Week Off

I'm almost through my week off from the NJ for my other job training. It's weird not going in for even a couple days; I've become so used to it.

Last week I had 4 story assignments from Betsy that she wanted me to finish. I can't even put into words how hard I was working and how much I was bothering people for interviews, but I only got 2 completely finished-- the other two I had JUST BARELY finished save for one or two interviews I needed. So frustrating when stories rely on just a few key people or things you need before deadline.

Betsy asked me what I learned that week, and told me she loaded me up with stories as a bit of a test, which I was thankful for. I really learned so much about how to work under pressure. At school, I would only work on one story in a week, with plenty of time to figure things out, and people were getting back to me. Last week, it was almost 4th of July weekend so no one was around, plus I had 4 stories and countless sources in the mix. I had to become comfortable with moving from one story to the next in the span of 10 minutes. I usually like to start and finish one thing in a few hours, but that's not possible at a paper most of the time. I adapted and developed an insane note-taking speed and organization strategies.

Betsy told me that she thinks I did a good job with everything I was given, and told me she has faith in my potential. I was really happy to receive her compliments. It was a crazy week and I wasn't actually able to go see people and talk in person, which was a challenge, but I was really glad I got the experience, even if the stories weren't "hard hitting" news (nail polish and wallpaper= so girly.)

In my week off I think at least one of my two stories will run, but when I get back I'm going to finish the other 2 I haven't already, and start some more new ones. I'm really loving this experience. I work well under pressure.

Here's the link to my NJ page with all my stories so far. It's updated every time a new one is posted:

http://search.delawareonline.com/sp?aff=1100&skin=&keywords=mikala%20jamison