved into my Monday pile and finished up some content for the Education building notice boards until lunch. Which when it rolled around, I think I needed a midday pick me up, so I ordered myself a Frappuccino and cracked on with familiarizing myself with online teaching tools such as Vevox. I finished my Friday with creating a Panopto video on how to use Vevox. I logged off quite happy and looking forward to Week 6, the halfway point in the internship!
Keep an eye out for Simon’s blog which will have all the details.
By Sharnie Bowen (Student Intern)
