I have had the amazing opportunity to join the XP Comms team, seeing the inside works of how XP Trust functions.
It started with having the chance to imagine and illustrate a design to be displayed in the toilets of XP East, or in other words the “Bog Job”, however despite first initial ideas it has been an amazing experience to create. With the theme of the design being CREW and “What it means to be CREW?”, it has allowed me to experience and put myself back in the XP mindset as a past student, and to be honest, it has felt like coming back home, being away from the XP rituals for two years and then returning has made me realise how much I missed it. For example, being a part of check-ins again and seeing the process and outcomes of expeditions. The overall design is a collage of influential music artists who I believe represent XP by using their voice to fight for social injustice. A big part of the design was using direct quotes from students giving their insight on what crew is to them, this student interaction made what I was doing feel more real and community led.
Working alongside the Comms teams I have been learning new skills such as curation and what steps it takes to display and populate the schools with beautiful work, as well as photography and editing, having the opportunity to take photos and capture moments across the trust, starting with a visit to Carcroft. Visiting different primary schools in the trust and taking photos has been interesting, seeing how each school tackles and embraces the XP fundamentals, such as crew and expeditions. Hearing how the kids spoke and articulated themselves when speaking about their HoWLs and character traits surprised me and made me think about how I wouldn’t have been able to talk about such topics like they do when I was in primary school, as well as being able to talk out loud about it to visitors. Altogether creating a strong sense of humanity. Learning these new skills has really put me out of my comfort zone in the best way possible, doing things I’ve never done in depth before, such as filming and editing a video of the performance of A Christmas Carol by Box Clever, as well as designing icons and badges. This has really helped me expand my creative output.
Overall, working with Comms has been an amazing experience so far, one which I am extremely thankful for and I appreciate everyone who has made it happen, as well as the rest of the Comms Team, for welcoming and helping me along the way. I am excited to see where it will take me.
