Category: Skills development

Mental health and mushrooms: from intern to co-founder

Posted on by Careers Service

An interview with Chris Baker, the founder of No Ordinary Moments, on his experience of the SME Internship Scheme and why he made his intern a co-founder of his company.

How did No Ordinary Moments start? 

As a former college athlete in North Carolina, I’ve always been intrigued by sports performance and nutrition.

The idea for No Ordinary Moments first came to me when I was an intern working 15-hour days in Silicon Valley, drinking 5 plus coffees a day. 

I believed my coffee habit enhanced my energy, focus, and productivity. However, I didn’t understand why I often felt anxious, jittery, overwhelmed, and lacked energy.

My caffeine dependency was amplifying my internal struggles, so I embarked on a journey to create my own drink. 

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Hidden benefits of the Bristol PLUS Award: From Internships to preparing you for post-graduate life!

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The Bristol PLUS Award logo

Hear from 4th year MSc Chemistry student, Zahria, who achieved her Bristol PLUS Award in the 2023-24 Academic Year, whilst also securing a summer internship with telecommunications company BT! 

How has PLUS prepared you for your future once you leave university?

The Bristol PLUS Award has played a great role in preparing me for life beyond university by giving me a clearer understanding of navigating my career journey. It also opened my eyes to many career resources available at the university, that I would otherwise not have known about!

The activities required to achieve the PLUS Award helped me build and showcase key transferable skills that employers value such as teamwork, communication and time management.

Zahria smiling on a beach
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A taste of our Bristol PLUS Award Endorsing Organisation activities!

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What are Skills Sessions?

The Bristol PLUS Award is proud to have a variety of Endorsing Organisations, who work directly with the PLUS Award team to organise bespoke events for our PLUS Award students!

These organisations all see the value of connecting directly with our engaged PLUS Award students, who demonstrate commitment to continuous development of their employability skills. This term, almost 50 students have attended interactive sessions with AlphaSights, Enterprise, and Tutor The Nation.

Each of the sessions allowed students to develop their core skills of working well as part of a team, communicating confidently and appropriately, and developing and maintaining healthy relationships. These are 3 of the 27 skills on My Skills, the University’s skills development profile.

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City Challenge: Streams Learning Hub 

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City Challenges are a programme of events providing students with the opportunity to engage with charities and social enterprises.   

The Streams Learning Hub Bristol logo, featuring a white dove on a black background.

Students can support worthwhile organisations whilst developing skills to improve employability. By taking part in a City Challenge, students gain experience in problem solving, presentation skills, innovative thinking, and community engagement.  

Streams Learning Hub 

The Streams Learning Hub is a co-working space for teenagers in central Bristol. It provides a flexible space for young people to gather, learn and connect with online providers and in-person workshops and events.  

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Connect with confidence: a first-timer’s guide to networking

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Networking can be daunting, especially for those who have not had much experience with it before.

Studies show that first-generation students often have smaller, less diverse social networks, which can limit their access to networking opportunities and reduce their confidence in these settings.

However, building a network is crucial for personal and professional growth.

Here are five practical tips to help you get started:

Careers fair
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My SME Internship: Aarya – Drinks Kitchen

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This past summer, I had the incredible opportunity to intern with Drinks Kitchen, a pioneering company in the non-alcoholic beverage industry.  

Located in Bristol, Drinks Kitchen is on a mission to redefine social drinking norms by offering high-quality, environmentally mindful non-alcoholic drinks. The internship was part of the SME Internship Scheme, which aims to provide students and recent graduates with quality, paid work experience.   

Drinks Kitchen logo
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City Challenges kick-off the year with The MoSAIC 

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City Challenges are a programme of events providing students with the opportunity to engage with charities and social enterprises.  

Students can support worthwhile organisations whilst developing skills to improve employability. By taking part in a City Challenge, students gain experience in group working, problem solving, public speaking and presentation, innovative thinking, and community engagement. 

The MoSAIC (The Museum of Science, the Arts & Interdisciplinary Collaboration)
is a Bristol based business taking STEAM learning to the next level and reducing the disadvantage gap using cross-curricular education. They show young people and educators how creative the STEM subjects really are through online and downloadable teaching resources and accessibly priced in-person creative school workshops aimed at secondary school aged students. The MoSAIC came and hosted a session with us at the Careers Service on Tyndall Avenue. Students worked together and came up with ideas to support the marketing of services and diversification of revenue streams. 

Gareth, founder of The MoSAIC stands in front of a slide with his company's branding on. He is talking animatedly and gesturing.
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Creative community engagement with Sparks Bristol! 

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City Challenges went off-campus with a trip to Sparks Bristol on Wednesday 8 May.  

SPARKS Bristol logo

The event started with a tour of the different departments at Sparks and a talk about what Sparks does, why it was founded, and what they stand for.  

Lucy, Volunteer Coordinator

Lucy, Volunteer Coordinator, said

“Sparks Bristol is a sustainability and creativity hub. It’s a community space in the centre of Bristol where we want people to explore what a fairer and greener future looks like. And they consider the climate crisis, the cost of living crisis, and what we can do with an empty, massive building right in the middle of the city.” 

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