Morola’s internship at Nature Valley International
‘Make hay while the sun shines,’ is a great idiom to adopt while we enjoy an Indian summer here on the sunshine coast. Hailing from medieval writer John Heywood’s collection of English Proverbs, today the phrase is used to emphasise the benefits of taking advantage of favourable circumstances when the chance arises.
For Eastbourne College sixth former, Morola Oyefesobi, making hay in the summer of 2019 meant grasping the opportunity to work as an intern for the press office at Eastbourne’s annual Nature Valley International Tennis Championship. Morola’s report below reveals an eye-widening week of behind-the-scenes graft and demonstrates that healthy learning for the long term is more than just the act of absorbing and applying information learned in the classroom.
‘The Nature Valley International tennis tournament is a very busy and fast-paced work environment; especially being a press office intern. You have to constantly be available and ready to do any task and to help anyone who asks; all with a friendly smile. I spent most of my time on the desk helping the journalists and photographers with anything that they needed for the day: order of play sheets, player statistics, match tickets etc. However, on days when the media centre was less busy, I had the privilege of shadowing reporters as they talked to the tennis players, listening in on press conferences and walking players over to the autograph stand. Being an intern at the tennis tournament meant you had to work long hours. I’d get there at 8.00am in the morning and leave at 8.00pm in the evening. However, moments such as escorting BBC news reporters to Andy Murray’s practise court to get a few shots of him warming up for his mixed doubles, often helped put into perspective the amazing opportunity I’ve been given. Many world-renowned tennis players such as Kerber, Konta and Pliskova often walked past my desk everyday on their way to the balcony to do press interviews.
Working at the Eastbourne tennis tournament was a very eye-opening experience for me, as I’d never worked in such a fast-paced work environment before. It taught me how to quickly adapt to the environment around me, as well as many other great transferable skills. Even though I now realise that the exciting world of media and sports journalism isn’t for me, I know that the skills I learnt from this job will benefit me in any career path.’
