The Dark Truth

***READ HERE FIRST***
Guys, before you read this, I need to warn you that the article you are about to read may change your views on me. For this reason, you should be prepared. However, I still want you to read my article even with this warning label as this is about awareness of mental health and is very deep. I also need to put a trigger warning as the content in this article involves depression, anxietybullying, suicide, self-harm and hallucinations. I know these can be taboo for some people but this is really important to me which is why I’m posting this. If there is any time you feel triggered by reading this, please stop immediately and look after yourself first. The last thing I want is triggering people.
 
After you have finished reading this: please PLEASE give me some feedback because I want to hear from people whether they like it or don’t like it. If you don’t agree with what I say, that is perfectly okay as it’s your opinion and no hard feelings but just please don’t bash me. I also apologise in advance if I offend anyone in this post, I didn’t mean to. Sorry if my grammar or the things I say doesn’t make any sense. Also, just to clarify, I am in no way I am seeking for attention, I just want to share my experience with people. Okay, so here goes nothing.

Let me introduce myself, I’m Davo, 24 years old living in Sydney, Australia. You might think I’m a typical random guy who has a normal life, right? Well, that’s not entirely true. You see, most people see me as “Random Dave”, the one who does random things like hugging random people or trees (yes really) but what they don’t know and only some do, my life has been a dark one….a very dark one.

I was originally supposed to post this a year ago (22nd July 2013) but some things came up so I haven’t been able to post it until now. You’re probably wondering why that date. That date is significant to me because six years ago on that date (22nd July 2008), I tried to kill myself. Yes, that’s right…I tried to commit suicide and almost died. Also, eleven years ago exactly on that same day (22nd July 2003) I tried to kill myself for the first time. So why would a person want to try to end their life that badly especially on the same date? One of the reasons is I have a mental illness and the truth is, I have depression – most people don’t know much about it and few do…so guys, this is my story.

Where do I begin? Trying to find words to start is difficult as this is the first time speaking out to the universe. Well, not the first time as some people may remember back in 2003, I used to do some writings but for those who are asking, yes, I have a mental illness and I’m not ashamed to say it out loud. I know this will be a surprise and shock to most people as I wouldn’t be the type of person to have a mental illness because of me being “random” but we all have secrets and this is mine.

It’s been six long years since I last tried to kill myself and I’m not gonna lie, every year can be such a struggle especially this time of the year. I was first diagnosed with depression when I was thirteen but the beginning of my story started when I was born. You see, I was born with a congenital ptosis, a condition where one of my upper eyelids is lower than the other one (aka droopy eyelid). You can’t really notice it now as it has now been treated with the number of surgeries I had to go through with the first one being at 18 months old and getting exercise therapy from various eye specialists. The doctors said that if my condition wasn’t treated, my vision would’ve gone worse and would lead me to being blind. Hearing that news frightened me, I don’t know how I could survive if I lose my vision.

My childhood has never been easy. I’ve been told that I was a quiet kid mainly because I was shy. Apparently, it was very hard for me to interact with other people because I was so afraid of them. I was so afraid of them because I didn’t know what they would be like whether if they were a friendly person or not so friendly. Looking at other kids talking to each other and playing games together, and there’s me being all by myself, I knew I was different. I don’t know why but I just knew I was different. Yeah, there were some happy times in my childhood like celebrating my birthdays or going on holiday with family and friends but it wasn’t all that good.

When I was five, I started to see these black transparent figures that come out of nowhere and just appears in front of me. Trying to figure what it was or where they came from, they weren’t doing anything but just floating in the air. Not even speaking to me or making any noises but when I lay my eyes on one of them, that figure will move around until I stopped looking at it and goes away. I was actually scared (who wouldn’t be?) because I didn’t know what it was. I wanted to tell someone but being a young kid at that time, I don’t think anyone would believe me what I just saw because they’d think I was making up stories or telling lies. I never told anyone except until I was in Year 8 which I’ll explain later on.

When I first started school, I was put in a school that was for students with special needs or who has disabilities. Not really having a disability but it’s mainly me more having a slow learning difficulty and speech problem. During my stay, I had to get various support from teachers. I was actually enjoying life there but with the slow and steady improvement in my progress, I had to change to another school halfway through Year One. The professionals who were looking after me told my parents that they wanted me to have a normal school life because they didn’t want me to be protected all the time so it wouldn’t be that bad being in mainstream school, right? Wrong.

