Thoughts and feelings on a day of new experiences

My first day of being a Writing and Communications trainee is complete, and I honestly thoroughly enjoyed it. I found the place easily enough, was made to feel extremely welcome, and I felt settled and at home straight away. First impressions of Poached Creative - everyone seems really friendly, and also very passionate about what they do - which I think makes for a positive working environment. There are two of us who have just started the training course - myself and someone slightly younger than me called Brij. He strikes me as a really cool, easy-going kind of person and I think we get on well.


Sounds reassuring…


The day started with some introductions - Jess detailing her background and how she came to the point she is at now, and she explained some of the projects she and Angela are currently working on. It all sounds really interesting - particularly the Rokpool website, as music is an area that interests me greatly. Angela has recently completed the six week course and has decided to continue to work at Poached, which is extremely encouraging for someone who has just started! She seems both knowledgeable and confident in what she does - something which I hope to replicate. It is also good to know that the end of this course does not necessarily mean the end of my involvement with Poached, and that if my time here is successful it could be extended. Jess has talked about the opportunities in journalism available and the places this course could lead me to, and it sounds exciting and appealing to me.


Jess spent some time with Brij and myself explaining the basics of communication, and after this I spent time with Angela, who showed me how to use blogger.com - which I had never used before. In fact, this is the first time I have ever written a blog anywhere, and it feels good to be the deliverer - as opposed to the recipient - of communication. For a large part of the last 15 months I have absorbed a vast quantity of information from various sources, and now I have a chance to express myself and share my thoughts and feelings.


Do I have to draw you a picture?


I am the kind of person who likes to have a clear picture of what I am aiming for, and how exactly I am going to reach my target. I also like to be clear on what the purpose of reaching this target is, i.e. what I will have gained when it is over. Because of this I was grateful that part of the day was spent drafting a personal development plan, to be reviewed at the half way point - and at the end - of the course. If everything goes to plan, I will have finished the course with several new skills, developed some existing ones, and will have had valuable experience in what it is like to work in a publishing environment. I particularly look forward to learning about web technologies, as when I was at University (which was only a few years ago) a typical degree course covered very little of this. I am also keen to find out which area of journalism my writing style would be most suited to.


Skills for Life

Skills are at their most useful when they are transferable, and this is one of the things I like about this course. Effective team-working and strict time-management have obvious benefits in numerous situations, but there are other skills I hope to gain which will be of immense value in my work for Camden Calling. This organisation was relatively unknown just a few months ago, but now is in urgent need of someone who can write and edit its monthly newsletter, write press releases, and update its blog. Hopefully, in completing this course, I will be able to take over these roles using skills acquired at Poached.

Equal opportunities!


As I have a problem with my eyesight (things appear blurry and distorted from a distance), I was a bit apprehensive about how this would be dealt with at Poached. As it turned out though, Jess and Angela are both extremely accommodating and understanding people, and have made me feel relaxed about the whole thing, and this means I don’t feel at all ‘different’ from the others. When I feel relaxed my self-confidence levels rise - as does my belief in my own ability to read text - so I find that I am capable of reading more than if I am feeling on-edge or nervous. Hence, I have had no problems at all with reading thus far, because I have confidence in my reading capacity.


Last year I completed a six month alcohol rehabilitation course, and there is no doubt it has had a huge positive affect on my belief in my own ability. However, I was a little bit sceptical about how other people would perceive me, and whether the fact I had been in rehab would limit my chances in life. Fortunately this does not appear to a problem at Poached, and I have been made to feel comfortable in my surroundings and a part of the team. I am enormously grateful to Jess for taking an objective view of my situation, and giving me a chance in an area which is of such interest to me.

There’s more to come…


I am going to update this blog each week, focusing on not just the content of the course, but the way I feel about how things are progressing as I experience new things and explore my own potential. So far so good, and hopefully I will be writing this next week feeling as optimistic as I do right now.