Aspiring journalist Robert Bruce, a News Academy Summer School graduate, reflects on what he’s learned over the last 12 months at News UK.

“You’ll go far, you’ll have no problems,” said Sun Editor David Dinsmore after I reached the final rounds of the paper’s Column Idol competition. Although I didn’t win, this was the perfect end to an amazing week at the News Academy Summer School, where I got to experience a whole different world. Leaving the News building that Friday evening I was determined not to let the past week be just an ‘experience’ but a foundation for my career.

When I told my mum I wanted to be a journalist I could see the ‘oh great’ in her face. When your sister is finishing her Civil Engineering PHD and your cousins are finishing bio-medical degrees, a Broadcast Journalism course certainly doesn’t sound as prestigious. It’s even more awkward when you don’t make it onto the course first time! Nether the less, with support from Mum and Dad, I was set to chase my dreams.

Since being connected with News UK I’ve wanted to be an asset rather than a student and have been taken back by how supportive everyone has been. In the summer, Bob Tyrer, the Executive Editor of Times Newspapers, sat me down. We spoke about his career, my aspirations and how young he was when started. Bob said to me: “Take my number and keep me updated with how you get on.” I thought to myself I better do something worth updating Bob on!

Another person who has been amazing to me is Sun Woman Writer Jenny Francis. Jenny was my mentor for last year’s Column Idol and the perfect introduction into the company. Jenny listened to my all of my ideas and helped me chisel out my first column.

With help from the News Academy, I landed three days’ work experience at The Sun’s Manchester office and it was just my luck that it turned out to be election week. News reporter Dean Wilkins showed me the ropes and Deputy Northern News Editor Richard Moriarty also gave me lots of tips and guidance. I mentioned to the team that I knew someone turning 18 on election day who would be voting for the first time. They wanted me to expand on this with a story – I gathered all the information I could, the team helped me round off the piece and I was delighted when they told me it was a goer – finally my name would appear in print!

This summer I’ve also had the opportunity to work with the Corporate Affairs team and recently won the Youth Media Agencies Youth Media of the Month award for a website I’ve set up for young bloggers and vloggers. I’m very fortunate to be learning from the best of the best, and hope that with hard work and dedication, I’ll be seeing my name in print a lot more in the future.