Miranda Wild

What made you want to apply to your course and to Leeds?

I am from a tiny rural village, so I wanted to experience city life. Leeds was a perfect location as it provides all the excitement of a big city whilst being easy to navigate due to its compact centre.

The Russell Group reputation and the gorgeous architecture of the Brotherton Library and the School of English buildings appealed to me, as did the weekly English Tea meet-up and the abundance of cheese and wine at every event. 

What made you want to apply to be a student intern?

I enjoy getting involved with my local community - I spent four months helping in a local school as part of the Students into Schools module, I’ve assisted at and written blog entries for the Headingley Literature Festival, and have been part of a team running a five-day residential trip for local children.

I found out about the opportunity to be a Peer Mentoring Intern through an email from the School of English. I was a mentee in first year and then a mentor in second year, so I had experienced both sides of the scheme and found it very valuable to the settling in process. I wanted to help other first years to enjoy Leeds as much as I have by improving the scheme further.

What did your role involve?

I had to run various events, the most exciting being the welcome event during Freshers’ Week. This is when the mentors and mentees meet each other for the first time, and I could see whether the groups I had made bonded well.

We also did collaborations with English Tea and had events near the end of the first semester to prepare the students for the new challenges it would bring. I oversaw the scheme and acted as a point of contact for both mentees and mentors with issues throughout the year. I also recruited and trained next year’s mentors.

What was it like being a student intern?

Being a student intern was a fantastic opportunity to help first years to settle in, and to learn mentoring skills. It was brilliant to find a term-time job that I could easily fit in around my studies. I would definitely encourage people to apply - it’s great to be more involved in the English department from the inside and bond with students from different year groups.

Do you think your experience as a student intern will be helpful in the future?

Definitely - I will be studying for a Masters degree in Education and a Secondary English PGCE at the University of Cambridge in September, and the organisational and pastoral mixture of my student intern role impressed in each of my interviews, as was commented on in my feedback.