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In a world where young voices are shaping the future, one exceptional student from Harris Academy Bermondsey is leading the charge. A dedicated member of the Southwark Youth Parliament (SYP), this driven individual has taken on a crucial role in the Careers and Employability cabinet, working tirelessly to create meaningful opportunities for young people in the community. From helping to organise the Triple A careers event to engaging with key decision-makers on youth issues, their passion for leadership and advocacy is truly inspiring.

In this exclusive interview, Iasmin share's her journey—how HAB became a second home, what it takes to bring together professionals and young people, and the impact of their work on both their peers and their own aspirations.

Interview with Iasmin

What inspired you to take on a leadership role in the Southwark Youth Parliament, particularly within the Careers and Employability cabinet?

Coming to the UK not too long ago, HAB has become my second home and the HAB community has helped me in becoming a prosperous person in everything I do, encouraging me to take part in various projects within and outside of school since secondary school. The HAB teachers asked me to represent the school in the local government as well, which I gladly accepted and following the further procedures with the elections, I became one of the SYP members. Once in, a voting process took place amongst ourselves and I chose to run as a member of the Careers and Employability committee, where lots of opportunities were offered for us. Particularly in our cabinet we focused on the Careers event entitled Triple A putting lots of effort in transforming our initial ideas into a career opportunity for many young people in our community. During my time at SYP I got to represent the young people in our community and especially the young people in my school in various projects such as in discussion with people who are in charge of improving our community and the resources available for young people by taking part in meetings with various chancellors such as chancellor Jasmine and speak in public panels such as the mental health panel organised during the mental health week.

Can you tell us about your role in organising the Careers Event and what impact you hope it had on young people in Southwark?

To be honest we did not necessarily have specific roles but we all did everything together, from planning what we would like the project to look like and what would set our careers event apart from others, all the way to planning the schedule for the whole day and the specific details that would make our careers event the best one. However, the specific area I personally worked more on was contacting professionals and inviting them to join us in offering young people an insight into the various career opportunities that exist out there, and link the young people with the professionals in order to increase their network. I spent nearly the whole of January emailing people and advertising our project to young people, so I could say due to spending most of my time doing this, this was my main role. I personally hope that young people in Southwark took this opportunity seriously and have understood the importance of networking, creating links with people which they aspire to become like and continue to keep in contact with them so they can actually be guided by those who went through what they are going through and maybe not make the same mistakes, helping them become important people, so they can sit in the place of those professionals in the future. 

What was the most rewarding part of bringing together professionals from different industries to connect with young people?

I personally think the most rewarding part of bringing together professionals from different industries to connect with young people was to see how exited professionals were at the young people’s enthusiasm to something they see as normal, making them realise how unique they are and that actually their hard work has paid off, something some of them said they  tend to forget; but especially how fascinated young people were to find out more about what each person does, with the majority showing a high interest and exactment to find out more about what the job of a pilot looks like and what they would have to do to become one, because it shows that the money and ideas were well invested.

How has your experience with the Southwark Youth Parliament influenced your own career aspirations, and what advice would you give to other young people looking to get involved?

I personally was interested in politics, which joining the SYP only contributed to this interest, encouraging me internally to move down further this root, now going to study politics at university with a combination of other subjects closely linked to politics, economics and history. The advice I personally would offer young people interested in getting involved is to realise that this position is very important and once you are in a door will open towards an unlimited number of opportunities and while all of them sound fascinating, one has to remember that they only can do so much, therefore they should not try to get involved in all, but choose some that they are most interested in and give their all, as quality is always more important than quantity.

As our conversation ends, it’s clear this HAB student embodies the power of youth leadership. Her journey with the Southwark Youth Parliament has been about more than personal growth—it’s about creating opportunities, fostering connections, and inspiring others to take charge of their futures.

With her passion for politics and drive for change, she’s set to make a lasting impact. Her advice to young people? Seize opportunities, focus on what matters most, and give it your all—because the future belongs to those who dare to shape it.