Harrison Khan recently joined the Isle of Wight County Press for some work experience.

The St Catherine's School pupil wants to be a writer and covered some stories for us while he was here.

He also wrote some words about his experience, which have also been translated into a communication tool call 'Widgit', which some of the school's non-verbal pupils use to communicate.

Scroll down to see a Widgit version of Harrison's column...

Harrison writes...

Given my dream of becoming an author, work experience at the Isle of Wight County Press has been hugely beneficial.

I have been able to use my passion for creative writing in a way I have never done before, which has led to published articles with my credit where applicable.

During my time at the County Press on work experience, I learned a lot about how the newspaper works and how the newspaper is structured.

I learnt about the different sections and what they contain, as well as word limits on certain articles.

This also applied to the articles I wrote about the St Catherine’s Gala, as they had to be shrunk to fit, after they were sent in.

Though there are no formal entry requirements, I do know that the road to becoming an author is by no means easy.

I have to be able to come up with ideas that will sell.

However because I know, through the County Press, my articles are being read by a huge base of people, it has given me a lot more confidence which will help me accomplish my goal.

I really enjoy learning English at St Catherine’s College, because it gives me new skills to use in my article writing.

At the moment I am preparing for my English exams, which means reading a lot of articles in past papers and then writing in the written paper.

I am confident my learning at St Catherine’s, combined with the County Press work, should help me pass my exam in my final year here.

Isle of Wight County Press: Harrison, on his way to prom.Harrison, on his way to prom. (Image: Contributed)

Work experience at the County Press has given me a lot of things to think about throughout my four-week placement.

Finding article ideas and drafting them on paper proved fun, as I could use my writing skills in such a way to make an article within a word limit.

Since they were published, they have gone down better than I could have ever hoped for.

Most of all, I’ve just enjoyed being here, as this placement was really a miracle find.

I couldn’t be more thankful for these weeks here. Thank you, County Press.

Isle of Wight County Press: Harrison's column in 'Widgit'Harrison's column in 'Widgit' (Image: Widgit Symbols © Widgit Software Ltd/ widgit.com 2002-2024)