When I joined the Solutions not Sides Bridge Builders Programme, I didn’t fully know what to expect. As a regular state school student, opportunities like this often feel out of reach, but Solutions not Sides provided me with access to experiences and networks that I would never have imagined for myself. For that, I will always be grateful.

During the summer, I had the amazing opportunity of being an SNS intern for six weeks. Despite the duration of the placement, this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and helped me grow personally and professionally. I feel absolutely privileged to have been a part of this team! This experience has taught me things for a lifetime. 

This summer, I joined the Bridge Builders programme organised by Solutions Not Sides, and honestly, it changed the way I see dialogue, conflict, and connection. I went in thinking it would be just another academic experience, some lectures, maybe a few debates but it turned out to be something much deeper. It was about listening, understanding, and finding solutions rather than choosing sides.

Note: Solutions Not Sides makes no attempt to reconcile or support any of these films or TV shows, or the narratives they show, but we believe it is important to understand different side’s perspectives and the way that their societies present and understand events.

Over the summer I read Walden while the world burned, and I still don’t know how to square this. I love reading for the same reasons that most people who love reading do; it is both a means of escape and a way to encounter reality – including realities different to your own – anew. I’m trying to read 50 books this year, and at the same time I’m confronted with the question of whether it is okay to spend hours with a book when crises unfurl.