As a journalist something you frequently have to do,
depending on the topic, is voxpops.
I have done countless voxpops, but recently I
have come to know what the slang term actually stands for – voice of the people. It is when you go up to the average Jane or
Joe on the street and find out their opinion on a matter.
We’ve done several voxpops on Blessers, #Doekgate, the
Public Protector, municipal elections and recently about the Free State. Each
gets done for various reasons, either to find out what people think or for
research.
They all have purpose...
However, there is a difficulty and anguishing side to
voxpops that I really want to talk about, the rejection.
Newspaper journalists have it a bit easier because when they
do voxpops, the person just becomes another name in the newspaper. There is no
image of the person who said this opinion, especially if the person’s name
happens to be John Smith, Kevin Peters or Ashley Johnson. There is a level of
anonymity.
As a video based journalist, we don’t have that luxury. You
are putting a face to the name and those remarks can be directly attributed to
someone. You know who they are because you see their face.
That scares people, and in my experience it happens often.
When your opinion on something is directly attributed to
you, you become responsible for those comments, and you need to be confident in
your opinion to feel okay with it on camera.
Whenever we (those of us who do video voxpops) go out, it
gets roughs, especially when recording it on a phone.
You have to put on your best people person attitude, go
out and charm strangers to talk to you. This is particularly difficult if you
are not in a good mood, or exhausted. Whatever you feel has to be put aside
because you have a job to do.
You have to interrupt (read ambush) people on the street and
sweet talk them. If you have anxiety about these things (as I do), it means you
have to work yourself up to it, but still even when you do that, you experience
constant rejection.
It hurts when you have been sweet talking and charming this
person, and they are willing to do it, until you tell them “this will be on camera”.
Sometimes you tell them this in the start, and they go off talking, but then
when you press record they are like a deer caught in headlights.
Video voxpops have the added dynamic of profiling. You have
to get a balance of men and women, then you need to get in various race groups,
and then across age (depending on topic).
Many times I have counted people on my hands like:
“Okay, we have a
white woman, an Indian guy, a coloured girl, and a black girl.
We still need an
old white guy, and a black guy.”
Yet, for every person that says yes to you, 2-3 people have
said no.
The rejection you experience is worse than when you see a
hot person out, and try to flirt with them. In that situation you only
experience rejection once or twice depending on how many people you try to
flirt with.
For me, and others who endure voxpops, you experience rejection
often; by the time you come back to the office, you feel like a lowest form of a human
being. It also sucks when you are trying to stop one person to interview and they flat out ignore
you; like you don’t even matter.
Every single time you get rejected, you can feel your
insides squirm, and you want to shrink, but you just smile and say “Thank you
for your time though,”
It is humbling, often humiliating, experience
that I encourage everyone to do at one point. Promotions people know a bit of this when you are promoting a item on the streets, and people wish you would disappear.
No matter how often you do it, the rejection still hurts the
same, and my goodness is it great for your ego (sarcasm).
It is a very unusual yet common experience.
By the time you get a person to say “Sure” you are near
willing to actually kiss them.
I think the level of rejection we experience while doing
voxpops is why these days we go in pairs or in a group of three. In that way
you get to negotiate with your colleague.
“I got rejected by the last person; it is your turn now.”
You share the pain, and you share the joy. Everyone gets to
feel equally humiliated and uplifted.
Such is the life of a
voxpop.
Pretty much what we do when we get back from voxpops
I had hoped to write this post sooner, but I have been
extremely busy with work.
The Grahamstown’s National Arts Festival rolled into the
Cape Times #ElectionsTrek and finally Elections itself. I have very actively
lately complaining about how tired I am.
I am actually hoping
to take off soon, but besides my
complaints, my recently work activities did make me realise how fortunate I am.
I had never been on an aeroplane before until I was selected
to go and cover the National Arts Festival in Grahamastown. The whole Arts Fest
experience was so amazing and eyes opening, to quote the slogan it was “11 Days
of Amazing”.
I won’t recap too much of what I did because I did write a
live blog for work which you can find here, but it was a truly wonderful,
sometimes stressful experience where I learned a little more about myself.