I started to get bullied by a group of students who were one year above me and another group in my grade because I was new to the school. During break time, they were making fun of my appearance just because I was wearing glasses and my lazy eyelid problem. Verbally abusing me by calling me names like “four eyes”, telling I was “weak”, “stupid” and “fat”, you know the usual names? What was even worse is that they were even being racist to me since I’m Chinese. Mocking me by pretending to be Asian by pulling their eyes and insulting me with made up Chinese words. I did tell a few people about the bullying but they didn’t really do much to help me. That went great, didn’t it?

I have to admit, I never liked primary school but that’s probably because my school life wasn’t that great. Not only I had to deal with the bullying but one of the challenges I had to face in school was the studying. There were times where I handed in my assignments late or not even hand it in at all. Even with the homework. Studying for exams was such a struggle for me, most of the time when I get my results back, it’s either a fail or just barely pass at all. Though, there were a few times where I got a high mark so I guess it wasn’t that bad but still, I hated school. Not getting along with some of the teachers and having lectured by them for not doing my homework didn’t help either. This was when my anxiety got really bad. I would get these bad stomach aches that had a sharp pain, I felt sick physically because I was feeling nausea. I would also get panic attacks and can’t help but shake uncontrollably. There were days where I pretended to be sick and wanted to go home because I didn’t want to be in school.

Home life was difficult as well. Pressure to do well at school and fighting with my family and friends constantly. People thought I was being moody or lazy or that I wasn’t trying hard enough. With everything going on at that time, I felt alone, depressed and all these strong emotions inside me. This is when my depression got worse and then came the suicidal thoughts. I remember one time where I drew myself of killing myself and everyone was happy that I died. I also even wrote a list why I should kill myself and surprisingly, I still have that list today.

There was actually a point where I almost attempt to kill myself and that day, I can still clearly remember what happened. I just wanted to escape from everything…the bullying, hallucinations, school life and there were moments where I felt like everyone hated me and life would be better off without me. I asked myself, what’s the point in living? Nothing will ever get better. The moment when I was about to attempt suicide, someone almost walked in on me and instantly, I stopped what I was doing. Thinking about that day, a seven-year-old kid about to end his life? I mean seven? Seven is just too young to die. Who knows what would have happened on that day?

Writing about this is making me all teary and I’m not ashamed to say that. Struggling to deal with life in my childhood, it was one of the hardest things I had to face. I remember literally crying myself to sleep every night and having these nightmares of me trying to kill myself and other disturbing dreams. I wasn’t able to talk to anyone as I felt like people would tell me to get over it or cheer up.

Okay so I’ve been doing a lot more thinking now and maybe my childhood wasn’t all that bad. Being in my favourite teachers’ classes and being a teacher’s pet was awesome. Also. hanging out with my first best mate probably made my childhood a lot easier. We pretty much did everything together and there were times we did get into trouble but we’re kids, right? We’ve been best mates since pre-school and he was the one who got me through primary school as well as other close friends and I’m still friends with them to this day. Although they didn’t know what was happening at that time, I now realised I wasn’t really alone and I’m actually thankful for them.

Getting back to the story. After getting through primary school, it was a different story for high school. You know how I was telling you guys about the two groups who bullied me in primary school? Well, I found out that they went to the same high school as me and since this was an all boys school, the bullying got much worse. I don’t really remember much of it unfortunately but I guess that’s kinda good in a way. Anyway, the bullies, they physically provoked me by ganging up on me and punching me and other times where they pushed me on the ground, threatening me and even stealing personal belongings from me. The other group of bullies, they used the same tactics on me like they did back in primary school and it didn’t get any better either as they caught the same bus as me in the afternoons. Being alone on the bus, they embarrassed me in front of the other students, mocking me and verbally abusing me.

This kept going throughout the year until one day, I finally told someone about what was going on and that was the Year 7 Dean. It was scary and I mean very scary because I didn’t know what was gonna happen to me and the bullies. After telling her about the bullying, she said that she would sort it out. What ended up happening with the bullies in my year, they got a warning and afternoon attention and one got suspended for punching me. The bullying did stop but I never told the dean about the other guys who were bullying me. I didn’t tell her because those guys were tougher and older than me but it wasn’t until the following year when my Year 8 maths teacher found out about it. One afternoon, he caught the same school bus as us and after witnessing what the bullies were doing to me, once we arrived at the station, he came up to me and told me what he saw. He said because this was serious he had to tell someone.

