Having attended university for four years and obtained my degree, I was quiet certain I was ready for the nitty-gritty world of journalism.
“Nothing can stand in my way, I know what I’m doing,” I told myself.
But I couldn’t have been further from the truth.
In reality I knew a lot about the theoretical aspects of journalism, but practically I was barely where I needed to be.
Therefore when I walked into the City Times offices on February 3, I was plunged into an unfamiliar world, one I wasn’t sure I was completely ready for.
My first week was tough, not because the work was difficult but because I had already told myself that I was set for failure.
I struggled to balance and adapt as every time I made a mistake I would beat myself up about it, instead of learning.
Then I attended Caxton cadet school in March.
I was surrounded by young interns from across the country; they were just like me, also trying to find their place in the industry.
Ingrid Pepler, our much loved teacher, welcomed us with open arms.
She played such and important role in our training and opened our eyes to our true potential.
Ingrid showed us that there’s nothing special that’s going to fall from the sky and rescue us from our self-doubts, we are the ones who hold the key to unlock our true potential.
And from then on, everyday when we walked into class we knew that we were great and capable of being amongst the best.
It then dawned on me, I truly had, as Oprah Winfrey would call it, an “ah ha moment”, a moment that truly changes your mindset or viewpoint.
The lesson learnt is that in doubting my abilities I hampered my learning process.
In all the mistakes I made, I kept repeating them because I was blocking my mind with negative thoughts.
I constantly told myself that I wasn’t capable of writing good stories and was never going to adapt.
But now, I’ve changed the way I think about my work, I am learning and loving my job more than ever before.
I still make mistakes here and there, but I’ve changed how I deal with the little stumbles.
Learning from them and moving on, that’s my recipe for a doubt-free life.
Thanks to Ingrid and my cadet classmates, I see life differently, because I know the possibilities are endless. ZM
