Two months had passed since I joined R.AGE for my four-month long internship program, required as part of my Mass Communication course in UCSI University. It’s been great so far in R.AGE and I have been thought well enough in the art of being a R.AGE intern.

So what do we interns do here you ask?

Apart from the usual coffee making and flower arranging, we get to do the stuff that our R.AGE colleagues do as well, such as writing articles, going for interviews and so on. If you were one of  those who think that all journalists live a rather easy life writing stories, articles and all behind the desk, think again.

Let me share the some of the behind-the-scenes, money-can’t-buy stories with you, R.AGE Intern style!

This was for an article/column that we called ‘Looks’, featuring college students who will talk about their fashion insterest or lifestyle. For one particular ‘Looks’, I got assigned to go to campuses and do a write up on the songs that college kids listen to these days. I’ve done it before prior to this, so I thought how hard could this be?

But the first article I did was done in only one campus. This time around, I had to look for more than one campus to do my interviews. So off I go to the few campuses that I could think of at the top of my head then, with my bulky DSLR camera.

I planned my journey and allocated the amount of time I need to spend in a campus, along with the number of interviews I should get. I had no problems with the first campus I went to. After an hour, I decided that I should walk by foot to the next campus; located closely to the first one.

Obviously, I did not check the weather forecast for the day because one moment it was hot and shiny, the next it was raining cats and dogs! And I was only halfway there!

I ran up to this shelter with one of those flimsy metal-ish shelters to save my camera from getting wet. I was already soaking from head to toe by the time I reached the shelter.

I abandoned my plan to go to the next campus, and I waited for the rain to subside before heading back to my car. I can still recall the song that was played on the radio as soon as I started driving. It was Natasha Bedingfield’s Unwritten, and I can feel the pinches of sarcasm every time I hear the words of the chorus go, “Feel the rain on your skin”.

I was hoping for a better weather condition for my next trip to the campuses, but even then, I brought an umbrella with me, just in case. Little did I know, that the weather would be the least of my concerns on Day 2.

I began my journey to the campuses on a bright and shiny afternoon. I knew that I had to finish this story as soon as possible, and therefore I planned everything nicely from the start. The plan was simple, just as Day 1: enter the compound, get a few interviews and leave.

I went into the campus with the least amount of people noticing me (part of the stealth training you get in R.AGE). I saw a potential interviewee, and I made my move to seal the interview. But as soon as I got to the first question, a middle-aged security personnel lady appeared behind me and asked:

“Young man, what are you doing here?”

I answered: “I’m from The Star. You know, the newspaper? I need to do an interview with some of the students here. I will not take long, just a few minutes.”

Then the lady said, “I need to see your approval letter”

The moment I said I did not have any letter with me, she whipped out her walkie-talkie and said:

“Intruder in the campus. I repeat, INTRUDER in the campus…”

Words can’t describe how I felt then. Yes, I’m an intruder and I intend to destroy the campus with my pen, my The Star notebook and my DSLR camera. I tried to talk my way out of it, but by the time I finished talking, four burly security guards appeared out of nowhere and ushered me out of the place. And they made me walk out of the way out of the place looking like I’m a criminal.

I called up my colleagues in R.AGE, and none of them had any security issues with any campuses previously. But the show must go on, and I went to the other campuses to finish up the story and the interviews. I did not encounter any security issues as I had earlier.

Well, that’s all I have for all the behind-the-scenes stories for now. So the next time you see an article on the newspaper, think about all the hard work, raindrops and security issues that we have to go through to put the article up for your reading pleasure.