The next morning at school, I was called in to have an urgent meeting with my Year 8 Dean in his office. Wondering what it was all about, I went to the office and saw the bullies seating in front of the dean. The dean told me that my maths teacher had spoken to him about the bullying he saw on the bus. I was very anxious at this point because I didn’t know what was happening. He said that he had a meeting with the bullies and after a long talk with them, the bullies said they would stop harassing me and had to apologise to me. I was in shock and confused because that was the last thing I was expecting to hear from them after what they did to me. To summarise, they were all given detentions from what I remember vaguely as it’s been more than a decade.

After years of all the tormenting, the bullying finally came to an end and I felt a big sense of relief. I’m so grateful for my maths teacher because he saved my life and if he didn’t catch the bus that afternoon, I don’t what would have happened. How was I able to cope with all of this? I didn’t…I never did. I self-harmed by cutting myself every day. Though, I didn’t first start hurting myself since I started primary school. Cutting, burning, overdosing, stabbing and hitting myself. That’s how I was able to cope with what was going on and I have done it all my life.

After the bullying stopped, I thought things would get better but oh boy it didn’t. There was a rumour spreading around in my year about me being suicidal and that I tried to kill myself. Half of it was true and that was the being suicidal bit and to tell you the truth, I don’t even remember how it started. It might have started it because of a schoolmate I was talking to on MSN Messenger about what was going on, I’m not too sure and I don’t even care. I was also failing school and with all the pressure of doing well in my grades by my teachers and parents, it got to the point where I wasn’t coping at all. I had to tell someone about what really was going on.

So one morning, I told my homeroom teacher about what was going on and she was very concerned about me so she took me to the school counsellor’s office and that’s when I instantly broke down in tears. I told the school counsellor everything like my self-harm, the bullying and my suicidal thoughts. It was hard and embarrassing because this was the first time I have spoke about it. My parents had to be called in and told them what was really going on with me and had to take me to the mental health crisis team.

After telling the mental health team about everything that happened in my life, that’s when they found out I had depression but it wasn’t new to me because I already knew I had depression. They wanted me to do a series of tests with the blood test, ECG scan etc. to find a diagnosis. They also did another series of tests on me because I told them about my hallucinations and unfortunately, they couldn’t find anything and all the results came back normal. Even today, they still don’t know why I have these unusual hallucinations.

My first psychiatrist advised my parents to have me change to a different school after the bullying I went through. So we changed to another school and this school is actually related to the first primary school (the special needs) I went to except as this was the high school. Like the primary school, I was enjoying life here but it wasn’t before I started at this school.

On 22nd July 2003, I tried to kill myself for the first time. Long story short, I survived. An ambulance had to be called to my house since I overdosed and thankfully it wasn’t a serious one but it was scary. I had to be monitored in a children’s hospital for a couple of days and got discharged later on. I was supposed to start at the new school but that didn’t end up happening coz of my suicide attempt.

I’m not really sure why but I think the pressure of me starting a new school all over again just got to me and with all the past bullying, I felt like I had to escape from everything. I even tried to run away that day too. During my high school years, I kept having to change schools multiple times for various reasons but mainly because of my problems. It was hard because I had to leave my old school friends behind and having to start all over again but I have been able to meet some incredible people on the way.

The last few years of high school were more difficult than ever. Having to finish my study, it was tough. I wanted to drop out of school because I was really struggling with my depression again. There was one time when I was seeing a school counselor at one of the schools I was in and because I kept breaking down and being all teary, do you know what he said to me? I was weak and stupid for crying. That’s right, he said I was weak and stupid for crying. Isn’t his role was supposed to be supporting me? It didn’t look like he was but for some reason, I believed in him. Even now I still believe what he said that I’m weak and stupid for crying even tho people tells me I’m not. As strange as it sounds, I guess maybe it’s just me being cruel to myself because I don’t like myself. I don’t know why but I just don’t like myself. It’s hard to explain.

There were a few times where I did try to kill myself yet again. In Year 10, I was going through a break up with one of my serious ex-significant other after being in a long distance relationship for almost a year. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out between us because we weren’t talking and it sucks because she was my first true love and then during that time, my grandma was in hospital because she was really sick. I’m not gonna say what I did because it was actually pretty serious as I had to go back to the same children’s hospital again because my GP was concerned about my safety. So I stayed there for five days just for monitoring in an isolated room all by myself because the doctors were concerned that I was at risk of others. When I mean at risk of others I mean sharing with people about my problems so they didn’t want me to “influence” them. Things did get better that year as I managed to finish my school certificate in Year 10 which I was pretty happy about.

