Miss Selma Shiwaya - Third year Communication Student
Brief:Public relations Intern at Oxygen communication
You were recently awarded with an internship opportunity at the Namibia National Olympic Committee; can you tell us more about that how did you get to know about it? Last year I received a list of companies that I could secure internship placement with, from my lecturer. And honestly speaking Oxygen was not part of my selection, I completely scratched it out. Deplorably, I received no response from the companies that I selected. So I had to refer back to my list and opt for Oxygen because then I was also running late. I emailed them my documents and I instantly scored an interview the following day. The interview was a success and I commenced with my internship the following day.
How long will your internship be and what are your daily duties? As per the Department of Communication mandate, I am expected to complete a notional of 600 hours which approximates to 15 weeks. I have successfully completed 10 weeks thus far. As a Public Relations intern, I’m assigned with various corporate communications tasks daily. Such as report writing, research and data analysing, drafting of proposals, events organising, telephone calls and liaising with different stakeholders. I am also putting in practice everything that I learned over the past two years and offering as much as I can to Oxygen.
What are your expectations by the end of your internship? I’m interning with a very benevolent and supportive yet driven team thus, the end of my internship will be sad yet impelling. I remember at the beginning of my internship, my mentor said these words to me “you are an intern and you’re here to learn, I do not expect you to know everything but by the end of this, I want you to be the best.” By the end of this internship, I hope to be fully aware of both my strengths and weaknesses in a real life corporate communications environment. I hope to be ready to take on my profession heads on. I should be bouncing off the walls!
What keeps you going as a student and what inspires you most? I have a zest for life and as a student I have to continuously reinvent myself. There are so many things that keep me going. Firstly, I have a five year plan that I made when I was 15 years old and it’s coming to an end this coming September. This plan reminds me of who I am, what I want and where I want to be. I know that I have an abundance of potential within me and I have to bring it to fruition. Self-discipline also keeps me going, I believe that I am the driver of my life and if I’m not steering it in the right direction I’m bound to get lost and a lost soul is as equally dead, good for nothing. I am inspired by ordinary young humble and pertinacious people, who leave their dreams yet continue dreaming. Otherwise, I’m just innately motivated.
How would you advice someone who wants to study Communication in terms of personality, attitude and aspiration? Generally, I believe that a career is something that you choose to do most of your life if not for the rest of your life. Thus one should really study something out of passion and not because of money or the popularity aligned to the profession. To take up on communications one has to be polite and patient because you’re going to work with different people. One should also like writing and public speaking, trust me, communications is just writing and speaking, nothing more. This course is most suitable for people who aspire to be Public Relation officers, spokes people or speech writers among the others. Studying communications is not rocket science if writing and public speaking are your hobbies.
Success quote! “One isn’t necessarily born with courage, but one is born with potential” - Maya Angelou