The morning of the 15th August 2018 was a weirdly exciting one for myself. It was a date where I ventured into a new, unknown and daunting world. A date where I opened a new chapter of my life. It was not only the date I turned 17 years old, it was the date I also started my first day of “work”.
I put “work” in inverted commas as I it turned out to be anything but that, but more on that later. As I hurriedly got changed into my new work outfit I barely had time to think about what was happening. I was becoming an adult, going to a nine to five job, five days a week. My birthday presents and cards lay strewn across the floor as I rushed off to my first day of adulthood, they could wait until later I now had to be professional.
I got the bus into town and when getting off a gust of wind slapped me across the face and I suddenly came to my senses and it really hit me what I was about to embark on. I became overwhelmed me a little for a brief second I quickly composed myself before I arrived at the entrance and strode in as confidently as possible despite my legs threatening to buckle underneath me with each step.
I feared the unknown as I rode the elevator up to the 5th floor. For the first time in my life I really had no clue what to expect and it scared me. My brain went into overdrive, on all the ways I could fail miserably and have an awful time. My nerves were getting the best of me.
They evaporated about an hour later however, after my first meeting with my employer Tina. She was bright, bubbly and brilliant with me and fellow student Daniel from the get go. She made us feel welcome and treated us like employees not students.
Whilst that may feel like added pressure upon a young person’s shoulders for me it was comforting to know that I was looked upon as someone there to contribute not to just sit there and twiddle my thumbs all day. It reassured me that I belonged in a workplace and that I was here to do a job.
Our first day was a whirlwind, from brainstorming sessions, to meetings to actually writing articles it was a day of firsts in many respects, it was surreal! The days which followed flew by without a trace as I immersed myself in my work. There was never a dull moment working at Excalibur!
I got to experience many things which your average 17 year old wouldn’t dream of. From visiting the BBC and being shown around the studio, to reporting live about the Primark fire, filtering through news as and when it came, my dream of being a journalist quickly became a reality whilst working at Excalibur.
Before that I had only ever written football articles, more specifically match reports. I had so far lacked the confidence to cross the bridge and delve into writing on other topics. Tina therefore challenged me to show that I wasn’t just a ‘one trick pony’ by assigning me to write articles on a variety of things, from music to politics and real life stories I did a bit of everything! It was refreshing to try something different and branch out and I now know myself that I don’t have to rigidly stick to just Sports Journalism but can delve into various other categories.
Tina also showed us how to upload articles and run the social media accounts of her website BAM. We were tasked with running all the socials and also publishing our pieces. I was immensely proud to be able to see the work I had written online and it was made even better by getting good feedback on it. Again, all of this would not have been possible without Excalibur.
In total I have written 17 pieces for BAM in the space of just 15 days. My favourite to write has been the Life Through My Eyes pieces, a series which we devised, interviewed people for then wrote up ourselves. The series looks struggles of young people in our local communities and how they are coping.. Whilst they were tremendously difficult topics I was thrilled to show that I can write serious pieces and not just the light hearted articles I had previously done.
Another highlight of my time with Excalibur was being given license to go out and interview the public on their thoughts on important issues. I had never done anything like it before and whilst nerve wracking at first I grew into the role of a reporter and really enjoyed it. The interviews really helped to build my confidence of talking to people and enhanced myknowledge of how to conduct yourself as a report, challenging the people to ensure you get the relevant information you need to write an article on.
Overall my experience at Excalibur Press was, to sum it up in one word, amazing. It didn’t feel like work at all because I had so much fun doing it. I loved coming in everyday as whilst busy and challenging the atmosphere was very relaxed and I was allowed to express myself. Much of that was down to Tina and the team at Excalibur who made me feel included throughout. I thoroughly enjoyed my time there and believe that thanks to my experiences there I now have the necessary knowledge and skills to make it as a journalist in the future. If anything it has just furthered my determination to make it in journalism as its giving me a taste of what the industry is like and I loved it.
I feel extremely lucky to have been given this opportunity at such a great place and if given the opportunity in the future would definitely come back to Excalibur, it was that good!
