Work Experience: BA Journalism Students

Meet Anabel, Ikrah and Alex (pictured left to right), BA Journalism students taking part in work experience at Déda from January to April.

Hello everyone!

I’m Anabel Coupland, a second-year Journalism student at the University of Derby. I love expression through colours and art which is what attracted me to Deda, Derby. My work experience here will help me discover the PR and marketing industry whilst exploring different art and media platforms. I hope to learn about current digital trends within the industry and use forms of social media platforms to promote events and classes. I’m excited to attend classes like the Mindfulness class and both enjoy the class and review it. Practical skills are also important to me, as an option for my future career is broadcasting and so, videoing, editing and social media will be vital skills for me. I will be writing press releases for shows and classes which will hopefully be used on the website, blog, or social media.

I have been helping give a fresh view of the campaigns and helping Deda improve the messages they emphasise and also review what I feel they did well on; this includes the current Dance Together, Live Better campaign which is helping older people through dance and art therapy.

I am currently working on a press release for Moxie Brawl’s ‘History of Ireland’, a show that highlights Irish women’s achievements that are often forgotten in history books. This show is really interesting to learn and write about because I love pieces that involve female empowerment and this particular one explores it in a comedic, almost ‘pantomime’, kind of way.

My next blog post will be a review of the Mindfulness class I will be attending. Be sure to look out for it!

Dance Active session, supported by Déda through the DanceTogetherLiveBetter campaign.

Hello I’m Ikrah, a BA Journalism student at the University of Derby and I’m taking part in work experience at Déda for my work-based learning module.

I really enjoy everything about the arts, especially dance. When I was 9 I really wanted to take part in ballet classes, so my family pushed me to finally join. I really enjoyed everything about it, down to the shoes, the moves, the people I danced with. It was all like a dream come true. This carried on for 2 years until I broke my arm. What I truly love about dance is that you can express yourself, everyone has their own style and you can’t go wrong. At Déda it isn’t just about dance, all the arts have merged together to create this brilliant creative place for people who enjoy everything about the arts.

Here at Déda I’m hoping to learn a variety of skills in the PR industry. These include writing efficient press releases, social media navigation and how its managed within the industry. I’m hoping to achieve this skill set by the end of my work experience.

Look out for Anabel's Mindfulness Review during her work experience.

My name is Alex Beadnell and I am currently helping out at Déda for seven weeks in the PR and social media department. I am a second-year BA Journalism student, studying at the university of Derby.

I do not have a lot of dance experience; in fact, I would say the only dancing I do is in night clubs or when I did ballet at the age of six and seven in my primary school. I applied for work experience at Déda as I wanted to challenge myself and seeing as I know nothing about dance, I would be learning something new every week- and not just about the PR industry.

Déda stood out to me because of their large involvement with charitable work, which is something I am passionate about. Although it might sound like a cliché, my motto in life is to make a difference in the world and by working here I can get a good start at that.

Journalism is an industry I am very keen to end up in, whether it be broadcast, investigative, writing reviews or working in a news room. I would also like to pursue a career in PR later on in life, once I have built up contacts and I can confidently say I have conquered the world of reporting. Wherever I end up I want to be writing and talking about news.

Here at Déda I hope to be a trusted member of the team, helping with social media posts, writing press releases or interviewing people for a story. I also want to get the company’s work noticed more, as what they do is brilliant for others. It’s creative yet enlightening and hopefully one day the whole country will know about them!

The students will be creating a video on our Ashtanga Yoga Class as part of their work experience.