A Xaverian student with political ambitions has made a big impact in local youth politics and has even had her voice heard in the house of commons in Youth Parliament debates.
Lois Adela, former pupil of Dean Trust Ardwick high school, has set clear career goals to work in UK politics after being a member of the Youth Parliament gaining valuable experience of the inner workings of the UK political system and processes of Parliament. Lois commented, “I first heard about the Youth Parliament while I was in Year 10 at high school, so I applied even though there were lots of other applicants. I had two weeks to campaign for votes and was lucky enough to be voted in for a two-year term as one of three Youth MPs to represent the interests of the young people of Manchester. Our role was to work with local communities, the city council, the Mayor of Manchester, to communicate to young people that we were there as youth leaders to listen to young people and support them and represent their views in the city of Manchester.
Part of Lois’ role as a Youth MP was to visit the House of Commons on two occasions with the aim of gaining the attention of the Speaker of the House to be allowed to address the House on issues related to young people. Lois spoke on both occasions on the cost-of-living crisis and holiday hunger. Lois said: “I was so nervous the first time speaking and was pleased because what I and others discussed was voted in by the House. The second year also went well, however the issues raised in the holiday hunger debate were not voted for and the debate on allocation funding was voted in ahead of it.
“The whole experience has helped me as a young person as I’ve been able to talk about what I’ve done, as well as improve my public speaking skills. I wasn’t always this confident back in high school as I was a shy young person, however It’s helped me express my views and opinions to others in a more confident and articulate way. In the future, I aspire to become a barrister on constitutional law as part of the UK political system, and being part of the Youth Parliament has definitely confirmed that this is the career path I want to take.”
Lois has also applied and been successful in becoming a UK Youth Ambassador for UNICEF. Commenting on the project, Lois said: “The goal of UNICEF is to work in collaboration with the City Council to make Manchester a youth-friendly city and we were given the task of giving a presentation at the Town Hall to council members on strategies to achieve this aim. We impressed the council members and Lord Mayor so much with our ideas that they approached us afterwards to work with them further to put on workshops in primary schools, high schools and colleges.”
Lois is currently in Year 13 at Xaverian College, following A Levels in English Language, Psychology and Sociology, and has been so inspired by her experiences that she is planning to apply to the University of Cambridge for a Foundation Year in Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences programme. Lois said: “I’ve had a lot of support from the Careers Team with my personal statement and making my application for the Foundation programme. I’m grateful to staff who told me about the programme and helped me to apply as I wouldn’t have otherwise known about it. There are various criteria I need to meet to be eligible to apply related to my background and circumstances and, if I am successful, the programme will lead into a Law Degree at the University, which will be an amazing achievement.
“I’m also part of the Thinking Black Uni programme, which is something I got involved in through Xaverian and it is aimed at ethnic minority students who wish to enhance their knowledge of undergraduate schemes, universities and Apprenticeships. We are coached by experts and guest speakers who guide us and offer support with our personal statements and making applications to take our next steps.
Whist at Xaverian, Lois has been a member of the Student Council, which entailed applying and making a video that was shown to students around the College to encourage them to vote for their favourite candidate. Commenting on the experience, Lois said: “This was fun and I was really pleased to be elected. My role is to attend Council meetings and we discuss how we can improve the students’ experience at the College. We are currently in the process of shortlisting the Year 12 students who are looking to form the next Student Council so it’s great for me to be involved and have an influence on the new members.”