Antonique Dick, Manenberg
During the June school holiday I had the opportunity to job shadow one of Cape Town’s finest journalists – Hazel Allies-Husselman from the Athlone News.
Growing up in Manenberg, we are often stereotyped as gangsters and being of no-good. What people often don’t realise, is that no matter what your circumstances or upbringing is or has been, we all have dreams and hopes for a better, fruitful future.
At times, it can be really be tough to actually want to achieve your dreams, especially when all around you, you see violence.
As youth we often also deal with peer pressure. So when my teacher told us that this holiday we’d be doing our job shadowing, we were all excited, as this would be a peek into what our future career holds for us. When I stepped into Newspaper House, I was extremely nervous, but when I was introduced, everyone made me feel welcome.
The first day is described as office day and although some would find it boring, just sitting and typing whole day, it was like music to my ears and I knew without a doubt that this would be the best career choice for me.
I met a lot of interesting people and there was never a dull moment. It seemed at every outing or sitting I’d meet someone who in some way would inspire me to always try my utmost best to achieve my goals.
We often don’t realise the importance and value of journalists in our country and our community as a whole.
These are the people who aspire to tell nothing but the truth and also to be the voice of the silent ones.
Working at the Athlone News for a few days was an exceptionally humble experience. My experience was amazing and I loved every single moment of it. I have learnt that with hope anything is possible and hard work will eventually pay off.
