Rachel Westwood
School of English student, Rachel Westwood, spoke to us about her experience in writing for Uni News and how this might help her after university.
How did you get involved in writing for Uni News?
I got involved with writing for Uni News after seeing an advertisement in my BCU emails. I was extremely interested in the position and was so happy when Lisa rang me to tell me that I had been successful.
How did you choose what to write about?
On my first day with the Uni News team, I was informed that we pretty much have free reign to write about whatever we thought students would be interested in reading about and this was like music to my ears. I thought it was absolutely incredible that I was being given the opportunity to write about what I was interested in on a professional, wide-reaching platform like Uni News. I wrote about things I think are worth talking about and topics I wanted the average student to be more educated about such as veganism and how to reduce the amount of plastic waste you use daily. These are the kinds of things that more students should be getting involved in to create a better planet for the future.
Why did you get involved in it?
I got involved primarily as I need to obtain work experience hours as a part of my course but each week I found myself looking forward to going in. I had no idea I would have so much fun doing it.
Did your tutors encourage you to do it?
Yes, after I completed some hours one of my tutors sent me a lovely email congratulating me for my placement.
Do you know what you want to do when you leave university?
Ideally, I would like to be writing for a publication like Uni News. I would also like to earn an income from creating YouTube videos.
Do you think writing for Uni News will help you achieve this?
Definitely. My time with Uni News so far has given me the confidence to write about what I want without fear or hesitation. It's also given me an opportunity to display my works to future employers who can see what kinds of topics I am interested in writing about.
Would you advise someone else to write for Uni News?
Without a doubt! Everyone involved in Uni News is so friendly, welcoming and supportive. The team are always on hand to help you out and you are given free rein to write about all the things you have been dying to talk about.