Launching the Editorial Board – The Future of the EPAS at USP Website

As last academic year came to a close, the EPAS group at USP agreed on a new way to run the EPAS at USP website. It was agreed that from September onwards, the EPAS at USP website would be run by a brand-new Editorial Board consisting of 5 EPAS students, who would all contribute articles, report on EPAS events and maintain the website. Over the course of June, EPAS students at USP had the opportunity to apply for a place on the Editorial Board, by either producing a short article (roughly 1500 words) or an application (roughly 500 words) writing about their experience in EPAS and what they want to do in the future as part of the Editorial Board.

One of the aims that we set for ourselves was to make EPAS more open to other students at USP. Over the last 6 months this website has existed, only a small number of EPAS students have had the ability to write articles for the website, whilst there were also students who did not know we even had a website. By creating an Editorial Board that any EPAS student can apply for, we hope that this provides opportunities for those who want to contribute but could not because the previous arrangements in place were too closed.

The Editorial Board will consist of 5 EPAS students, 3 from Seevic campus and 2 from Palmer’s campus:

Ashdon Casson (Year 2 - Seevic)

"Hi, I'm Ashdon, a junior EPAS ambassador from Basildon. I currently study Graphic Design, Politics and History, I previously attended The Appleton School in Benfleet, and I aspire to study Graphic Design at university. My focus, and interests, are creative arts and motorsports."

Finley Clark (Year 2 - Palmer's)

"I'm a young aspiring journalist with a focus on transport, politics and improvements to our towns and cities. All while maintaining a neutral perspective to ensure that news is factual, important in a society where news is growing more biased by the day. I study at USP Palmer’s College and am part of the Student Union, alongside EPAS."

Erdem Gultekin (Year 2 - Palmer's)

"Hello. My name is Erdem. I am proud to serve as your deputy lead junior ambassador for Palmer's Campus. I'm British with Turkish heritage and study the subjects of politics, history and criminology and wish to work in a governmental job to later pursue a parliamentary career.

In EPAS, I have assisted Jayden O’Brien (our lead Junior Ambassador) and other junior ambassadors in organising events such as bringing Jen Craft and other external speakers into the Palmer's Campus. Looking forward I want to keep educating the youth about Europe and the European Union we used to be in."

Jessica Obi (Year 2 - Seevic)

"Hi, I'm Jessica, I'm studying English Literature, Politics and Psychology in hopes of becoming a lawyer. As an EPAS ambassador I aspire to make politics more accessible to young people and promote a politically active youth."

Sebastian Rapley Mende (Year 2 - Seevic)

"Hi, I'm Sebastian and the deputy lead junior ambassador for Seevic Campus. I'm 17 years old, of mixed background and I live in Southend. I study politics, geography and economics at Seevic and want to go into environmental/urban geography at university.

As part of EPAS, I have written several articles for this website and have conducted my own sustainability project within the college, reporting back the findings from both my survey and Q&A with senior leadership at Seevic. I also reported back to the website on the EPAS mock-election that was held within the college. I hope to continue contributing to EPAS at USP college and work to both spread awareness about Europe among young people and increase youth engagement in politics in general."

The Editorial Board look forward to the next year of EPAS activities, including introducing the new Year 1 students to EPAS! Stay tuned for more events happening this term.