It was so great learning about a town that I had never been
to, and if you ever want to learn about a town in a short span of time, the
Arts Fest is it. You have shows across the town, and it forces you to be a
little adventurer.
What I loved most about the whole experience was that it
ignited this desire in me to travel more.
I’ve always had this desire to travel, but it did so in a
completely different way.
I had only been back in Cape Town for about a week before
going away another week-long work trip.
It was part of the Cape Times’ election
coverage where a reporter, a photographer and I travelled to a few of the
smaller towns within our province to find out how people felt about elections.
It was enlightening because you are driving to towns, which
people usually drive past.
We visited 5 towns in a week, and visiting these smaller
towns made me appreciate them. I will never shy away from just stopping into a
little town while on a road trip because you can never know what you might
learn.
The people I have met through my trips, the stories I’ve
heard and the experiences I had are all memories that I will never forget. All
of these things have given me a greater insight into the world around me.
A super awesome friend and I are actually tentatively making plans to go on a Euro-tour in about two years, and I cannot wait. Sure I would love to go overseas before then, but I am not above hard work to get myself there.
I will definitely encourage others to explore the area and
world around them because you never know what awaits, and for myself, it is
something I look forward to exploring further.
That title is very misleading, because this has nothing to do with racist interns but rather the interns from the anti-racism campaign, “Racism Stops With Me” that my employer is running.
I’ve taken to calling them the racist interns because it’s shorter, easier and a little provocative if I am being honest. Of course everyone in the office gets a bit on edge when I call them the racist interns but it comes from a place mischievousness and affection.
It has been interesting having so many new interns in the office.
"Ooh child, can you not touch my jacket"
In January there was just a colleague, our team leader and I in our division, and then in February our team leader went on a 3 month course and it was just the two of us, followed by then in March when my colleague broke his hand and it essentially put him out for the whole month.
To save you a large rambling “woe is me” bit, things were rough and I was in a very dark overwhelming place (still in a dark place but that is more due to my emotional state than work). I don’t know how I survived March but I did.
So, things have been interesting time when contrasting how we are now with 4 permanent staffers in our office with 7 interns, and the number of people in our office is still set to grow. We’ve even needed to move out of our office.
Needless to say, things have drastically changed and there are quite a few people now.
What has been interesting and playing on my mind a lot is how I have reacted to all of this.
I was an intern myself up until the end of March and then became a permanent employee, and now I work in an office with interns. They joined us at the start of May, but it has been a very interesting few weeks since they came into the office.
There are so many personalities to get used to, and questions asked, things to be managed, and work that still needs to be done while all of us are still learning and finding out about each other.
Getting things turnt after work. We were hanging the next day.
The thing that has me a bit worried about myself is how motherly I’ve been around the interns. Yes, you read that right. I used the word motherly.
Working with the new interns has been great, I only call them interns because it is a collective term that makes it easier to refer to them than naming all of them (which props to myself, is something I can do because I made sure to learn their names within a day or two).
It feels nice to be in a place where you can share information and skills with each other. Part of the fun is how much I have learned from them as well, but something that I am trying to keep in check and from getting too out of hand is how motherly I have been with them.
I want them to succeed and do their very best. It won’t be easy because I know how it felt a year ago to be a position where you are doing things that you are still adjusting too and it can all be daunting. I want for them to feel appreciated and that that they are working in an environment they can enjoy.
The issue however, which is something I have to be mindful of, is being overbearing.
I can be very intense. I have that type of personality where I can be very intense, but it doesn’t always come out in typical ways. With the interns I feel like I am constantly checking on “if they are okay” and if they need help with anything.
These fools always on that "dropping the hottest mixtape" pose
I have over the past few days been easing up on it, and letting them do their own thing and hoping that instead they will come to me when the need my help, but that has made me worried that they might feel like I am distancing myself from them and that I have no interest in helping them.
I have been learning about myself, and I think that as exhausting as my self-awareness of my behaviour can be, it’s also advantageous. It certainly feels that way in this case. My boss just gave us a talking to about this and actually pointed out that they will learn things in time. We can't baby them, because in all honesty, no one babied us. We learned by trial and error.
I think I will ease up on the motherly thing quick enough without being too distanced and nonchalant, while also avoiding being overbearing.
