Jessie Sharpe is a Yuin woman and UOW Bachelor of Journalism student currently undertaking an internship with the Illawarra Local Aboriginal Land Council as part of her degree.
Along with assisting the Land Council to bring their website up-to-date, Jessie鈥檚 also in the early stages of a larger journalism project aiming to collate and showcase local knowledge of the Illawarra鈥檚 natural landmarks.
鈥淲e鈥檙e going to be doing a bit of work on the importance of specific landmarks in the Illawarra. So far it鈥檚 just been finding super knowledgeable people and everyday people that have some sort of connection to landmarks, like Mt Keira.鈥�
鈥淚鈥檝e found a bunch of people that I can talk to. A lot of people are really willing to help out, and most people when they find out the topic, they want to talk about it, which is really cool.鈥�
Even though it鈥檚 still early days, Jessie鈥檚 already found value in the workplace experience from her internship that sets it apart from just classroom learning.
鈥淭here鈥檚 little skills that I鈥檝e picked up that I wouldn鈥檛 have if I didn鈥檛 do this internship. Actually working with people from different teams that aren鈥檛 doing the same thing. You know, I want to go in-depth and talk to business students about their internship so I can write about it, but they鈥檙e busy doing things for their internship. It鈥檚 very difficult to plan time, even with [my boss] Patrick. He works for the Land Council, but he also has a job teaching, and he has kids of his own, so it鈥檚 sometimes challenging to work with people who are doing different things.
鈥淚t鈥檚 something that you don鈥檛 expect because when you do group assessments, we all have the same goal, but here the goal is for the good of the Land Council, and we all have our separate ways of going about it.鈥�
She鈥檚 also learned that working and turning in work in a professional environment isn鈥檛 quite the same as student work and submitting assessments to be graded.
鈥淚t鈥檚 very interesting doing the process for them and not just for me or for uni. When I talk to people I say I鈥檓 an intern for ILALC, so that means I have to be professional - which I always am - but it鈥檚 a bigger responsibility. Even though it鈥檚 not a newsroom, it really is giving me the experience that I needed and that I really wanted to get out of it.鈥�
鈥淚 have a bit of freedom, but I also have that bigger responsibility of 鈥榳ho鈥檚 seeing this?鈥�. With assessments, they鈥檙e not always going to get seen, whereas this is the type of thing if they say yes, then it goes.鈥�
Jessie credits WIC, and specifically our student employability and engagement coordinator Caitlin Stuart, with helping her secure her placement with the Land Council.
鈥淭here was a post on about internship opportunities, and I鈥檇 just gone through my subjects and one is specifically called 鈥楯ournalism Internship鈥�. So I spoke to Caitlin about it, spoke to [the Land Council], and I loved what they were doing. It鈥檚 not a newsroom, but I have the opportunity to do so many different journalistic-style things. I thought 鈥榊ou know what? I鈥檓 gonna go for it.鈥欌��
Overall the internship with the Land Council hasn鈥檛 just been something to tick a box in completing her degree, but a positive experience showing her how rewarding relevant work experience can be.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a sense of pride that I get out of it. I鈥檓 proud of the efforts that I鈥檓 putting into it more than I would be if it was just an assessment. It鈥檚 definitely making me want to work harder, which I did not expect. Obviously, I鈥檓 doing the internship subject, but I鈥檝e put in hours outside of that. They鈥檙e doing some pretty cool things and I鈥檓 excited to help them out.鈥