We offer each of our trainees a summer bursary of up to £1,000 every summer of their degree to spend on journalism work experience or a journalism project, giving them the unique opportunity to travel and explore the areas of journalism they are passionate about.
School of Journalism trainee Florence Cutts shared how she used her summer bursary creating a platform about solo travelling around Japan.
Travelling to Japan has always been a dream of mine, but one I thought I would not be able to make a reality within the confines of a budget I could set for myself.
With the help of the School of Journalism, I was able to set myself the challenge of making this dream trip a reality, and prove that travelling around Japan doesn’t have to be as expensive as it seems.
The £1,000 project summer bursary covered the cost of flights and my accommodation which allowed for me to focus on planning on how I was going to document the trip to Japan for readers to experience in the most digestible and helpful form possible.
@florencerose._ Fly to Tokyo with me for the scariest but best trip of my life 🥹⭐️ #japan #solotravel #tokyo #solodate #japantravel ♬ FANTASTIC MR FOX – amaramation
The aim of my project was to create a blog about solo travelling in your twenties, and capture the ins and outs of exploring Japan: the do’s and don’ts and what I learned through experience.
You can find it here.
Being in Japan gave me the chance to practice my travel journalism skills, capturing the small details of exploring a new country as well as the practical side of things like navigating the train systems and booking experiences in advance.
Japan is one of the safest destinations for female solo travellers and I knew it would be great to document my journey so that readers know that it is possible to travel alone as a woman and feel safe whilst doing so.
As I was travelling alone, I was pushed out of my comfort zone and had to quickly become comfortable talking to strangers, and asking for help.
@florencerose._ Honestly nothing better than being comfortable in your own company 💌 (ps. olivia dean I could not love the new album more if I tried) #solotravel #solodate #travelvlog #japantravel #oliviadean ♬ Baby Steps – Olivia Dean
Using the skills I had learnt so far on my degree course with the School of Journalism, I was able to chat with locals in Japan and hear stories I never would have had the confidence to divulge in before my degree.
It taught me that human connection and experience is something that transcends language barriers and that travel journalism is about sharing those experiences and connecting through stories.
Most of all, this experience taught me that not everything goes to plan and one of the most essential journalistic skills is to be flexible and adaptable.
I had planned everything in detail and expected it all to happen as it was written, but by allowing for things to go wrong, I was able to practice being adaptable and turning challenges into stories that readers could connect with and learn from.
This was an incredibly valuable experience not only for me as a journalist but for me as a human being and I am incredibly grateful to The School of Journalism for the opportunity.
You can read more of our summer bursary blogs here.
Sign up to our free The School of Journalism taster sessions here.