Another one of my suicide attempts was the following year. In Year 11, my beloved dog Sweety who I grew up with passed away from old age. It was heartbreaking because it was just a sudden thing and it was the last thing I expected. I remembered everything what happened on that day and my entire life changed on that day. Sweety was my first real loss, a loss to death that I never ever experienced before. As well, I was falling behind in my studies because I kept missing classes as I was still struggling with my depression. My hallucinations got worse because like I would see blood bleeding on the walls and these mutants coming out of nowhere. I could also hear people whispering my name when no one was there and even smell something really bad that no one else can smell.  Even with feeling something crawling on me but it’s nothing there, I was pretty terrified. There were so many more hallucinations I had but I won’t name them all. So with the suicide attempt, I just got really sick as I overdosed and probably one of the worse things I had to go through. It took me a couple of days to recover from it and surprisingly, no one suspected anything.

Then came being in the last year of school. It was such a struggle for me because I was trying to complete Year 12 with all the exams and assessment tasks I had to do and at the same time, I was still dealing with Sweety’s death. I don’t know how I got through it. I guess I was still hurting myself but it got pretty serious because I was doing it every day. It was like an addiction kind of like a drug and I literally couldn’t feel any pain. There were periods where I managed to stop but then I had relapses. I was also on medications (anti-depressant, anti-psychotic etc.) that were still being adjusted and trying out various of it and it didn’t help me either because I was feeling the side effects from it. Mood swings, not eating or sleeping for days, getting panic attacks and feeling nausea etc….it was no fun at all. I felt like nothing was gonna get better. It was at this time, I planned my last suicide attempt in a year advance. No one knew what was I planning to do as I didn’t want anyone to ruin my plan.

Somehow, I was able to get through Year 12 at the end of the year and it was probably one of the best feelings ever but after I finished school, my grandma passed away nine days after my birthday. I was shattered. I wasn’t really expecting it and came as a shock to me. I was in denial because I didn’t want to believe that my grandma was gone. My grandma, even though she couldn’t speak English, she was one of the few people that made me cheer up and I wish I was able to spend more time with her. With losses, I don’t cope well at all especially losing people close to me which I have recently this last year and also my second dog Charlotte who passed away last year.

Fast forward to the next year, the year of my last suicide attempt. After graduating from school. I ended up studying a Web Design course at TAFE but I wasn’t able to handle doing full time. Like with school, the workload was too much for me and I was falling behind class again. Still adjusting life without my grandma and Sweety, it was difficult and it took me a while to get over it. I also started playing soccer (aka football) but it didn’t turn out well for me and had to stop for personal reasons. With the last few months building up to my suicide anniversary, I got more anxious and anxious and finally, when the day came, it was the big day.

22nd July 2008. The day I almost died. I don’t really remember what I did during the day but all I do remember what happened in the night. I remember going upstairs into my room getting my stash of medication that I have been collecting in the last year and taking them one by one. I’m not gonna say how much I took but it was a lot. After taking them, I was lying down in my bed thinking this was it, this was the end of it. Well, that’s what I thought and then after a little while, I blacked out. I woke up being in and out of consciousness because of the amount of medication I took. Two of my family members found me and thought I was sick with something because I was throwing up everywhere until they realised I took an overdose. They had to call for an ambulance which came to my house and once it arrived, I had to be carried to the ambulance or I was stretchered…I don’t remember but I blacked out again in the ambulance.

I woke up in hospital being all groggy and I had all these monitors and sticky pad attached to my body. I had an oxygen mask on which I took off and then this nurse came rushing to me telling me not to take it off and then I blacked out again. I don’t remember what happened after that but I woke up yet again being rolled into ICU and in the middle of me moving, I threw up again so the nurses had to clean me up. After I arrived in the ICU, there were so many staff members of the hospital looking after me. One of the doctors came to see me and told me that I was very lucky to be alive because I almost had permanent damage to my organs due to the lethal amount of the overdose and if I had not been found, I would have been dead.

As you can see, it wasn’t fun at all. I stayed in the ICU recovering and I had to have a nurse with me 24/7 just in case if I tried to do something to myself again. I spoke to one of the nurses about my suicide attempt and her words had an impacted on me which I won’t say on here but it made me realised that there is help out there. I was still pretty angry that I didn’t die but at the same time, I’m kinda glad that I survived so I have mixed feelings about it. My family came to visit me and it was tough and embarrassing because I knew that my suicide attempt had an impact on them but I was actually really happy to see them. They really have been so supportive of me even though they didn’t understand me completely and I realised I am so lucky to have them.

