I was among several young people who were given the chance to participate in the February event of the Future Leaders Bermuda Monthly Mentorship Club.

The event, which took place at the Bermuda Industrial Union building in Hamilton, provided the opportunity for past Future Leaders and other students from the community to build our communication skills and prepare us for entering Bermuda’s workforce by participating in mock interviews and having professional head shots taken. We were given the time and resources to create our own vision boards as well.

I believe that the most important and beneficial aspect of the event was the mock interview experience. As a senior in high school, I am in the process of applying for Bermuda scholarships and summer employment opportunities. Because of this, I have come to understand how invaluable mock interviews are in preparing for real interviews that I will experience. The mock interview that we participated in mimicked a real-interview environment, allowing us to obtain a better understanding of the process, and what we should prepare ourselves for in the future.

The mock interview also gave us the opportunity to receive feedback from the interviewer, who explained what our strengths were as well as what improvements we could make to assist us in creating the best image of ourselves for a possible interview committee.

I really enjoyed the mock interview, as it gave me the opportunity to share my story and have a conversation with the interviewer. The interview felt much less stressful than a real interview because I was being evaluated for the purpose of improvement, rather than the purpose of analysing me. The interviewer was therefore able to give me feedback that is much more personal. However, my main takeaway from the interview was the conversation that I was able to have. I was able to speak with Kelli-Ann Smith, who cares about the future of Bermuda and wanted to support me in the best way possible.

That value was demonstrated by not only the interviewer (Ms Smith) but all the staff involved with the event. Overall, I found the exercise to be extremely helpful and I believe that I will be much more confident going into interviews in the future now that I have participated in one beforehand.

I also believe that the opportunity for us to have professional head shots taken was extremely important in preparing us for future success. In this modern world, social media and online presence are fundamental resources that can be used to create a person’s brand and attract attention from business and educational entities. Platforms such as Instagram and LinkedIn can be used to help represent an individual to possible employers, and the first thing that they will see is the profile picture. This is why I feel the opportunity that we had was so important. I know that, as often as we as a society may try to deny it, we are superficial beings.

An individual’s sense of dress, or how they look, can many times determine how we view and/or interact with them, having no prior knowledge of their character or personality. Because of this, the head shots that we had taken give a glimpse into who we are essentially, or at least who we want to be. However, because we don’t all have equal opportunity, or access to resources, the image that others see may not represent who we truly are. This not only translates to something as small as the profile picture we have on a social-media page, but the clothes we wear, the house we live in, or the education we have.

By Future Leaders Bermuda giving us this opportunity and even being willing to supply participants with professional clothing, they allowed us to create a vision of what we are striving towards as young people and to share that image with others.

The last aspect of the event that I enjoyed was creating the vision boards. Before this event, I had never created a vision board; however, I was able to see the benefits of creating one. The vision boards allowed us to highlight what aspects of our life we are focusing on improving and what goals we are working towards using cut-out images and words from magazines and newspapers.

I enjoyed seeing the variety of personalities expressed through the vision boards that were unique to each individual. I felt that my vision board was lacking, as I was not able to translate some of my goals to a physical board. However, the exercise did allow me to reflect on what goals I have and what is important to me. I was even able to look in a Bermudian magazine and find Seon Tatem, whom I strive to be like because of the character that this man has and what he represents.

For me, the vision board was much more than objects I would like to obtain, but values I am working towards, and qualities I wish to develop as I mature. I believe that the vision boards we created were a bit like photos, a snap shot in time of who we would like to be. The contents of our vision for the future may change over time, but we can always reflect on who we are, where we’ve come from and where we are going.

Overall, I thought the February event of the Monthly Mentorship Club was thoroughly enjoyable, and I am thankful for the opportunity given. We need to encourage more opportunities that involve real-world applications of everyday skills.

• Submitted by Xavier Ramsay with special thanks to all who donated their time and resources to ensure the event was a success: Kelli-Ann Smith, of Argus Bermuda; Bernard Opoku, of HSCM Bermuda; Tammy Robinson; Alicia Lister; Tonisha Key-Holmes; Russell Lister, of Future Leaders Bermuda; and the BIU for accommodating the event in the Dr E.F. Gordon Memorial Hall