I think what will be important for me to focus on will be remembering what I was doing and guide them along the way; but doing so in a way that that is beneficial for them and helping their own growth. Also, before I lose perspective - I HAVE MY OWN WORK TO DO. Like duh.
But all thing considered, I am sure they won’t be the only one to grow from the experience.
Theo. Over and Out.
I surprised this guy with this photo. He was not impressed.
Sorry Balo.
PS - These are just some of the interns, not all. There wasn't enough space.
I was so out of fumes that when I got invited to the Nicky Romero gig at Shimmy Beach on Saturday, I declined it, never mind that I also had plans to attend the Magents SA Menswear Week after party.
Again, crazy hey? How much fun would I have had just chilling, dancing and enjoying the cool exclusivity and access that my job affords me?
BUT, I was autopiloting because I hadn't been sleeping properly, I have been stressing about working on graphics for my work’s anti-racism campaign while still doing my usual day-to-day work routine, and covering SA Menswear Week .
Granted the last bit, I brought on myself because I wanted to do the show again this year and also as a gay man, I love staring and talking to hot guys.
He was in the local production of Rocky Horror. His name is Shaun Chad Smit.
SA Menswear Week was a fish-out-of-water experience for me the last time, the second time around, it was the same except that I felt more comfortable in my odd-man-out role which made me enjoy the experience all the more.
I went to university with the lovely gentleman. Find him: @Brat_M_
It was a lot of fun just experiencing everything that goes into a fashion week and the crazy outfits you see, the amazing designers you witness, and the models you fall in lust with.
My only regret from the experience was that I wasn’t brave enough to ask the number of the guy I was attracted to, regardless of whether he was team homo or not, asking him would have hurt no one...but I didn’t because well duh, he was a model and I’m a awkward, guy who gets shy and flustered.
It was a miracle in and of itself that I was able to get selfies with the hot boys.
My job is fun, I get to meet cool people and do cool things that I typically wouldn’t like interview Jean de Villiers and Nicky Romero, meet F.W de Klerk, the J&B Met and the colour run. It is all experiences that I am grateful for but sometimes it can be exhausting.
I think the most important thing I learned this week was to know my limit.
I am glad that while I got to have invites and experience all these things, I know when I have reached my limit and that is a big thing for me. I would like to think that I work hard, sometimes it doesn’t feel that way, but I do try my best.
Knowing when I have reached my ceiling is important thing for me to realise because everything I work on at that point is just without love and I am just running on autopilot – there is no desire to do my best, only to get it done.
Don’ run on autopilot, it’s important to take care of yourself. I don’t always take care of myself, but I am learning. You only have one you, so try not ruining yourself.
Theo. Over and Out.
What I love about this picture was that I started pulling some crazy eyes, and he played along....
PS – To the super hot Eden Classens, you are so sweet and seem like a cool guy, I know you’re probably like super busy, dating other models, but if you ever want to go for coffee with a shy-ish awkward guy who will make you laugh (I at least have that going for me) and then hit me up.
March was all about new experiences because I started my
first ever job.
April has been pretty
much the same...
BUT April was more about feeling extremely out of my depth
and feeling more incompetent than anything really.
Part One: “Why am I so useless?”
After working extremely hard at the Jazz Festival, we pretty
much jumped into the new month by being assigned to spend two weeks in the
newsroom and work on our writing skills.
If there was ever a time to be thrown into the deep end it
was during this time.
With the Jazz fest I could at least take comfort in the fact
that there were other people equally feeling out of their depth and having no
clue what we were doing but we were all stuck in the same boat, doing the best
we could.
The newsroom was nothing like that because I was on my own.
If there is a ever a time to feel useless and like you’re
incompetent spend some time in a newsroom where you are a stranger at your desk
trying to make yourself useful while trying to not be in the way of experienced
reporters.
I was assigned to the newsroom of The Daily Voice when my Cape Mojo team started time in the
newspapers started.
The Daily Voice often gets given this label as not being a
hard hitting newspaper because they deal with stuff that comes across as silly
and deemed not newsworthy. I am aware the publication is labelled as a "tabloid" but that doesn't mean that there isn't anything of importance and value in the paper that the hard hitting newspapers do. The only difference is the angles taken in their stories.