Anyway, since I was feeling better, the doctor transferred me to the psychiatric ward and this ward, let’s just say it wasn’t for me because I was with other patients who were more unfortunate than me. I didn’t eat or sleep during my stay there because I didn’t want to be in there. I didn’t even get out of my room or interact with other people, it was all too much for me. Thankfully, I didn’t need to stay there for that long because I got transferred to another psychiatric hospital which my psychiatrist works at. So much better treatment and was more suitable for me. After a month of staying at the psychiatric hospital, I finally was able to go home.

So why am I telling my story to you guys? Well, I want to reach out to people and share my experience because I know there are so many people who are probably in a similar situation to mine. Probably not exact but you know what I mean. I guess I’m just trying to tell people that there is help out that and that they are not alone. I’ve been there but not to their extreme. Suicide isn’t the answer because you only have one life, a life that you can never get back. Suicide can also have a deep impact on people and it will change their lives forever. Even though this may seem hard to believe, it will get better but it just takes time.

Self-harm, not a lot of people understands it and I don’t really blame them. It’s hard to see why people would want to hurt themselves, to inflict pain on themselves when they’re feeling depressed or have intense feelings inside them. People don’t do it for attention, rarely that is but for those who do, it could mean it’s a cry for help. Something must be going wrong in their life. I already mention It’s one of the coping mechanism I have always used as you have read in this article. People have different reasons why they self-harm and they do it in secret. For me, I need to feel physical pain because the pain inside me was too much to deal with. I’ve also used to punish myself. When I mean punish, I mean if I did a mistake or fail at something, I deserve to be punished.

As well, there are people who don’t really understand mental illness and I want to try to show them what’s it like living with one and how life can be such a struggle for some of us. Having a mental illness isn’t a weakness, it is a serious illness that can affect anyone. It’s like if you broke a bone or you get sick with the flu or something. People just can’t get over it overnight and it also doesn’t help when people say to cheer up because it doesn’t work that way. I know it can be so hard for people to understand mental illness because they haven’t experienced before and that’s perfectly okay because we’re all different.

Now these days, my life is so much better than where it was six years ago. I haven’t attempted suicide since the last one as I have been getting medical treatment from various professionals, group programs (dialectical behaviour therapy) and also being in hospital. I’m not gonna lie, l still struggle with life every day. I still get relapses like with the self-harm and still get those dark thoughts. I also still see those hallucinations since the age of five which they probably will never go away. I know my life can never be normal for me but with the support I have been getting from my support network, life has never been that easier. Especially with that life-changing jaw surgery. I know I always keep talking about it but it is a life-changing one.

Thank you so much guys for reading this. It took me about more than two years to work on this and like I said, this is very important to me. I haven’t told you guys exactly everything but that’s because it will be too long and unnecessary. Also, please share this with other people because I really think this could help them. I just really hope I was able to reach out to someone because I know life can be hard.

Please be random but also stay safe all!

…I’m not ashamed to be the person that I am today…
So Far Away by Staind

Off To Melbourne!

Before I start, I just want to let you guys know that I’m currently in the process of writing a more detail of my internship with SBS so I won’t be writing in this post however, though, I’ll be giving a brief summary because right now, I’m still trying to recover from last week and I’m just taking it easy. Tired and exhausted! That’s how I’m feeling after having a long week. As most of you guys already know from last week, I did a one week work experience with SBS in Sydney which started on Monday (31st March) and last Friday (4th April) was the last day for me being at SBS. It was an amazing experience and one that I will never forget…probably one of the best work experiences I’ve ever done in my life and that’s big for me.

