My First Week in London and My First Day of Interning

My first week in London was quite an interesting experience. I learned a lot from the prices of housing, to the importance of looking left when I usually look right when crossing the street. I did all of the different tourist things that were offered to me, including the hop on hop off bus tours (which was a part of our tuition for this program), as well as the London eye, and a trip to the gorgeous and rocky Brighton Beach where I went on a tour bus to learn all that I could about the busy city. This all lead up to my first day on the job with Camden Jobtrain, a business that helps troubled teenagers to get more education, and finally to go out into the real world and get a job to make something of themselves.

As I went to find this large learning center, I was a little concerned about what I would expect, who I would meet, and what I would learn from being in such an environment. Before this we had an orientation with Anglo American where they brought a small group of us into a meeting room to tell us each individually about our placements. When they got to me, the Anglo American facilitator, Leslie, told me where I would be going and then hesitantly asked what my major was. When I answered sociology, he responded hesitantly and said, “Well maybe, I guess this goes along with your major.” This was extremely disconcerting, and made me wonder whether or not I was placed well.

When I arrived at the site I was greeted by my facilitator Kieran and was introduced to everyone in all of the offices. We visited the 5 sites available to the students, and I got to see what the children had offered to them when they were not studying and getting their education. Camden Jobtrain offers teenagers the chance to learn about practical skills such as retail, car mechanics, construction, wood building and athletics to help them to learn how to get a starting job. It was extremely interesting to see these children at work; and I was told that they were a bit of a handful; however they all seemed to be nice individuals who were getting the help that they needed to get back on their feet. Throughout the day it was interesting to talk to Kieran and ask him the many questions I had which helped me to see the differences between the American and European school system, of which there are many differences. This center is unique as I have seen nothing like it in America. It is a place for bullies, people who have been bullied, as well as dyslexic and special need children to go and get back on their feet. The first day was definitely an interesting one, and I learned a lot.