BLOG: School Summer Intern Tia McEwan writes about her week working for Jenny Gilruth MSP

Published date : 28 Aug 2020

Jenny Gilruth MSP announced her inaugural internship scheme in January with the aim of giving one senior pupil from each high school in her Mid Fife and Glenrothes constituency an insight into how a local MSP’s office works.

Although her constituency office remains physically closed due to Covid-19, Jenny was keen to offer the successful applicants the opportunity to join her constituency team as work on behalf of her constituents continues from home. As Jenny is a Living Wage Employer, each intern will receive the living wage for their week’s work.

Glenwood High School’s Tia McEwan was the first intern to join Jenny’s constituency team and here Tia reflects on her week’s internship, which started on Monday 24 August.

Tia’s blog

At the start of my internship I wasn’t sure what to expect, working from home was something I had never done before. I was so grateful that my internship was still going forward as this has been such an amazing opportunity and experience I wouldn’t ever want to miss!

We started off the week by visiting some constituents who had suffered major damage from the recent floods, this was heart-breaking. Seeing Jenny and her team so passionate about helping people who had been affected was really inspiring, and all the distances Jenny would go to help her constituents in any way truly showed her dedication.

The rest of the week I started working from home, and despite only being able to communicate via Zoom, email or over the phone, Jenny and her team made me feel very welcome and at home. They were always there to support me through all my work, but also trusted me enough to leave me to my own tasks. Some of the things I got involved in was working on social media posts, press releases and helping constituents. These was all very interesting as they provided insight into the huge job that comes with being an MSP.

One of my favourite aspects of the week was being asked to write up a campaign letter about something in the constituency I am passionate about. I wrote about the issue of mental health in young people (especially during COVID-19) and presented it to Jenny and her Head of Office, James, via Zoom. This was the best part of the week as we talked about my letter and discussed how we could put my ideas into action, which was really rewarding for me because I felt like I was making a difference (however small).

Overall, I have had a really great time this week and I’m sad its over already, I have the upmost respect for Jenny and her entire team for all the work they do. I want to sincerely thank them all for having me, and I would recommend this experience to anyone as it is something I will never forget and always treasure!

Tia McEwan

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