Full Name
Harpal Khambay

What year did you leave John Lyon (Class of)?
2018

What did you do after leaving John Lyon?
I left to study English Literature and History at the University of Birmingham.

Can you describe what you have done in your career so far?
Gosh where to start! Before uni I did stints at Waitrose and Buckingham Palace. Getting those early retail jobs gave me some great grounding for future job applications and interviews, and a bit of cash! During university I also started my own online blog, following the advice of my old English teacher at JLS! After I graduated in 2021 I did some freelance journalism work, and my first TV gig was working a day on The Apprentice. In March 2022 I was approached for the Production Secretary role on Doctors, and I stayed there for two years until the show ended! This role included proofing and issuing scripts, assisting directors, cast and crew and helping with general running of the production. During that time, I jumped onto the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games for a bit, which was crazy but super exciting! I got to see a lot of live sports. I also had my own radio show from August 2023 to February 2024, which was my first foray into broadcasting! After Doctors ended in March 2024, I began working as Script Secretary at EastEnders! I've worked on some pretty cool stuff quite early on in my career like car stunts, I've been an extra several times, we did a Doctors episode with a massive explosion, I've worked on numerous top secret storylines which have been watched by millions of viewers and I got to crash the red carpet at the British Soap Awards in 2022! I've also had a lot of free haircuts from the
make-up department.

How did your experience at John Lyon prepare you for/or shape your future?
I remember having really great teachers in Sixth Form, who were on hand to help academically, personally and with all of the UCAS stuff. I felt like they really invested their time into me, probably in part because they knew I worked hard. Having their respect also gave me a lot of confidence in myself and helped me come out of my shell and hold my own a lot more!

What has been your proudest achievements so far?
My father passed while I was at John Lyon so completing school and getting my A Levels and getting an unconditional offer from my first choice uni really was a huge deal. Getting offered my first TV job on BBC medical drama 'Doctors' was a proud moment, especially because I was approached directly for the role! My name appears at the end of every episode, which at the moment is over 300! Seeing your name on TV is always a bit surreal. Researching, presenting and producing my own weekly community radio show was also a highlight, especially due to the positive reception it got. That really helped me to develop my voice and gave me the space to talk about things that I am passionate about.

What was your fondest memory from being at John Lyon?
I think I really came into my own in the later years, when I found my group and became a bit more self assured. And when the year and the class sizes get smaller in Sixth Form there's an added closeness and friendship which I really enjoyed.

Are you still involved with the School and if so, in what way and why is it important for you to be involved in this way?
I'm just tuning into the OL network now! But hoping to get stuck in from this point going forward! I think it's important to be involved especially as careers in the creative sector are so underrepresented, and seem really hard to get into!

What is one piece of advice you would give to a current pupil?
If you don't ask you don't get. A lot of opportunities I have attracted have been because I went knocking on doors first, or put myself out there, or sent that email. Talk to people, take any opportunity and advice that you can, you never know where it might lead! It lead me to the red carpet! It really did, I lobbied for a ticket.