By Nompumelelo Mncube
I was part of the Future Journalist Programme in 2012 and for me giving back to the programme and having an opportunity again to mentor the FJP’s in 2013, was another incredible yet different story.
When I came to university I had no idea what I wanted to study and I chose journalism just because I was good at writing English essays at school without knowing what journalism was all about. First year I realised that I enjoyed writing but I didn’t know exactly which direction I was going with journalism. I was so surprised because I enjoyed it even though I didn’t really understand the meaning of journalism. When I came back for my second year I found out about a program called the Future Journalist Programme. In 2012 I was lucky enough to be part of the programme and it made me understand journalism and also learn so many things that I never understood about the media.
Being a Mentor
This year I gave back to the programme and I was mentoring the 2013 FJP’s. I have never been a mentor before and this was my first time in a position where I had to guide other people. At first I didn’t trust myself because of the kind of person I am. I have always been shy, quiet and soft but this year I decided to challenge myself and engage more with people and come out of my shell. The first challenging yet exciting thing that I learned was to get used to 16 different characters. I had to know them well and make sure that I answered any questions they have, using the skills that I gathered from the programme last year. As a mentor I learned that there is no time for you to sleep, you always have to be there for everyone and think very quickly.
FJP 2013
Being part of the programme again this year as a guide was even more exciting than last year. I came back knowing and understanding things better than last year. Even though we all came from different backgrounds we bonded so well from autumn to spring school. We all felt like a family together, no fights or weird conflicts occurred which is rare in a big group. Even during our tasks that we had to do for the day, we all helped each other and tried to learn things together.
In autumn school I helped the FJP’s edit videos since I specialise in television, they were able to make and edit their own videos. Winter school was also awesome. I was there to help them use maps to find venues for the shows that they had to cover during the National Arts Festival. Mentoring was one of the best things I’ve ever done. What I have learned from this programme as a mentor is you shouldn’t expect to get a thank you as such. I believe that it was an amazing and rewarding experience and it had a great feel good factor. For me being able to connect and always be there for my mentees felt like a big achievement, while at the same time I learned a lot about myself as a senior through this experience. This programme did not only make me feel good as a person but it also taught me that my assumptions about life were never always right, it made me realise that you never really know what people’s circumstances are until you get to know them. I would mostly certainly love to be a mentor again anywhere in future.
Photohraph supplied by Nompumelelo Mncube.
Left: Nompilo Mncube (FJP 2013), middle: Noko Pela (FJP 2013), right: Nompumelelo Mncube (FJP 2013 Mentor).