The Daily Voice go out on stories that people
within the Cape Flats are interested in and also want to read about. If a newspaper is meant to connect with its target market
and inform them about what’s happening in their areas then The Daily Voice is
doing exactly what it should it.
It was recently revealed in AMPS figures (which is a big fancy group that does a survey on readership) that in the
second half of 2014, the Daily Voice readership grew from
468 000 daily readers to 516 000.
In climate where newspapers are battling against the internet, that is very impressive.
I can really say that I learned a lot about my time at the newspaper.
Newspapers don’t just appear every morning magically created
for your consumption, in fact journalists go out the day before either on
stories that they were assigned by their editor or, what is often the case,
they go out on stories they’ve been informed about from contacts and people who
shared the information with them.
They scout out information about their stories and then once
they think there is enough they go out in search of what the true story is,
from all the relevant sources.
A super funny reporter I sat opposite.
This can be quite a laborious process and sometimes things
don’t always go your way but you do the best you can.
Part Two: “What to do when opportunity
knocks?”
I had been shadowing the reporters for about a day when an
opportunity for me to write my first article came up.
It wasn’t that a story was assigned to me or anything, it
happened because I took a chance.
This is just my version of how I remembered it happening:
Journalist:
“I still have to file both these
stories when I get back to the office.”
Me:
(Nervously)
“Uhm...I can help...uhm... if you want. I’ll
write one and you can write another if you want?”
Photographer:
(Jokingly)
“Hey don’t come and try to steal
food from [journalist’s] mouth, freelancers don’t a set salary like you. They
get paid per article.”
Me:
“Oh sorry, of course I don’t mean
to do that –laughs awkwardly- I just
thought that I could help with the workload.”
Journalist:
“We can share the byline.”
Photographer:
“Can you? Do you still get your
normal rate?”
Journalist:
“I still get my normal rate
whenever I share a byline with [another journalist] so it’s fine. Which one do
you want to do?”
Me:
“I feel more confident doing the
first story the first one we went out on so I can do that?”
Journalist:
“That’s fine. You can do the
first then just send it to me when you’re done so I can have a look over it?”
Me:
“Thanks.”
And that was basically how it happened.
I took the chance of speaking up and saying,” I don’t mind
helping; I can do it” and that was how I landed my first byline.
As soon as we got back to the office I had to write my
article and while I had all my notes, I had no clue how I was going to do it.
Eventually I typed down what I had into a coherent sentence
which then into paragraphs and it led to a completed story.
Part Three: “Who does the editing?”
Once done, I emailed what I had to the journalist and sat
beside them as they make hectic revisions, learning about the newspaper’s style
in the process:
1.The fact that they prefer to have more quotes of
what the people actually said instead of you telling the reader what they said.
I quickly learned to write fast and take down what some said. I would come to use
my phone as a recorder because that just helps you so much to get down what
someone says verbatim.
2.Framing the story in a particular way, meaning
that instead of having one angle, you use another.
3.Getting a comment from the official
organisation/people to add in another side to the story.
4.Making sure you have the correct spelling of
things – Sidenote, this is vitally important you have to make sure you get
someone’s name and surname spelt exactly correct, make sure you get where they
are from and also their age.
5.A journalist’s note taking skills have is where
your credibility can live or die. If someone wants to sue you, you’re note
taking could be the very thing that saves you.
The edit the journalist did helped a lot, and while my
original story changed a lot to the one they sent to the editor my name still
remained in the byline because I had contributed to the story.
I thought that what I had ended up contributing was a waste but
the journalist thanked me because I helped save them a lot of time. So our
article was then emailed to the editor.
Interesting to note that the article that appeared in paper
had also undergone significant edits to it as well but there was also quite a
large chunk of what we did and in the end we received our shared byline.
One that would be my first.
Part Four: “When? Now??”
Sure some see a solo byline as their first, but I see the
shared one as my first because it taught me so much and helped me when I
finally wrote my first solo byline which funny enough came the following week.
I arrived early in the office because it was just something
I did. I could have arrived late because everyone only got into the office
between 09:20 and 11:00. I was in by 08:40 so I just read the papers and tried
be aware of what was happening.
