Janelle Pang, an international student from Singapore, majored in Communications and Media studies in her UWA Arts degree. Through a McCusker Centre for Citizenship internship with the Youth Affairs Council of Western Australia (YACWA), she honed her writing, marketing and events coordination skills while learning about the importance of youth services.
Janelle assisted YACWA in the lead up to their WA Youth Awards 2024 event.
“I wrote biographies for 44 Awards finalists, created and scheduled social media posts promoting the Awards and the event, and helped with admin tasks leading up to the event as well as at the event itself,” Janelle said.
“The most rewarding element of my internship was seeing my work at the Awards event, which was the last day of my internship. The bios I wrote were included in the printed programs and read out as finalists came to the stage – I helped summarise the wonderful work done by inspiring young people, helping YACWA share their stories which I hope, in turn, inspired others.
“In a month and a half, the social media posts I created made more than 37 thousand impressions, which helped the event sell out of tickets.
“In my future career I want to create engaging and impactful content, and this experience aligned with that and helped me develop my skills,” she said.
Katie Berry, Advocacy and Engagement Manager at YACWA, said that Janelle had been extremely committed to her role, bringing a high level of professionalism and reliability to the team.
“Janelle’s work helped us celebrate the achievements of young people, many of whom had overcome serious personal challenges to achieve great things and be recognised as finalists in the Awards. A large proportion of these young people have never received formal recognition before, and Janelle’s contribution will help to encourage them and garner support for them to continue their incredible work,” Ms Berry said.
While the internship was highly relevant for Janelle developing skills for a communications-focussed career, it also gave her greater awareness of social issues affecting youth and opportunities to give back to the community.
“As an international student, I initially assumed that most young people here don’t face major challenges. The internship showed me that there’s often more going on beneath the surface, and I learned about various services available to youth in need, such as the Youth Disability Advocacy Network, the Youth Pride Network, and the Youth Educating Peers Project. It was inspiring to see so many passionate individuals in the youth sector working together to improve the lives of young people.”
Image L-R: Adelaide Williams, Katie Berry, Sandy McKeirnan, Janelle Pang and Jake de Visser at the WA Youth Awards 2024.