I quickly learned that you never really know what you can do until you do it.
I knew going into this fellowship that I would be working diligently every day. I knew I would be testing my capabilities of telling a really great story. What I did not know was that I would be reaffirmed in the belief that this is what I want to do with the rest of my life.
My mentor, Taunya English, and I started working as soon as we knew we were assigned to each other. From the first day, she was extremely attentive to me. Every day, we would discuss goals and search for ways to improve our work. She taught me how to edit audio and take pictures, but more importantly, she taught me how to be a better storyteller.
Taunya and I even had real world journalism experiences. We persisted through equipment problems, audio issues, and interesting interviewees. On the second day, we were on a random stoop in the middle of the city, in the baking heat, waiting for our interviewee when our audio recorder stopped working and we had to figure it out on the spot. Everything worked out in the end and it only taught me to be more persistent in knowing how to accurately manage when things don’t go exactly as planned.
I’m incredibly grateful to have such an amazing team who was willing to teach with patience. I have never been more happy with something I’ve produced.