One this particular morning, a photographer came in and he
was about 5 minutes in the office when
he came up to me and said.
Photographer:
“I heard Tony Yengeni was making
an appearance in the magistrate court today and no other journalist is in. I’m
not sure if it’s something the paper would be interested in but I say we take a
chance and go? If we wait too long then the story could be over already, it
could be over already, but at least let’s go see.”
Me:
“Uhm, okay.”
Now while that response seems calm, my mind was racing at a
mile a minute.
I had no clue what I was doing, no clue of what I was going
to do when I got at the court and no clue of how I would get the story but
adrenalin and nerves were rushing through my body so I just went along.
As we made our way to the magistrate court, the photographer
was giving me a crash course in court reporting:
1.Make sure you nod to the judge as you enter.
This is very important.
2.Sometimes things might be confusing if you’re
arriving late so don’t be scared to ask fellow journalists what is happening.
3.Put your phone off or keep it on silent because
you can be in deep shit if they catch you recording anything.
4.All the information is in the court, you just
need to know the correct places to go find it.
And he explained more stuff which I have forgotten because I
was like “oh my fuck, this is happening.”
So we get to the court and then he says well go for it.
I’m like “oh okay, shit.”
I then rush inside only to see “oh damn I had to hand in
everything” so I dash back drop my bag and only keep my wallet, phone, pen and
notebook on me as I have to dash to courtroom 16 –which we learned from another
journalist outside.
I got in and as the security guard is patting me down, and he
feels a tag (which I forgot to take off). I explain it’s my UCT tag and then he
starts a chat about the fact that I went to UCT. It was great but his timing
sucked.
I got inside and then I had to find my way.
I turned down a passage and then got the
vibe I was going the wrong way, I turned back and stopped at a security desk
asking which way I had to go to get to the Tony Yengeni court case. She
directed me down the alley, and as I enter I see a throng of people coming my
way surrounding someone.
I had no clue what Tony Yengeni looked like, well in my
subconscious I probably did but in my conscious mind I had no clue. I turned
back and followed the people because my gut was all go with them.
I exited the court with all the journalists and I was about
to follow the man who I thought to be Mr Yengeni but the reporters were by his
lawyer so I just stuck with them.
I knew there was no way I was going to catch all the
information as quickly so I immediately did the only thing I could think to do
and just pulled out my phone started recording everything.
The fact that I did that earned me my first solo byline.
The other reporters asked questions and I made sure to catch
everything while I was totally confused because they were using lawyer terminology
I just recorded everything.
The lawyer finished and I had no clue what his name was so I
asked one of the other reporters who told me his name and that was it.
In 10 minutes everything was done.
The photographer took his picture and so we just went back
to the office.
My editor hadn’t been in for two days and I now had a story
with which I had no clue what to do with. The editor of the paper was in and so
I summoned the courage to make myself known to him and tell him what I had.
He said okay and that I should write him a short piece on
it.
I then got down to listening to the recording transcribing
everything while opening a million tabs on Google Chrome so I could research
more about the story (something which would have helped had I had the time to
do it before hand but I didn’t).
After that I remembered, I had no clue what the editor meant
by “short piece” so after I asked him he said 200-220 words.
After that I got to it and finished my story within an hour
and 15 minutes making sure I had everything I needed. Understanding everything
that the lawyer spoke and getting input from another journalist to frame the
article in an interesting way.
That was it.
My story got filed and appeared in the paper.
All because I happened to be in the office early and was the
only one there that by pure coincidence I managed to land my first solo byline.
Part 5: “Where am I now?”
The rest of my time at the paper had my shadowing reporters
and even writing two other articles when the opportunities presented
themselves.
It was a great experience and taught me so much. I had made
a few mistakes and made sure to learn from them, but it was a experience that
forced me to go out of my comfort zone.
If there has been anything that this month has taught me
it’s that I have to embrace the awkward moments.
My job is filled with them- attending the funeral of someone
I never knew or met, asking strangers questions and for their names and ages,
getting into awkward places (like kneeling in front of people to hold a
microphone, and sometimes that people may be the Mayor of Cape Town) and many
other awkward instances that will continued to happen.
