My name is Akera and I’m a student on the Prince’s Trust 12 week team programme. For part of my course I had to do a three week work placement but the twist was that as the student I had to arrange it all myself.
That is how I found myself at MyBnk.
By Akera Campbell, 20.
I’ll admit, I was nervous about my first day, would I fit in with the MyBnk structure? As soon as I entered the MyBnk HQ my fears were put to rest, each and every person is lovely and unique in their own way and they used that to make me feel more and more comfortable day after day which was really helpful. It helped me to escape my shell of being really shy and withdrawn which I have always used as my default when going into a new setting but I wasn’t in my shell for as long as I usually am purely because of the friendliness.
During my twenty years of life, I have never had any form of financial education or enterprise knowledge what so ever. It is truly a blessing to have MyBnk going to schools and informing young adults about this powerful tool. I could have done with knowing about this when I was growing up as it is a useful tool to now infuse into my daily life.
I got to observe a Back My Business session which was fantastic! At first I didn’t think I was going to understand it. During secondary school I failed business studies but it was massively difficult because I didn’t understand the jargon. So I’d usually just bury my head in the sand, and not acknowledge it until it was too late to do anything about it, but funnily enough I learnt a lot from this session. Back My Business got the students to really think about what could entice their audience to want to buy their product. It really brought out their entrepreneurial side. It was exciting seeing this session in action and seeing the enterprise side of MyBnk. Understanding the finance side of it all was important to and I got to see a Money Twist KS4 and Uni Dosh session as well.
I have really enjoyed being a part of the MyBnk team, going out and observing sessions and getting to know everyone here. It has been a wonderful experience and I’m glad I received the chance to better myself because of it. It has changed me for the better. I’ve more than strived I have thrived in this environment (even though I may have gained a little bit of weight due to cake and chocolate surrounding me!). I hope I am welcome to come back and help out in the future.
After work placement I will be going on to my last leg of my Prince’s Trust 12 week team program. This will be to fundraise in order for my team to teach children in Mitcham how to do fencing. We will be doing a cake sale and a sponsored walk to fundraise. Following after that my team and I will be doing our final presentation and performing it in front of friends and family. I may be singing during this time but may not. (If I do I hope I don’t mess up and get stage fright *fingers crossed*)
After the program I will hopefully go on to work on an administrative apprenticeship, get a job in the business administration field and continue volunteering at MyBnk and get involvded with their Youth Advisory Panel!
