There I was. In the train. As I walked into Hilversum station, I had mixed feelings. I felt sad because my summer break had come to an end. I also noticed some tension because I was about to enter a totally new work environment. A new adventure was waiting for me; an internship in the journalistic department of NieuwLicht, which is part of the Dutch broadcasting company the EO (Evangelische Omroep). I felt a bit scared. What if I don’t like working there? Am I going to be able to get up at half past six every morning for the upcoming four months? Am I going to like my new ‘temporary’ colleagues?
The weeks after, little by little I got answers to most of my questions. Yes, I liked working there (in the end I even loved working there … 😊 ) and yes waking up early in the morning was also doable … at least after some time. I got acquainted with my new colleagues but there was no time to chitchat much, articles needed to be written! My internship supervisor was very clear and helpful on what NieuwLicht in general entails, what needed to be done every week, and how I needed to do my work properly. In the beginning of my internship I was apprehensive to write articles because I thought they would not be good enough. My work was checked by the finest journalists which made me even more nervous. However, there was nothing to be scared about. They gave me the best tips on how to improve my writing and research skills. Every week they gave me more and more freedom in what I wanted to write about and who I wanted to interview. I really liked my colleagues, so much so that we teamed up at a pubquiz night!
As my final week came closer, I felt rather sad. I noticed that I really liked the serious working life. I felt very productive and my work was appreciated by my supervisor and colleagues. I was a real member of the team and used to going to my weekly meetings, have good brainstorm sessions on new ideas on how to improve NieuwLicht’s platform and even had great Ping-Pong breaks with my co-interns! My last day was really nice. I had bought really good pies and because it was during Sinterklaas time, the editorial staff wrote me a poem that I had to read out loud. I then realized how much I had shared and done with my colleagues and how well they had gotten to know me. For that reason I was actually upset the first week after I had finished my internship.
I can definitely look back on a great time working for NieuwLicht (EO). I got great insights in working for a large and famous media company. I got into contact with people who I can contact in the future if want to know more about this interesting media world. But mostly, I learnt a lot about myself; I learnt how to deal with criticism, how to deal with stressful deadlines, and I learnt to be strict in protecting my boundaries by not taking up too much work. I now feel much more confident in writing and I noticed that I really love to write. Who knows what the future will bring, right?