Your Future, Start Now: Sasha
Sasha Calvert shares her experiences of participating in the Your Future, Start Now Internship Programme.
My story – Sasha Calvert
- Course: BSc Ecology and Conservation
- Year of study when you completed this internship: Second year
- Employer: Ecology Centre in Kinghorn
Why did you sign up for Your Future, Start Now?
I signed up because I was anxious and uncertain about the future and how to go about career planning. I hoped the programme would give me some clarity on how to plan for the future and to recognise the options I have. I hoped to gain more confidence and start thinking about what I can do now and going forward to start planning for my own career.
How did you find the 5-week workshop programme?
For me, the most valuable takeaways from the programme were the conversations about networking, using LinkedIn and CV and cover letter construction, and hearing about the careers of the guest speakers. Learning about how they had developed their careers helped to paint a clearer picture in my mind of some career options and how one gets into it, as well as showing me that some careers may be more different than at first glance.
I gained more confidence in myself as it helped me to identify my skills, how to discuss them, and how to apply them in future.
Tell us a little about your internship
My internship was with the Ecology Centre in Kinghorn, working with a researcher (Lyle Boyle, also shown in the photograph) involved in the Restoration Forth project to restore seagrass and oyster populations in the Firth of Forth. I spent the first day looking at potential seagrass locations, then spent the rest of the time working in Pettycur Bay in Kinghorn mapping patches of seagrass. I also learned how to use the mapping software GIS, and even made a map of the Pettycur Bay site for use in a community seagrass spotting event.
What skills did you learn and how did you put them into practice during the internship?
Throughout the course I learned how to construct a relevant CV and cover letter and describe my skills to employers.
I also learned to be more active in engaging with others in my field of interest to get the most out of the opportunities available to me. During the internship I engaged myself with the people working at the Centre, for example, by asking if I should write a blog on their website about my time and experiences working there. I had seen blogs written by others working on the project I was involved in, and thought it would be a good opportunity to engage more with the Ecology Centre and their work. This idea was well received, and you can read a week of seagrass and learning blog post. I had a wonderful week and enjoyed working outdoors.
Additionally, the seagrass spotting event for which I made the map took place this week, and I will be reaching out to the researcher I worked with to ask how it went to keep up communication and maintain the network connection.
What’s next for you in your career journey?
The next step for me is finding and reaching out to more people working in my field of interest and creating connections that can help me find a more long-term internship in the near future.
What would you say to someone considering signing up for the YFSN programme?
I would really encourage anyone to apply to the YFSN programme! For someone like me who is unsure about the future and a little lost as to what to do, it has been an extremely helpful and rewarding experience. I truly gained much more confidence through the programme, and it has made me excited for the future and a potential career rather than fearing it.