By Amarachi Innocent

I did my industrial training at Nigerian Television Authority Enugu, where I was posted to the newsroom. Before I started, I was really excited because I felt it would be an opportunity to learn new things and gain real-life experience, especially in a place as active as a media house.

On my first day, everything felt new and interesting. The newsroom was always busy, with people going in and out, attending to different tasks. You could tell that everyone had something important to do. At that moment, I felt like I was in the right place and I was ready to learn as much as I could.

As time went on, I started noticing that things were not exactly how I expected. One of the major challenges was that there were not enough people willing to guide us. Most of the staff were always focused on their work, which I understand, but at the same time, it made it difficult for IT students like me to actually learn. Sometimes we would just sit around without being given anything to do, and it felt like we were not really part of the system.

There were even days when I felt confused about what exactly I was supposed to be learning in the newsroom. I expected more interaction, more explanation, and maybe even small tasks to help us understand how things worked, but that didn’t really happen.

Innocent Amarachi Favour

However, one thing that really helped was one of my coursemates. She is the daughter of one of the workers at NTA, so she had already been familiar with the environment before coming for IT. Because of that, she understood some of the activities in the newsroom and was able to guide us.

Most of the little knowledge I gained during my time there actually came from her. She tried her best to explain things and carry us along, eventhough she was also a student like me.

Even though I didn’t spend up to a month there, I still took something away from the experience. It taught me that in some situations, you may not always get the guidance you expect, and you have to make effort to learn on your own. I also learned to be observant, because sometimes the only way to understand what is going on is by watching how others do their work.

Another thing I learned is that real working environments are not always as organized or student-friendly as we imagine in school. People are focused on meeting deadlines and doing their jobs, so teaching students may not always be their priority.

In conclusion, my industrial training experience at NTA Enugu was not the best, but it was still meaningful in its own way. It exposed me to a real work environment and helped me understand the importance of being proactive and independent. Even though I faced some challenges, I still appreciate the experience because it taught me lessons I wouldn’t have learned in the classroom.

I yearn to go back there someday.

Innocent Amarachi Favour is a 300 Level Student Of Mass Communication, ESUT.