Valentina, a student from the West Midlands, attended a BBC Outreach masterclass in Birmingham recently. The day-long workshop included sessions on recognising your strengths, improving your CV, and interview techniques, with a discussion centred around reassessing key achievements.
'I will be using the things I learned in the sessions to figure out my future plans, including what I do at university.'
My name is Valentina and I have just started my last year of sixth form. I hope to go to university next September to study film production. I spent my summer volunteering in Ghana and completing a work experience placement at a production company. I was informed about the BBC Outreach Masterclass through the NCS graduate programme. I thought that it would be a great opportunity to learn from people who were already in the creative industries and also other young people who had similar interests and aspirations to me. In addition, a chance to be in the BBC for a day is one that I could not pass up.
Valentina, left, at the BBC Outreach masterclass
On the morning of the masterclass we were split into groups of young people who had never met before, along with a member of staff from the BBC to begin the first session of the day, storytelling. Here we were shown the importance of structure to build-up tension and suspense. As I want to be a filmmaker I felt that this was particularly useful to develop my scriptwriting skills which is something that I had not explored in depth previously.
We were set the task of identifying our ‘superpowers’, a personal quality that we were particularly proud of or felt described us. As a result of finding out our superpowers we were then put to the task of telling our own stories. With the previous tips that we had got regarding storytelling we were able to feedback exciting stories that were either fictional or from real life experiences. For me, this was one of the most challenging parts of the day as I had never thought to imagine myself as the hero of a story. On the other hand, this was also a part of the day which I felt had the most impact, as people volunteered to share their stories to the whole group; many of which were personal to them yet were delivered with much confidence.
After lunch, we visited the BBC Blue Room where we were introduced to new digital technologies such as virtual reality headsets and so on. It was interesting actually to be able to use the items such as the 360-degree viewers and the voice-activated speakers. It was amazing actually to try these things out, it’s something I would have never had the chance to experience, had I not gone to the masterclass that day.
One of the final activities of the day was when we were given an opportunity to talk to some young people who had recently started working at the BBC as runners and broadcast assistants. This Q&A-style section really opened my eyes to the interview process the BBC has and what a typical day would be for someone working either of these two jobs. It also highlighted some of the challenging factors they would face such as the very early starts which I was not previously aware of. We were also given information on how to apply for BBC work experience opportunities as well as finding out about BBC Apprenticeship schemes, including ones that specialised in production and/or journalism. We also found out about the ‘Make it Digital’ Traineeship.
To wrap up the day, we were able to go through our CVs with some of the BBC staff. I found this very useful as I was able to receive feedback straight from people in the industry. The advice that we were given was specific to each of us so therefore everyone was able to put what was suggested into practice. Also, we completed a worksheet which broke up our future into challenges, possibilities and opportunities. I personally found this incredibly helpful as it allowed me have a more positive and realistic view on subjects such as university and apprenticeships.
Overall, the day as a whole was a spectacular experience which, I feel, was perfectly tailored to young people. I will be using the things I learned in the sessions to figure out my future plans, including what I do at university. I would like to thank the BBC and NCS for allowing me to attend; I am very grateful for the things that I learnt and experienced whilst being on the BBC Outreach Masterclass.
BBC Outreach & Corporate Responsibility brings the BBC closer to its audiences - particularly those audiences we have identified as harder to reach - with face-to-face activity, community support and staff volunteering.
