First Gen Student Internship

Many of our students take the leap to studying East Asia through a passion for East Asian culture, history or language. Most have never had any formal education in their degree subject or even visited the region before coming to study at the School of East Asian Studies.

East Asia is rarely covered in schools and because of its cultural as well as physical distance is not often considered as an area of study at degree level. The idea of moving to university and devoting three or four years to studying one specific subject is daunting for all students, and many feel a pressing need to prove to themselves and their families that they have made a worthwhile choice.

For all students who are the first in their family to attend university the pressure to consider future career prospects and follow more familiar pathways can be overwhelming. On top of these common concerns, first generation students in the School of East Asian Studies are most often the first in their families to develop an interest in East Asia and, as part of their degree programme, the first in their families to go to the region. This can make the thought of studying East Asia at university doubly daunting for those who are the first to go, as they try to navigate, understand and explain the complexities of life at university and of cultures and languages that their families are unlikely to know much about. 

This video project will showcase the experiences of first generation students from their discovery of an interest in East Asia, China, Japan or Korea, through to applying for university, and eventually being the first person in their family to travel to and live in the region. The overall aim is to show prospective students from similar backgrounds that a degree from the School of East Asian Studies at Sheffield is not only achievable for students from any background, but will provide life changing experiences and the skills needed to take full advantage of future career opportunities.

We are looking for a creative student to take a lead on a video project which explores what it means to be the first to go to university and be a student in the School of East Asian Studies. A storyboard has already been created for this project where the focus will be to include SEAS staff who were also first generation. 

Responsibilities

The student will be responsible for the following activities with support from the School of East Asian Studies Marketing Officer and Undergraduate Admissions Tutor. 

• Liaising with interviewees (if applicable) 
• Organising and planning locations
• Filming
• Video editing

Student criteria

• Studying in the School of East Asian Studies
• Ideally in their 3^rd or final year
• Creative and have experience of creating and editing videos to a high standard. 

Pay and project duration

Pay will be set at grade 4

Hours: maximum 30 hours over a 3 week period

Deadline for applications is 27th April 2022

Find out more about FirstGenSheffield

To apply for the role

If this sounds up your street we would love for you to submit your contact details via the Google form below, for any further queries please email Mollie Shadwick at m.shadwick@sheffield.ac.uk.

Apply here