UWA philosophy student Adehlia Ebert, 20, recently completed a three-month McCusker Centre internship with the Duke of Edinburgh organisation in WA, throwing herself in the deep end to learn new skills while also providing valuable support to the not-for-profit youth organisation.
Adehlia believes self-doubt is the biggest barrier for young people wanting to make a difference in the world – but it’s not insurmountable.
“I think there are a lot of young people in the same boat – who want to make a difference but don’t know where to begin or lack the confidence to put their hand up,” Adehlia says.
She says she gained invaluable practical experience well outside her fields of study, which include politics and Italian.
“I was doing things I’d never done before – putting together policy guides, doing recruitment advertising and responding to expressions of interest.
“I made a few mistakes early on and quickly learnt from those, and that really gives you a confidence boost.
“The most important thing I took away from the internship was the awareness that as citizens, we can have a much broader impact than we think. One small action has a snowball effect and seeing that happen really motivated and showed me I’m capable of more than I thought.”
Ms Ebert says she’s now keen to do more internships and get actively involved in the work of not-for-profit organisations.