I WAS feeling nervous and eager at the same time. I had mixed emotions with the thought of going to Davao City for our print media internship after our radio broadcasting on-the-job training in General Santos City ended.
I recalled that it was in my high school days when I embraced writing different news articles for our school paper but I was really more into radio broadcasting. I somehow find news writing tiring yet challenging.
It is tiring in the sense that you would be just staring at your computer screen with a pen in hand, mulling over how you are going to organize facts that you have collected.
On our first day at SunStar Davao, we had an orientation for our internship. I did not have any idea about the attitude of the company’s writers.
I was still tired when I first entered the office since I spent the day going to the church with my family and taping for my TV program Brigada Music Video (BMV), which ran for five days. Unexpectedly, the tiredness was soon gone after I saw Miss Bunchy Sotto, SunStar Davao reporter, coming out of the office.
During the orientation, I really listened to what Sir Reuel John Lumawag, editor, was saying especially when he presented the people working at the news outlet.
“Asa si Juliet? (Where’s Juliet)”, a lady asked him while he was speaking before us. “Bag-o ra nigawas (She just got out of the office),” he replied. So I thought that Sotto’s name was Juliet but I found out later after we went down the stairs that the name of the gorgeous lady was actually Bunchy. But I also find Miss Juliet amazing, delightful and a good-looking lady.
Meanwhile, I was surprised when Sir Lumawag assigned me to be with Sir Adam Morrell, a sports writer. I did not anticipate that I will be writing sports articles since I am not really into sports and I should be familiar with the terms used in the discipline because it is different from any other sort of news. Well, maybe I was just used to news articles way back then.
I accepted and treated that as a challenge to myself because as a writer, I should be flexible. I could actually liken it to the job that I am currently into. Being a video jockey, one should also embrace different kinds of music genres and avoid focusing on just a single genre.
During the first field work with Sir Morrell, I was excited because I met different people and even learned so many things like discovering how famous basketball players from the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) started.
To be honest, I was clueless of some facts disclosed by a source I interviewed since I am from General Santos City and I have to deal with the schools that are active in sports activities and competitions here.
After our coverage at the Montaña Gym and Fitness Center, I was already thinking about how I would write my story by applying the 4Ws and 1H while riding with Sir Morrell in his car. He also guided me how to write based on the data we gathered.
The next day, I read the latest edition of SunStar Davao newspaper and immediately checked the sports page. I felt flattered when I saw my name in the newspaper because SunStar is number one in readership and one of the most reliable newspapers in Davao City. I would also like to thank Sir Adam Morrell and Ma'am Marianne Abalayan for assisting and refining my story.
I immediately took a photo of it and sent the good news to my parents. They called and congratulated me for my achievement.
Just recently, we attended the Davao Sportswriters Association (DSA) Forum held at The Annex of SM City Davao. I was able to raise questions to chess gold medalists of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) together with my co-interns from Notre Dame of Dadiangas University.
I also learned from the testimonies of the athletes about their experience during the Palarong Pambansa. They said that it was not easy for them as there is lack of financial support. In addition, they also bared that convenience is one of the factors to consider when you are going to compete. They compared their situation from other athletes coming from other regions who were well-supported especially in terms of financial matters. Nevertheless, they were still proud with what they have achieved especially that they live in Davao.
I am grateful that in just five days, I already gained plenty of knowledge about writing sports stories. I anticipate that the next challenge in SuperBalita will be fun, exciting and worthwhile.