After joining Medway Amateur Dramatics Society (MADS) for the 2017/18 academic and taking part in one of their plays in the Autumn term, I decide to pitch to be director for the Spring musical performance of "Our House", based on the music of British ska band Madness.

Working with an incredibly talented cast and production team, this has probably been the most rewarding experience throughout all my time at university.  It's been wonderful to mix with such a dynamic and creative group of people, whilst also putting my business and logistical skills to use in a different context.  I've developed empathy when working with a diverse range of personalities and performance backgrounds; understood the complexities of bringing multiple strands of a project (e.g. live music, staging, dance choreography and singing) together into a final coherent event; and, it's also been necessary respite away from my academic studies.

Having worked for the university full-time in a placement role for KBS during the 2016/17 academic year, this seemed another great way to further improve my knowledge of public sector administration - a field of work that appeals to me upon graduation - and better understand the motivations of other undergraduate students.

During my time as EP's Medway Ambassador, I have delivered lecture shout-outs, pop-ups at prominent campus locations and Liberty Quays accommodation, and written several articles for the EP blog.  These aspects to the role have each developed different skills such as communication, presentation confidence, copywriting and the ability to tailor material to my audience.  

I also believe in the very simple premise of the EP scheme: to incentivise students to engage co-curricularly and not see university as a purely academic experience.  I personally have benefitted immensely from doing so, and have learned far more about myself and the working world from extra activities than I ever could in the classroom.

In November 2017, I had the opportunity to take part in a virtual business competition with students from Hong Kong's Polytechnic University (PolyU).  I worked in a team of three KBS Medway students, against one other from KBS and two from PolyU, to run a virtual bicycle company over a 10-year trading period.

it was a great experience to make key business decisions in a realistic environment, and helped me appreciate how one decision affects all other aspects of a business such as research and development, operations, finance and marketing.  It involved using sophisticated simulation software that I was privileged to have access to and it also helped me write a business proposal assignment in my final year, due to the increased understanding I acquired about what it takes to make an idea succeed in the real world.

During my time working full-time for KBS, I was utilised as a sounding board by the External Services team (based in Canterbury) to help engage the Medway student population with this extra-curricular initiative, which takes students on a logical 'journey' from idea conception, through the intricate details of formulating a business plan, to a final pitching day.

I also attended the majority of lunchtime sessions, which covered business fundamentals such as finance, marketing, personal branding and copyrights.  The main learnings from this experience were the subject material, but it was also nice to share ideas with other enthusiastic students and realise that, no matter how personal an initial idea may be, it's chances of success are heightened through collaboration.