Techfest for dummies

I covered my first IT story yesterday and I was experiencing, what locals would call in a colloquial sense, a "nosebleed". Nosebleeds are moments wherein one experiences great confusion in terms of language, topic of conversation, or in this case, topic of coverage.

I'm not a very techy person (many can attest to that) so this really was a great challenge. I'm one of those people whose brains kinda just shut when they hear any tech jargon -- whether it be as "simple" as html, css, or processors. It's daunting...it's like learning how to speak a new language; only this time while surrounded by native speakers.

Filtering out all sorts of data is one thing, making sense of the information is another, and of course, writing it is another. There were moments when I heard crickets, but had to ignore that and tune back in and keep picking it up as they proceeded in fear I might miss something. And it didn't help that my colds would lock my ears up and had to keep blowing my nose to prevent this.

I had to absorb whatever I learned and while Erwin was asking me what angle I'd be working on -- so we wouldn't produce the same story -- I really didn't know. I was too busy feeling scared and nervous for the video interview I had to shoot. Who should I speak to? Should I place the two speakers together? What do I ask? My heart was racing and I could feel my cheeks warming up as I felt that the video interview was getting closer. These people had to leave and I had to ask soon or lose that chance of getting a video.

Then I'd snap out of it then think random things like...the beach......or that Mexican drama I saw two nights ago.

Then I'd snap back and feel all scared again! SEE THE DILEMMA PEOPLE. And moments like these, I tend to giggle my fears away...and I mean really giggle and smile around. But in the end, to cut the story short, you just end up doing what you have to do. You just have to -- no excuses. I'm actually very thankful I was sent here; otherwise, I would never learn, never expand my horizons. Plus, I'd rather make my mistakes here, and freak out here, than in Singapore, or wherever other country I may be sent to. If there's one thing I should really be working on, it's self-confidence: owning the fact that I can be sent anywhere and still pull through. And with this, I present the link to my first IT story.