Thinking about taking part in the Birmingham Award or Birmingham Project? Find out why I did it!
I participated in the Birmingham Project and the Birmingham Award in my first year.
The Birmingham Project was an intensive one-week challenge in which first-year students collaborated in interdisciplinary teams to tackle real-world issues. My team and I were paired with the West Midlands combined authority, which invest in local projects like transport, skills, and wellbeing, delivering different initiatives to drive economic growth in the West Midlands. We developed an innovative solution; we devised a mobile festival to teach young people about knife crime and bring the local community together. Our challenge helped the team develop problem-solving skills, leading us to win the challenge! As a prize, I was able to network and have a one-to-one mentoring session with the outreach team.
Concurrently, I engaged in the Birmingham Award, the university’s recognised employability skills program. This award kept me busy, motivating me to participate in extracurricular activities, such as supporting research projects, getting involved in the student rep program, and being on a student group committee. The award acknowledges extracurricular achievements and the development of skills essential for the graduate job market. I felt encouraged to step out of my comfort zone, fostering resilience and confidence in new challenges.
Both programs helped shape my university experience in my first year, providing ways to apply academic knowledge in practical settings and preparing me for future professional endeavours. Both of these programmes have given me foundational skills to progress further in my professional career, such as securing part-time work and progressing through summer internship shortlisting (fingers crossed I get through!)
I'm Leah, a second-year Psychology in Education student at the University of Birmingham.
