To have Shado’s founders, Isabella and Hannah, as my mentors has given me valuable insight into Shado’s mission and the power of these kinds of platforms and the writing they can produce and showcase. The mission of Shado to combine insight and expertise with political and social action is one that I personally have found inspiring in my own writing. Moreover, the international reach of Shado’s staff and network meant that I was able to also have Jeevan, their Senior Copy Editor based in Canada, assigned as a mentor. Along with the valuable feedback on planning, writing style, structure and interviewing technique that all the mentors have been so generous and insightful with, having Jeevan as a mentor, with her experience writing on the Sikh/South Asian diaspora (the broad subject of my article) made me feel able to discuss the nuances and complexities of the topic in really gratifying and productive ways, and added to my confidence to write what I know.

Having struggled to find my feet with the first draft of my article, which combined material from an interview with writing on my own experiences, the editing feedback both written and in meetings provided useful and much appreciated guidance on how to structure my article, ideas for further avenues of discussion and encouragement to showcase my own thoughts and voice more than I have before. I have also really enjoyed the process of collaborating with an artist on an illustration for the piece. Being able to choose the artist and the style of art from Shado’s extensive network, and then share my ideas and feedback on the content of the illustration, has been an entirely new and much valued aspect of the programme.

Throughout the process, I have really benefited from the flexibility of my mentors as well as their expertise, the ability to organise edit meetings and deadlines to suit my changing schedule, and the ability to get in touch with my mentors at any point that I have needed them. All of this has led me to where I currently stand in the programme, with my article nearly ready for publication, with an illustration that I love, and with greater confidence to pursue freelance writing on topics that I feel passionate about in the future."