Diving into the reporter’s life, Sekou Hendrickson wrote his own success story during his ten-week tenure at The Royal Gazette.

Keen to write while studying English and journalism in his third year at St Thomas University in Canada, the 20-year-old decided to make his summer job work for him.

“Before I came here, I felt a little intimidated,” Sekou admitted.

“But it would give me some experience, as opposed to waiting tables and not having any. Once I got started, it was smooth sailing, and it started coming to me a lot more naturally.”

Interviewing people who have suffered tragedy is one of the reporter’s most daunting tasks.

For Sekou, writing a tribute to 21-year-old Sophie Fraser-Smith, whose life was claimed by a traffic accident on July 18, was especially wrenching.

The model, very near to his age, was tremendously liked and known to him.

Tactfully approaching her friends and writing the obituary of a contemporary required sensitivity and care.

“That was rough,” Sekou recalled. “I didn’t know her personally. I had met her and we were cool with each other. I just wanted to handle it in the proper way, and I feel like I did.

“You make a first impression, and it can be really good or really bad. The make or break factor is that it’s long lasting. It sticks. That was another worry.”

Another of the summer’s challenges was the momentous July 18 General Election, which seemed to “spring out of nowhere”.

Unsure if he would be involved at all, Sekou learnt swiftly that it was all hands on deck, as The Royal Gazette recruited a team to cover all 36 constituencies.

While the night yielded its share of surprises, it came with long hours of waiting at the polling stations as results were tallied and candidates gave their reactions to the media.

Sekou covered Southampton West Central, the former seat of the late Shawn Crockwell, which was contested by Crystal Caesar for the Progressive Labour Party and Ben Smith of the One Bermuda Alliance — and won by Mr Smith.

For Sekou, the night proved the most memorable on the job.

“It sounded small,” he said. “It was only one place. But at the same time, it was so vital to cover.”

Another highlight was his coverage of footballer Shachkeil Burrows’s determination to battle back from the devastating loss of his leg in a road accident.

Sekou’s uplifting story about Mr Burrows’s inspirational attitude was widely shared on social media and, four days after it appeared in print, his campaign to raise funds for an artificial leg had generated more than $22,000.

Court cases proved instructive. For example, recording devices are forbidden in courtrooms.

“I didn’t really know the system well, despite being here all my life — it was a good bring-up, for lack of a better term,” Sekou said.

“I didn’t realise I would be hitting the ground running like I did. Then again, that’s part of what made it good. I was doing a little bit every day and getting a feel of how everything worked.”

Sekou recalled being told early in his college journalism class that career prospects in the field would be slim.

“The first thing they talked about was that journalism is dying,” he said. “I worried about that. But at the same time, journalism is not dying. It’s at a transitional point. It’s going towards multimedia, digital news and online.”

With some home experience under his belt, Sekou looks forward to going further in North America or Britain.

“It’s been fun, and a really good opportunity,” he said. “I would definitely like to come back.”