"DO YOU HAVE THE BANDWIDTH TO DO A PART-TIME ROLE?"
"The role primarily involves research, content creation, community building and reporting."
Accepting this role, I would say wasn’t one of the toughest. I know how quick anyone in my shoes at the time would have been in accepting the offer. I didn’t stop a second to even consider my situation before jumping quickly into saying, ‘Yes, I do.’ 😶🌫️
I applied for an internship with BOLT and was awaiting my acceptance or rejection email. Fortunately for me, I saw a tweet from one popular Twitter techie. In the tweet, followers of the account were to suggest other social media platforms to help improve ‘the techie’s ’ online reach. Quickly, I left a comment that read; ‘I think Youtube will be the best platform.’
The BOLT intern’s mail dropped after a week and unfortunately, I couldn’t make it. However, I joined a Focus Group on Twitter for the Techie. She intended on bringing like-minded comments together to start planning for the Youtube content.
We held regular meetings to suggest ways the content could be productive and reach the mass. After one evening meeting, I received a dm on Twitter. It was already late in the night but as usual, my ‘insomniac’ self was wide awake. I didn’t want to seem desperate though I was. So I marked the message as unread and waited to reply the next morning.
During that same week, after accepting the offer, I started to think ‘Why would I accept the role while still in school?’ ‘How would I juggle between my online studies, my university degree and the new role?’ ‘How committed was I going to be?’ All these and many common others came to me.
I accepted the role because ever since I had read about this particular Techie, I knew I wanted to be like her. If I couldn’t follow closely in her steps, I’d force myself to be a better version of her. This opportunity to work with her was going to help me achieve my goals and nothing was going to stop me. Even if it meant spending my ‘insomniac’ nights working on her content, I was ready … Eiii, I was so enthused and ready for the race even without the finish line in sight.
What exactly am I driving at; 🤔
Apparently, I had no idea what my role entailed but she saw potential in me when all I could come by with was knowledge and brilliant ideas. Many times, people see our worth and what we are capable of when all we see is ‘little or no knowledge on certain topics.’
I have learnt a lot on this job. I remember during the first week when I received my working documents. I had to quickly adapt to planning ahead, setting meaningful goals and actually utilising my journal wisely.
What you should be doing; 📒🖊
Openly share your opinions, suggestions and journey. Don’t keep your knowledge to yourself. You don’t know who is out there seeking you.
Network with like-minded people. Find people in the niche you’re interested in and network with them. Build healthy relationships with them. (
It’s not every time that you must fall in love, hehe😅🤣. That was just by the way.)
Find a mentor. Because I wanted to so much be like her, it was easier for me to identify her as my mentor. Look up to someone. Let their story inspire you.
To sum it all up, document your journey. Your little wins, do not disregard them. Gather them together in a journal, blog post or anything of the sort. You’re human and you’re bound to forget certain things, that’s why documentations are necessary.
I’ll forever be grateful for the opportunity I got. I have learned a lot and continue to learn more. I’m always excited about the growth I have acquired, but sometimes it scares me. This one opportunity opened many magnificent doors when I saw great doors close on me. I definitely cannot share everything here but currently here’s where we’re at;
Honestly, I have had a lot on my plate in the past few months, hence my retrogression. I'm looking forward to doing my best, you can worry about me though. I’m going through it, yet I'm finding ways to manage it all.
I’m only trying my best and finding ways to keep my passion for the job. I’m almost ready to let it go but yet again, I enjoy my screen time and typing nights.
It’s not always a bed of roses or a walk in the park. The reality side of taking up any role is that there are a lot of ups and downs. What’s left for you to do is learn to manage these ups and downs and draw the best out of them. I am rooting for you!!
Share some experiences you have had as well. I’m no expert but I’d love to help with anything.
Stay Safe as always,
Na-bi🦋🖤👋🏾
Thanks for sharing your experiences. Learned so much reading about them.
I can't wait to openly share my ideas and knowledge with the world. At least, that's something I'd like to be consistent with.
All the best! You're doing great!
One thing I know for sure is, you’re doing your best! You’ve been trying so hard! I am proud of how far you’ve come! You’d forever be my big techie!