Your Future, Start Now: Karis
Karis Lonie shares her experiences of participating in the Your Future, Start Now Internship Programme.
My story – Karis Lonie
- Course: Geography and Sustainable Development
- Year of study when you completed this internship: Second year
- Employer: Zest Cafe, St Andrews
Why did you sign up for Your Future, Start Now?
I signed up to YFSN because it was an enticing, structured programme. By signing up I was hoping to gain confidence about the skills I have, recognise the skills that I need to work on and improve my knowledge of how to have a successful employability journey.
How did you find the 5-week workshop programme?
I really enjoyed the YFSN programme. The programme workshops were well spaced out over the 5 weeks. The content was engaging and valuable and the extra tasks were flexible which allowed me to balance my academic work. I learnt about self-motivation, leadership, mindset, professionalism, communication, teamwork and create problem solving. These were all important and useful topics that helped me to understand and make the most out of the internship that followed – as well as improve my employability in the future.
Tell us a little about your internship
My internship was based at Zest, a local speciality café in St Andrews. Another YFSN intern and I were tasked with producing a questionnaire to assess the environmental and social sustainability of small businesses and a report to assess the sustainability of Zest based on how the café performed in the questionnaire. We worked with the manager of Zest to find and analyse information about Zest’s sustainability in terms of staff, equipment, supplies and procedures.
The internship was then extended from a connection of the manager. We met with the Editor-in-Chief of The Journal of Fair Trade to write an article about the internship experience and the sustainability report with the aim of publishing it in the journal.
What skills did you learn and how did you put them into practice during the internship?
I learned various essential skills from the YFSN programme. I found that leadership, professionalism, communication and teamwork were particularly useful for the internship experience. I put them into practice by working appropriately, effectively and efficiently to manage tasks and keep within the internship timeline with both my fellow intern and the manager of Zest.
What’s next for you in your career journey?
I am currently in the first year of my two-year Laidlaw Scholarship Programme. This programme will provide me with valuable research and leadership experience.
Next summer I will be undertaking a two-week trip to Honduras as a research assistant for a biodiversity and conservation programme with Operation Wallacea. In addition to these programmes, I am currently searching for work shadowing experience and further internship/work experience.
What would you say to someone considering signing up for Your Future, Start Now?
I would strongly recommend signing up for the YFSN programme. The programme is a well-structured, informative and an advantageous opportunity to improve, gain new skills and learn how to apply them in the working world.