In this second blog, I was asked to share my experience of my internship, with you the wider CHEP community. I am finding the experiences from this internship particularly valuable as I begin to think about how I might deliver education in the future.
During the internship so far, I have most enjoyed being able to engage in important discussions surrounding good higher education practice and student wellbeing. I’ve always had a lot of thoughts and ideas surrounding this but have never really developed them further. It’s been a great opportunity then to explore these ideas within CHEP, where it feels as though I am in the position to really have an impact. Like any University, Southampton has its strengths and weaknesses, and it’s important that we highlight both these sides. I don’t believe any University is perfect – but I do believe there are examples for all good practices across all higher education establishments, which why it’s particularly interesting to explore wider literature to see what is being done elsewhere and engaging in global forums such as Advance HE’s ongoing Student Partnerships in Assessment (SPiA) discussion. I think that traditionally, discussions on higher education practice are done behind closed doors with limited student involvement, so it’s great to see CHEP involving us as interns on active projects.
Being on the internship has given me an insight to the work that goes on ‘behind the scenes’ of higher education. It’s also given me experience of project management and working in a professional environment. I have found these skills to be particularly valuable and they have given me more confidence in my abilities and thoughts as I begin to tackle post-graduate employment.
In the next few years, I hope to take on a PhD – and through this I plan to get involved in higher education teaching. I am therefore finding the experiences from this internship particularly valuable as I begin to think about how I might deliver education in the future, learning from the issues raised by students and the experiences of teaching and administrative staff.