Working with SBS, I’ve learnt a lot from them and it was very interesting to see what they do in their different departments. I’m actually having mixed emotions at the moment. I’m sad that it ended so quickly even tho it didn’t feel that long and I’m going to miss all the people there but I’m happy that I was able to experience what it was like working in this industry and how my internship was a successful one. Of course, I’m glad I don’t have to work the long hours because I was so exhausted by the end of the day and actually, on Friday on my way home, I caught the wrong train (which wasn’t my fault!). Luckily, I did manage to catch the right train and coincidentally, I happened to be on the same train with two of my close mates who I haven’t seen in a while since when I went overseas for my study trip. It was a good thing I found them coz my iPhone died but I’ll save the details for later. =P
I also have some great news…it’s not work related but I found out that I’ll be going to Melbourne with my dad to visit my sister! I’m very excited because this will be my first time visiting her and it’ll be great to catch up again so it’s sorta like a small family reunion. I’ll be leaving Sydney this Thursday during the evening and takes like about 1½ hours to get to Melbourne and arrive there late at night. I’ll be staying there for a few days and I go back to Sydney on Sunday night. Not sure what we’ll be doing in Melbourne but I’m sure my sister will have plans to take us out somewhere because I don’t really go to Melbourne a lot, only a few occasions.
The last time I was in Melbourne was back in May 2010 when my parents and I visited family friends and then my dad and I watched the Socceroos played against New Zealand at the Melbourne Cricket Ground beating them 2-1 before they headed off to South Africa for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Surprisingly, I got to meet the former Melbourne Victory manager who happens to be the current manager of Wellington Phoenix, Ernie Merrick  With 2014 World Cup coming up in Brazil, sadly, I really don’t see Australia going through to the group stage especially when we’re facing the World Champions Spain, runner-ups Netherlands and Chile unless they could surprise us maybe? We just have to wait and see and I reckon Socceroos coach Ange Postecoglou will do a bit of planning before then.
Another reason why I’m going to Melbourne is because I’ll be going to the A-League game, Melbourne Heart who will be facing against my beloved team, Western Sydney Wanderers on Saturday. This will be a massive game because if the Wanderers can win this game, we’ll be second on the ladder which means we get to host a semi-final home game and have a chance to go through the grand final. I’m not getting my hopes up yet because as you know and especially since it’s the final round of the season, ANYTHING can happen in football. Also a special mention, it will be Harry Kewell’s last game as he’ll be retiring from professional football. I know he’s been getting a lot of criticism lately but what a legend he is and always has been for Australia. I can’t believe another one of our former Socceroos is retiring as well as Mile Sterjovski who will be playing his last game and Brett Emerton who just recently retired. Sad to see them go but it’s a great opportunity to get young or new players to play for the national team.
Since I’m on the topic of soccer, on my last day while I was working at SBS, I had an opportunity to meet some of my idols who happens to host the A-League Game on SBS on Friday nights. I doubt most of you know who I’m talking about but for those who do, I got to meet David Zdrilic, Craig Foster and Ned Zelić who were all professional players and played for Australia but now working with SBS. Now, some of you guys know how much I’m a massive fan I am about soccer and it was like one of my dreams literally came true. Seriously, it was. I was actually jaw dropped when they came in and I couldn’t speak or move at all. I just couldn’t believe my eyes that they were actually at the studio in person and words cannot explain how I feel and you really have to be there to believe it. Even now, I’m like…whoa did that just really happened?
They were all nice people. Tho, I didn’t get to talk to them a lot (especially with Ned) because of their work. I had so much fun hanging out with them and even watching that crazy game between Adelaide United & Melbourne Heart. I would’ve like to talk to them more because I had so many questions I wanted to ask but like I said, unfortunately, they were too busy with work and I think the crew behind the scenes wouldn’t want me to bother them too much. To be honest, I have to say I’m very lucky that I got to meet my idols because I realise it’s not every day you can meet them or even better, get to work with them. That’s the truth.
Before I finish my post, (seems like I always do this but) I just wanted to say so sorry for the lack of updates on here and Facebook because SBS gave me long shifts and unexpected ones like on Tuesday, I was suppose to finish at 8pm but ended up finishing at 10:30 in the evening because they wanted to show me how they do the production of the show, Dateline. Then the next day I had another late night shift because again, they allocated me with another production crew of the show Insight. Now you can see how tired I really am right now and then not having dinner until after you finish work but to be honest, I actually enjoyed every minute of it because this is something new to me and very different compared to the usual office hours working from 9am to 5pm or whatever. I do have to admit, it’s so much better than working at the food court but nah, that’s different and I rather prefer this job than that one.
With my next post I’m working on about my internship, I don’t know when I’ll finish it but hopefully it will be up soon but like I said, it’s been a hectic month for me and I’m just taking it one day at a time. If you missed or haven’t read my previous post about my first day at SBS, check it out by clicking on this link -> First Long Day.

I do want to say that the internship with SBS has been a life changing experience for me. I would’ve like my internship to be longer but you can’t always get everything. I know there will be bigger things ahead for me. Who knows? Thanks to you guys and everyone for all their support and especially those who were involved with my internship with SBS. I’ll leave you guys with this photo to end with!

Be random but stay safe all! ^_^

First Long Day

After all the hype and build up, it finally has begun! Today was the first day for my work experience with SBS and what a long and exhausting day it was!