My only next thing to learn is to not give a shit about
them.
That doesn’t mean I won’t be respectful and treat some
situations carefully, but I just need to focus on doing my job.
I am only two months into being a journalist and it’s been
like climbing a Kilimanjaro without any preparation, but that aside, everything
I have been doing is preparing me to become better equip to be not just a
journalist but a good one too.
If I’m being honest, I feel like I could have done more
while I spent time at the news papers. As I look back at the time I’m still not
entirely sure how I could’ve done that, but I feel like I could have done more.
I also feel like I need to rediscover how to be curious.
I used to be a very curious kid and want to know what was
happening but I was raised that being nosy about other people’s business was
wrong. Now I feel like I have found the curious person again, he is still there
because I still feel glimpses of him peeking through whenever something
exciting happens.
I just need to allow him to come out more. (Yes, I’m
speaking about aspects of myself in third person, it happens)
As a journalist, a skill you need is to be able to ask the
right questions.
An important lesson I
learned at University and The Daily Voice is that you need to remember your
5W’s and H:
1.Why?
2.What?
3.Who?
4.When?
5.Where?
6.How?
These will do really help and they exist for a reason*.
Sometimes sticking to these will lead you to a story that could give you the
edge.
Part 6: How to Mojo...
After finishing my time at the papers, I rejoined the Mojo
(Mobile Journalism) group of the company and it was more difficult that it needed
to be.
I would pop in and check in on my fellow colleagues while we
spent time at the paper but someone our two weeks apart had left us feeling
disjointed.
Maybe it was the fact that we had just clicked with each
other when we had so many other people join us for jazz fest and we had to
learn how to work with strangers and not get so much time together with each
other; then we had two weeks apart which just left us to do our own thing but
either way, coming together again felt weird and we were out of sync with each
other.
A week has passed and I feel like we’re good again. We are
getting back to where we were with each other and getting familiar with one
another again but such is life, sometimes things can take a while.
A video I helped put together...
The fact that we were out of sync with each other made me
feel a bit weird and uncomfortable too but sometimes you just have to have a
word with yourself in the mirror and “pull yourself towards yourself”.
I am excited for what the next few months hold ahead for us.
If the past two months are indicative of anything it is that
expect the unexpected and that life will had you unexpected moments that lead
to wonderful experiences so don’t be scared to step out of your comfort zone
because that is really where the magic happens.
Now if only I could remember that...
Theo. Over and
Out.
*PS - The order is
wrong on that but on purpose because I wanted it to match the sections of the
blog post. (><)
Also in case you are
wondering since I removed the journalist’s name from the byline in the pic, I
am very grateful to the journalist because the person is really so so lovely,
but I removed it because of the story that I explained from my perspective.
I have always believed that you experience certain phases
for a time and then you move on to the next big thing.
Life happens in such a way that you have primary school,
then high school (if you don’t drop out) followed by university (if you can
afford it) and finally you start working.
I have started the work phase of my life, and it’s been an interesting
time for me.
Previously I’ve been asked if I ever miss school/varsity now
that I’m working and honestly I don’t – but only because of being the type of person
I am.
I make the best of my time in the certain phases of my life
then when the time comes to move on, I do.
I was never saddened to matriculate because I did the
numerous school plays, was a prefect and enjoyed all the high school moments
(the highs and lows). With university, I was so happy when I graduated because
it was a huge achievement for me.
I wouldn’t have mind doing Honours sure, but the finances
weren’t there so I had to move on from UCT and if I’m being honest, I am glad
that I did.
If you had asked me
this in February then my answer would have been very different because
unemployment fatigue was setting in, but now however, I love where I am at.
Where may that be you ask?
Being a responsible and working adult for the first time in my life.
In one of my previous posts – Being the Poor Friend – I
explained why I had never had a job before. Now since I’ve had time to settle
in at work and learn what being a working adult means, I realised that I am
glad I never worked before because I wouldn’t have handled the responsibility
well.
With everything happening in my life previously, I would’ve
had a breakdown.
It took for me learn about myself and then endure the hardships
of figuring out I’m not straight (with all of that baggage) for me to finally be where I am today.
