Woes of a student Intern
I was in my third year at
university when I had my first real encounter on Gender based violence, during
industrial attachment. I had always heard the stories about how student on
attachment are viewed as nobodies in the workplace and was psychologically prepared
for it. What I was not prepared for was that they were viewed as nobodies when
it comes to work, but somebodies when it comes to satisfying some people’s
personal desires.
Each time I would write an
article it would be discarded as rubbish to the extent that I became convinced
I had applied for the wrong program at varsity, until one of the sisters in the
newsroom told me to be patient because it had nothing to do with my
performance. It had also happened to her when she was new, and she had discovered
that the ‘boss’ was simply trying to get her attention. Her sentiments proved
to be true when he finally made his intentions known. He pulled the ‘I can make
life very comfortable for you’ card on me and even promised to give me a
distinction for my attachment year.
For a long time I was caught
between a rock and a hard surface because repeating attachment was not an
option for me, and neither was indulging with this old, sick man who was trying
to use my vulnerability to his advantage, so I confided in my ‘sister’ in the
newsroom, who fought the battle on my behalf, of course at the expense of her
job because after that the boss made sure to give her hell. She even threatened
to report him if he made me fail attachment. Well needless to say I did not fail
but I did not pass with a distinction either. I am grateful for her because I
honestly cannot imagine how I would have dealt with this issue on my own. Which
is why I would really want to encourage other young women facing similar
challenges to talk about them with other people. Believe me a problem shared is
a problem solved.
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