You know, waking up 7 in the morning to go to work, I am no morning person at all and for some reason, it felt like I was going back to school. Ah the good old days back in high school and I can’t believe it’s been seven years since I graduated from school. So much memories! I so dislike catching the train during peak hour in the morning especially on Monday. There were so many people queuing to buy tickets and waiting for the train, I totally forgot how packed it can be but luckily for me, there wasn’t a lot of people when I bought my ticket and I had some company on the train from one of my best mates (who was on his way to work). Good timing I have to say!
The train ride took about half & hour to get to the station where I wanted to go and after getting out of the station, on my way to the office, I kinda got lost. When I mean lost, I actually went to the wrong direction and went around the station even tho I knew the area. It’s fun getting lost, right? Well, not really but it was a good thing that my dad show me how to get to SBS earlier which I eventually did find my way. So I went to the reception and find out that I was really early like…maybe half & hour early. It’s better to be early than late especially if it’s your first day.
I have to admit, I was feeling so anxious this morning, I almost came close to tears while I was waiting. Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy about my internship with SBS but it’s just today, my anxiety can get really bad (I’ve always had anxiety since I was a little kid). Maybe it’s because of the unknown…you don’t know what to expect on your first day, you don’t know anyone at all. I guess you could say I was out of my comfort zone because this was the first time I was by myself and it was just a whole new experience for me but after the support from my dad and from some of you guys, I was able to calm myself down. This is really awkward talking about my one of my problems since this is really personal to me but I just wanted to be honest with you guys and want to share my experience (which this blog is about).
Okay, continuing on…so after waiting for half and hour, I finally met the guy who organised my work experience. I was so…anxious? (No, let’s change it to something else), I was so nervous. Don’t you know that feeling when you’re meeting new people like you talk really fast and you just can’t stand still, that’s how I was feeling. I was so nervous about meeting him but he turned out to be really friendly. He gave me a short orientation and a tour of the place which I have to say their office is so massive! When people told me it was massive, they weren’t lying…it’s so much bigger than the Canberra office. Anyway, after a brief intro, the guy gave me a pass card (yay! I got my own card!) and allocated me to work with someone in an area which embarrassingly to say I forgot the name of where I was working in. Oops! There are so many departments and areas, I can’t remember them all at the same time. That’s how big SBS really is.
So the field I was working in today, the guy who I got allocated with, he explained to me about what his job involves. He looks after the schedule for the sports, making sure the recorded games are in the right location in the computer drive. He also does a little bit of duplication of DVDs (when I mean duplication, I mean copy multiple discs) when other broadcast channels need a copy of a master disc. In another field I worked in the late arvo, they showed me the master control panel. Similar to the one I did in Canberra. This is where all the feeds (raw footage) go to from other broadcast channels as well as international ones. They also control which shows will be air on TV in the suited time frame, record the feeds and do some editing as well. It’s a bit hard to explain it on here as it’s complicated…even to me still, I find it to be complicated.
Anyway, so that’s my summary of my first day at SBS. Sorry it’s a bit short as it’s only the first day. Besides what I did today, I didn’t really do a lot. There was a moment today where I got really bored at one point because apparently there was a problem that needed to be resolved so I literally didn’t do anything for an hour and a half but other than that, it was all fine.
I also hope what I wrote made sense and I apologise if I didn’t because it’s hard to explain what they do and you just have to be there in person to see what they do. I still yet to find out what I’ll be doing later this week but tomorrow, I’ll be doing some editing in the News & Current Affairs tomorrow which should be fun! At least I don’t have to wake up too early! I’m so gonna be tired the next few days as I have late starts in the afternoon. There’s one shift I start at 2pm and finish very late in the evening at 10. This is gonna be really interesting.
Oh, I forgot to mention, the people at SBS are very friendly and welcoming to me. I didn’t really get to talk to them much because they’re busy with their own work. I’m also already enjoying my time with my work experience even tho it’s just my first day except for the few hiccups (like my anxiety) but overall, I should say today was a success and like always, thank you for all your ongoing support! I really hope you guys enjoy what I write because I love writing and it’s just one of my passions in life, one that I want to share with people.
Be random but stay safe all!

It’s a new year and I can’t believe it’s 2014 already! I just survived yet another long year and it seems like that every year. I know always say that for each year but it’s true. After spending 2 months in China and Hong Kong, I’m so glad to be back home. If you’re asking how was my trip, I had one of the best times in my life which I’ll have to blog another time sorry people!

I don’t know why but I’m having a feeling it’s gonna be a big year for me and what a way to start off with this post with a big announcement. It’s finally happening! After several months of waiting and waiting, I’ll be starting my internship with SBS tomorrow. If you haven’t already heard the news, I have been offered to do a one week work experience with SBS again but it won’t be in Canberra, this time it’s in Sydney!

