As my internship/volunteership came to an end on friday I took with me a better understanding of what the day to day work of a reporter is about. My internship was only for a month, but I feel like I learned more in one month than I would had at a four month internship in the United States, only because I feel as if this experience was very practical from day one. I met so many great people including the President of Ecuador, Rafael Correa, two times! On my last day I had the opportunity to follow him around. It was the best experience I could ever ask for. One thing I am going to take from this experience is the lessons I learned from my reporter friends. Being a reporter is more than what you see on television. Sometimes it is about being a little insensitive to get the story. I say that because I remember one story we went to go cover; There was a couple whos baby was dieing because of the condition of the hospital and the parents had just found out and were crying, almost falling down to their knees. I wanted to hug them and comfront them but as a reporter there we were with the camaras and microphones in their faces asking questions. I felt really bad because I knew if it were me in their position I would not want all that attention, but I also had to realize really fast that I could not allow my emotions to control my actions. As a reporter it is my job to report on all things no matter how sad it is. I know, it sounds so cold hearted, but if our doctors got affected by every death they had we would not have any good doctors around. I also learned that patience is the key. Sometimes we would go places and have to wait three or four hours just to get a five mintue interview just to see twenty seconds to one mintue on the news. I was in disbelief at first. I was telling myself that we sat there for hours and this is all they are going to show, but when you see something on the news that you had a part of it does not matter how many seconds it is up. My intership family was the best. They took the time to explain things to me when I could not understand, they even took the time to help me improve my spanish. They allowed me to talk on the camara about real events, they showed faith in me and in return it made me stronger. I will never forget them for they really have changed my life and gave me some of my first experiences in reporting. I advise anyone that decides to go study abroad to take the opportunity to do an internship or a volunteership. Opportunities like the one I had does not come often so if presented with the opportunity please take it up. This has been a life changing experience for me. Some things I would like to list about my internship/vlounteership that I will never forget.
1. Meeting President Correa
2. Meeting the Mayor of Guayaquil
3. Going to press conferences
4. Being in a riot (a good riot)
5. Seeing a dead body
6. Climbing a mountain with hundereds of other people during the Tusnami
7. Salsa dancing in the office
8. Going to five different beaches in one day
9. Meeting some of the most people in television here in Guayaquil, Ecuador
10. Last but not least meeting an amazing group of people that eventually became my family.
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