Coming into this week for NAJA x Next Gen III, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Before this program, I had never done an audio story before and honestly wasn’t sure what was involved. I didn’t know exactly how (or if) my written journalism experience would translate to audio. But thanks to my amazing mentor Savannah and the rest of the Next Gen staff, the audio part turned out to be both straightforward and fun.
The entire Next Gen team was incredibly helpful and supportive. Throughout the week, I felt like I was given space to figure things out on my own and work independently, but with the understanding that there was always someone to ask for help if I needed it. I really appreciated the opportunity to try out new skills and explore different ways of telling Indigenous stories.
For me, the biggest challenge was working on so many different pieces of the project in such a short time. I think I often try to only tackle one thing at a time, and this week definitely pushed me to be on top of multiple things at once. The ability to multitask and stay focused on different story elements is a skill that I can hopefully carry forward.
It’s also been really exciting to see the other reporters’ progress throughout the week — it’s been so great to work alongside other incredible Indigenous reporters and to see their work. Everything worked really well over Zoom, but I do wish we had all been able to be in person together!