Now, some of you may remember that I did an internship with SBS down in Canberra back in August last year which I have to say it was an amazing experience. I was actually lucky enough to work with them because I found out that they don’t offer people to do an internship with them and I was the first trainee do work with them thanks to my dad knowing a few key people and a family friend (who works with SBS) who got me the internship. I have to admit, it was a bit daunting when they told me that but then I realised that this was a one lifetime opportunity you can’t refuse, similar to the work experience I did with BBC in Beijing in January last year that I still have yet to blog. >.<”

I was originally suppose to do my second internship in Canberra again which I was surprised that they even offered me to work with them again but because I was overseas on a short term study trip studying Chinese in China and with SBS being so busy, my family friend suggested to work in Sydney and I’m kinda glad I took his advice. Being in Sydney, and with SBS having a office in Sydney, it’s very convenient to work with and there’s not much of a point driving all away to Canberra unless it was something important. I wouldn’t mind going to Canberra again but I can understand why it’s better to work in Sydney.

So what will I be doing with SBS? Well, I know for one that this will be a entirely new experience compare to the one in Canberra. It’s a bigger place and more people. I don’t know what exactly I’ll be doing but all I do know is that they have allocated me to work in different departments like for example, I’ll be doing editing in the news & current affairs and then work in the radio just to name a few. The working hours seems to be your typical office hours That’s pretty much what I’ll be doing so far but I’ll know more this week starting tomorrow.

I guess I can say I have some experience with the news area from my first internship…setting up the live shooting (as in recording, not shooting!) with the cameras and the lighting as well as doing the audio recording (holding the microphone during an interview) and controlling a control panel where all the feeds go to. That’s pretty much what I did in Canberra for those who didn’t know and actually, a story I did (my audio work) was aired on World News Australia. You don’t really get to see your work on national TV and that’s something special to me. If you haven’t seen the video, check it out on my Facebook page!

I did get to meet Brendan Nelson during my time in Canberra. We didn’t really talk much as he was busy but he was very friendly. Tho, I was actually speechless when I met him. You know what’s it like when you meet someone famous (well, a celebrity something like that) and you don’t know what to say or couldn’t say anything, I was feeling like that. Seems this happens to me a lot when I meet someone for some reason . I also did get to see the Boomers (Australia men’s national basketball team) train in another story we did tho, I wasn’t really involved with it but seeing the Boomers in person, that was pretty cool and some of the players were so tall! It’s so different compare when you watch them play on TV.

Anyway, I just wanted to apologise for not being active on my blog because I’ve actually been struggling these last couple of months after that tough year I had last year as well as still dealing with my “dark” problems I’ve always had all my life (you know what they are for those who really knows me).

Also, being away from family and friends on my study trip, that was one of the most challenging things that I ever had to go through but I’m glad that I did get to experience that. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be the person I am today and I’m more stronger than ever and if I had to go through that again, I would definitely do it all over again. I’ve also met some incredible people on my trip especially with my new classmates. To my classmates, what an adventure we had together! We definitely went through ups and downs and then me being sick at the end of our trip! Didn’t mean to scare you guys lolz but thanks for all the memories and the support! I’m so glad that I met you guys as you guys are like family to me! =P

I’m really hoping my work experience with SBS goes well because to tell you the truth, I’m a bit more anxious than excited mainly due to the fact is I don’t know what to expect but hopefully it goes all well. This is gonna be another real challenge for me and hopefully this leads me to somewhere for my career. Before I finish, I want to say thanks to my family for supporting all my life, to my two mates who got me the internship after spending a lot of their time and effort to help me out. I am very thankful for that and without them, I wouldn’t be in this position and also thanks to you guys for the ongoing support. I’m just amazed by all your support and I’m lucky to have you guys in my life!

Be random but stay safe all!

Well, it’s time for another adventure and I’m back in Hong Kong yet again! Just a quick note, sorry this writing is a little bit rush as I’ll be leaving for China soon. Anyway,  not sure if some of you know but at the moment, I’m actually on a study trip with a group of other students for three weeks and will be studying Mandarin (and other syllabus) in Guangzhou (a city in China). I’m pretty excited but also nervous as this is my first time being away from home I mean…the longest time I’ll be away., I’ll also be going to South Korea on a tour group and never been there before so it should be heaps fun.

Well, I better wrap this up and sorry it’s a short one. I’ll be planning to write about my trip but not sure if I have any access to blog. Also want to let you know that I won’t be able to go on Facebook because of the censorship in China. If anyone wants to contact me, contact me through my email or my phone.
Okay, I shall see you guys next time which I dunno when but hopefully soon!
Be random but stay safe! ^_^