A week at the North Shore Times

Lillian Underhill has just finished a week of work experience at the North Shore Times. Photographer PAUL MELVILLE snapped Lil in front of the Harbour Bridge. Below is Lil's account of how she spent the week with us. Thanks for being so enthusiastic Lil!


For the past week (May 2 to May 6), I've been enjoying my work experience at the North Shore Times.

Being from Melbourne, I was very excited to have the opportunity to not only work at a newspaper but to do it in Sydney! This was all due to my amazing aunty, Catherine Zuill (editor)


Monday

As soon as I got into the office, I was greeted by a very friendly hello from Fiona Brady, a journalist who I was soon to tag along with. After being assigned a desk, it was time to get going to the first job which I was part of the feature at Vinnies (where I met Danni the North Shore Times photographer).

The story behind Vinnies was to promote an upcoming fashion show, held to show that nice clothes could be found at Vinnies and the part where I fit in was to be the model. So I was dressed by two stylists to have my picture taken to complement the article.

Tuesday

Today I got to follow Danni around to two different jobs, one at a jewellery store and the other for a fun run.

Having a little trouble finding the place, we finally arrived at the jewellery store seeing all these beautiful pieces. It felt like a kid in a lolly store (without the calories). All the jewellery was so delicate, elegant and very beautiful. Following this, Danni and I visited a two sisters and a brother to take a shot of them to promote a fun run on behalf of Cystic Fibrosis.

Wednesday

I tagged along with the Times' chief photographer Paul Melville to one of the truelocal-com.au's top-rating five best florists in NSW, for our Mothers Day page. I was really cool to see how he created the shot to look like a fairy garden. After the shoot, Paul took me to the mind blowing view of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. It was absolutely incredible! See my photo!

When I got back to the office, Catherine and Northside magazine editor Abi Weeks had a little job for me, to create a paper crane to demonstrate reading coming to life. To be honest I had a little trouble at first but then got the hang of it.

That night I got to see the amazing musical the Jersey Boys. It was astounding! And afterwards I got to meet a lead Jeremy Brennan, who is a friend of Catherine and her partner Michelle?s.

Thursday
While Catherine was at an editors meeting, Fiona and I visited Ku-ring-gai Wildflower Garden and Education centre. I was really interesting to learn about the flora and fauna and the environment. It was until we got back to the train station where Fiona realized she had a leech stuck to her foot. So we got off that the next station to buy salt, baby wipes and tissues. She managed to remove it, thank goodness!

Friday

In the morning of Friday, I attended a news meeting that discussed possible stories in the future.

My final day of work experience seemed a little sad for me. As I enjoyed the experience so much, I didn?t really want to leave. On Thursday night I had made cupcakes as a thank you gift to show my appreciation for all the wonderful journalists and photographers that made my week fantastic.

Thank you everyone, who provided me with this wonderful experience. It has really inspired me and opened my eyes to the journalism world.

Lillian Underhill
Year 10
Yarra Valley Grammar