Inside the Foreign Office

Lower Sixth student Meichun Li has been bolstering her AS level study of British politics with some first-hand experience: last week, she spent a day shadowing Labour MP Chris Bryant – Minister of State for Europe and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

During her day of shadowing, Meichun observed Bryant meeting the Foreign Minister of Kosovo and the Foreign Secretary David Milliband, as well as addressing the Scottish parliament via video-linkup on the subject of the Lisbon Treaty.

What struck Meichun about the Foreign Office? 'It's a really busy environment – everybody was working very hard, and I was impressed by the passionate attitude of the people who work there: they really enjoy working for the Foreign Office.'

Meichun is studying Economics, Politics, Chemistry, Maths and Further Maths, and hopes to go onto a degree in Economics at university. Ultimately, she thinks she might like to work for an NGO in an area related to economic policy. And she's enjoying her time at d'Overbroeck's so far:

'It's really energetic. I feel like it's a creative place – it gives you inspiration.'