The Hardest Part Is The First Step - Waking Up

 The Hardest Part Is The First Step

Waking Up!

Dedication and discipline are the two greatest qualities anyone could have. During the first week I proved to myself that I possessed both.

Today is the third day of the workshops for the Micro-Macro Internship Programme 2016. I would know because I wrote it in my black, bulky folder this morning. I will not speak about my second week right now but about my first week.
 Each morning I woke up at 5 am, cooked breakfast, fed my dogs and headed off to work for 7:10 am. The bus ride was long and every minute that passed made me realize how much I didn't leave my house. I was lost. Luckily, I was bold enough to ask the bus driver a question, even after knowing this was the right bus and hopping around asking mom for her opinion.
 After an hour drive, the driver put me out at the bottom of this gently sloping road, disappearing below the horizon. I was officially alone. Afterward, I caught a #10 minibus, its route was "NEWTON". Those words were all I needed to see.

I will take this time to give a big shout out to the employees and interns of Studio Studio plus the awesome bus driver from the Barbados Transport Board who drives the Silver Sands route for 7:15 on weekdays! Thank you, so much. Heavy families!

 I arrived at work an hour earlier and this became the routine for three days of the week: Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. The long bus drive gave me time to think;I realized this opportunity was a great one, causing me to smile every day, for three days, for an entire hour, thanking God, Small Enterprises for Education and Development (SEED), the programme director Miss. Chamara Hollingsworth and my interning company.I met the workers and for the first day, was seen and not heard. I followed the rules which were often not explicitly stated but expected. My boss and colleagues were friendly, showed me the workers' manual, the company's social media presence and the mode of the business.

 

 I was relieved my work environment was one of professionalism and competence but teasing and fun were non-stop. I busied myself with asking questions about the business that were outside of the box, set goals and researched everything I could. My Photoshop skills were put to the test as I did a flyer. I was rusty but that only gave me new goals and questions. I tried my hardest not to be idle, even during my break.

 Saturday was the most exciting day! Not only did I see my bosses in full swing but I also learned a few tricks about lighting, angles and poses. Rihanna was not lying in her song. POSE! The atmosphere was entirely different from the weekdays as more photoshoots were scheduled on the weekends. I loved the experience of shooting outside and inside the studio.
Saturday was also the day I talked personally with my bosses and asked what were their expectations for interns, the photography business and how to value yourself and your product.
 This tied in perfectly with the themes of the six workshops for the first week. Alanna Myers, Lynette Eastmond and Selena Dodson took me on an introspective journey as I tried to define myself for myself and society. I also made a life plan up to ages 65 and 40 with definite goals that I wanted to have accomplished through self-discipline and self actualization. It was hard being honest with myself and asking myself really hard questions about various aspects of my life when I was only a "child" to some. I called some of the icebreakers and the activities from Chamara Hollingsworth therapeutic as I used art to represent myself.
After loads of questions, fighting back tears while at the workshops and procrastination, I am still working on answering them and knowing my impact on the world, being your best self and loving yourself unconditionally. I am waking up to myself.
Thank You, for the amazing week!