I was a very gentle kid growing up who would cry for
everything, so life needed to toughen me up. Sure I still have some way to go
but I happy with my progress, I’m not as fragile as what I once was.
Anyway, back to the point of this – working.
Work is really hard guys, and sooo exhausting... but mostly
it’s really rewarding.
When I got the news that I was accepted into the internship
programme at Independent Media, my whole attitude towards it was that I want to
learn as much as I can. If the 6 months of my internship comes and they happen
to let me go, I know that I will have received everything out of the experience
that I wanted.
I know this already because the first month of work has
already taught me so much.
I won’t lie, I’m a little worried that things at work will go
pear shaped but that is because I’m neurotic. Oddly enough it is not the big
dramas that freak me out, rather the small little things that trip me up.
I feel like I’m not smart enough or hard working enough but
I know that that is just my self-doubt talking.
I need to remind myself to stay calm and get out of my own
way.
This past month has been filled with lots of laughs, getting
to meet and interview new people and having some of the best experiences in my
life so far:
-The late nights where literally the only thing
keeping you going was the energy of those around you.
-Learning about the media industry and that there
are long painstaking hours that go into producing a newspaper has been eye
opening.
-How to write articles, because they aren’t the
same thing as essays.
-Operating new equipment and what works best for
different mediums.
-The hot photographers that you see and on occasion
want to do the dirty with. (That one blonde haired beauty from EWN though!!! I
would marry him.)
-The really cool people I get to work with in my
team who are starting to feel like a second family.
Mojo so strong, you'll fall under our spell.
All of the above have been really invaluable experiences so
far and I have loved it.
Sure there have been a few low points but that comes with
everything in life – sometimes you’re up and sometimes you’re down. You just
have to keep rolling with the punches.
I have no clue where this journey I’m currently on will take
me but I’m eager to find out.
Can I also just say that I’m damn proud of myself of surviving through March because finances
were tight and my phone was fucking out so I had no contact with my friends
compared to what I usually do. I didn’t have them to keep me motivated all the
time. I really really missed them, but I also know that I can count of myself
too...
I made myself a list of goals in January that I needed to
achieve before the end of this year and I will share them with you now (don’t
judge):
1.Employment
2.Bank Account (one that lasted and that doesn’t
get closed because of no money being put into it)
3.Drivers Licence
4.Passport
Those are 4 goals, two of which I have already crossed off.
They seem very silly to me now but when I wrote that at the
start of this year, they meant something. The reason why there were only four
was because I thought it would take me forever to cross off the first one.
I seriously doubted that I would achieve them.
The next thing on my list is my driver’s licence which I’m
daunted by (read: shit scared and pissing my pants) but before the end of this
year I will accomplish it.
2015 has surprised me in many ways, and I look forward to
what else it has in store for me.
Who knows maybe I may finally get to say that I’ve finally
been on an airplane before the end of it? Or even find myself a fiancée?
Theo. Over and Out.
PS – I’m half joking about the fiancée thing; I am very much
want to be about letting love happen naturally (well as naturally as what my personality will allow). For now I am focusing on myself and work at the moment,
but I can only keep the hopeless romantic in me within his cage for 80% of the
time.
So not even a month into my work experience, and the Mojo
team (mobile journalists) were assigned the task of covering a huge event – The
Cape Town International Jazz Festival.
It all started with the arrival of strangers from Durban and
Joburg in our tinny little room, who would go on to be really awesome people
who I learned a lot from and shared one of the most exciting experiences of my
life with.
There was the fun times at the hotel (man that buffet breakfast was life)
Then there was the work of covering the events...
My awkward dancing at Beatenberg...(Don't judge)
My favourite performance (though I am biased because I'm a fan)
Then the fun times of just messing around together...
All kidding aside there were a plethora of moments when we were working really hard. If you want to see exactly how hard we worked, then visit our website www.mojojazz.iol.co.za or our twitter @mojoIOL.
All the blood sweat and tears that went into accomplishing everything we did was worth it because it was really a huge learning experience that forced a group of strangers to work together and, in my opinion, we crossed the finish line better for it.
It is humbling, often humiliating, experience
that I encourage everyone to do at one point. Promotions people know a bit of this when you are promoting a item on the streets, and people wish you would disappear.
