THE editorial floor is filled with quiet chatter but the interaction between colleagues is minimal - everyone was way too busy with their work. Editors and journalists are making calls, tapping furiously on their keyboards and clicking their mouse in effort to produce the latest news.

Mentally exhausted and emotionally drained on the eleventh straight day of work, I was ready to wave the white flag and had thoughts of packing my bags for home.

"Kelly, you tulis banyak baguslah ".

I tore my strained eyes away from the glare of the computer screen only to be greeted by Muda's boyish smile and mischievous twinkle in his eyes.

At about twice my age and having 44 days of replacement leave, I marvel at this Malay section journalist's ability to still be in such good humour and high spirits.

I should quit my mental whining. After all, I got what I wanted - the real world experience of a veteran reporter.

That was two weeks ago, when I was haunted daily by the work pile-up.

Stories get published

In my two months internship in Malaysiakini, I've covered news at the Parliament, Parti Keadilan Rakyat National Congress in Seremban, the reading of the verdict on Lina Joy's appeal at the Palace of Justice in Putrajaya and a police function in Bukit Aman - places and events that only experienced mainstream journalists would be sent to.

My editors never thought that an issue was too "big for me to handle". There were ample opportunities for me to report and write stories that actually get published. I was also encouraged to suggest story ideas and volunteer for assignments.

Being a small company with only 12 full-time journalists, I did not always have the luxury of trailing my seniors and be the silent observer. There was also no photographer to accompany me on my assignments. Right even from the first week, I was sent out alone to do a survey in the neighbouring areas on the shortage of 1kg cooking oil packets.

The lack of 'babysitting' required me to learn to observe other reporters at work to see how they field their questions while thinking of others of my own and finding the correct moment to field them. Other than that, I had to be alert on other reporters' conversations and actions to pick up information on sudden press conferences or any news which I may have missed.

For survival, I also had to learn the art of multi-tasking. During my three-day stint in Parliament, I found out that it is possible to read the newspapers or write a story while paying attention to the on-going debate.

Perfect capstone

Then, after receiving pep talks from Azlan (our graphic guy), I trained myself to jot down notes of what is being said while keeping a lookout for opportunities to photograph facial expressions and actions that'll make good accompanying illustrations for my article. I also had to give up on the reliance of my consumer digital camera's auto mode and experiment with other modes especially in areas with poor lighting.

Prior to my internship, my main worry was writing as my last news writing class was taken one and a half years ago before my student exchange programme. With the guidance from journalists and feedback from editors, I grew out of struggling to input all the five Ws and one H - who, what, when, where, why and how. I also learnt to coordinate background information and place links of previous news reports in my article.

Interning at malaysiakini served as the perfect capstone to my undergraduate education as I have gained substantial professional skills that will last throughout my career. It also has been a pleasure to work with bosses who say "keep up the good work", "please", "thank you" and "I appreciate it".

Watch the one-minute video here.