The Cut It Out Project aims to fight knife crime and gang culture for young people through “engagement, empowerment and inspiration.” (*TW: Contains discussions of violence and abuse). It was launched in May by lawyer Tinessa Kaur, in collaboration with Faron Alex Paul, who runs a knife amnesty programme called ‘Faz Amnesty.’ The informal Amnesty programme involves Faron meeting people who have contacted him through Instagram to hand over their knives confidentially, which he then gives to the police. In an interview with Meg’s Life Hacks and reporter Katie Waple, they tell us how and why this ..read more

Writing about how to improve your relationship with social media is always going to be ironic because without posting this article online, most of you wouldn’t even be reading this. I’m not (yet) at the point where my SEO levels are enough to bring in thousands of reads, so I mainly rely on social media marketing for exposure. So I’m just adding a disclaimer that I’m not telling you all to delete every app off your phone and go cold turkey. So many have to rely on social media in their work, and when looking for work. My journalism masters also means that I need to be on top of trends and what ..read more

Six months ago, I started my master’s degree in Broadcast Journalism to find that I was the only Sikh woman in a cohort of 70 students. And just a handful were of South Asian descent. As someone who hails from Slough, known as the most ethnically diverse town after London, I’ll admit this came as something of a culture shock. I quickly discovered that I was not the only South Asian facing a lack of diversity in the industry, despite over 2.5 million South Asians making up the UK population, who are the largest minority ethnic group in Britain. Content Editor for media giant Viacom, Chandni Sem ..read more

Jeremy Vine opens up about his audience, working with his wife and how he’s changing the world one cycle lane at a time. There’s something to be said about a celebrity whose opening words are “So tell me about yourself.” One could see that Jeremy Vine’s ego was somewhat more diminished than your average public figure’s before he even opens his mouth. Today, most celebrity Twitter profiles are inaccessible – hidden behind an intimidating blue tick and a firewall of PR managers. But Jeremy is one of those rare figures that replies to his own direct messages. His response to an interview request ..read more

Once again, this is a long-overdue blog post. But I get my post ideas from what’s going on in my life, and sometimes it’s hard to summarise what’s going on in my life into one 800-word article. Over the past few weeks, I’ve been struggling to assess my feelings, especially with the introduction of the third UK lockdown. I’m more of an extrovert, so staying at home 24/7 has been driving me crazy. But instead of spending all my time focusing on when the lockdown will be (finally) lifted, I’m trying my best to stay grounded and live in the present moment. Why is it important to be in the present ..read more

The number of girls aged 16 to 24 who rate their overall life satisfaction as “very high” has decreased sharply in the past year, according to the latest data from the ONS, released in October. Clinical psychologist Cristiana Santos says that the ages between 16 and 24 are a time where you start to develop your identity in the world, which is being affected by an increased use of the internet over the past five years. “People are less happy now than they were before because of comparison. Before, you were dealing with just your own stuff. Now, you go online and you see clear pictures of how yo ..read more

Firstly, sorry for not writing a blog post in about a month. I’ve been busy trying not to fail my degree. And I went through some burn out. But I’m back *cue applause.* You’re too kind. Personally, I find it quite amusing that the last blog post I wrote about burn out did not stop me from burning out again. So, here I am writing another article about it. Don’t believe everything you read kids. But here’s the catch: I think this time my advice has actually been working. Which means I’m back here talking about my feelings rather than paying a therapist, so the 5 of you that read my blog get the ..read more

I spent the first day of my master’s degree in a Zoom call of about 100 people – most of them who are older or way more qualified than me. So as you can imagine, I felt pretty intimidated. It was classic imposter syndrome. Even though my teachers reassured us all that we deserved to be here, it was still difficult to not to overthink. But after a day of going around in circles I realised that if I maintained this mentality all year, I would not pass my course. Not because I wasn’t capable, but because I didn’t believe I was. Essentially, I was setting myself up for failure. And since a master ..read more

Start with the realisation that every one of us goes through this at some point in our life. Don’t think that you are the only one. Here are some ideas to help you find your way. Know Your Strengths Every single one of us has both strengths and weaknesses. You might not be a grade 8 pianist, but you could be a great writer. You might not be able to play sports well, but could be a great public speaker. Create a list of things you know that you are good at, whether it’s advantageous skills or personality traits. Both of these can be things that we acquire with time and effort, however, there a ..read more

During my second year at Queen Mary University of London, I was a participant in the QTaster scheme. QTaster is a programme offered by the university’s careers service which offers you the chance to gain an insight into the ins and out of the professional world. Through visiting a range of companies, you can get a head start at networking with graduate employers, receive tips on building your CV, and gain a commercial awareness of the different roles within an organisation. Even if you’re not yet sure of your chosen career, QTaster is the perfect avenue to start researching. For the sake of ho ..read more