Entering the world of work…

By Mason Miller

Before I came on work experience, my teachers wouldn’t stop talking about how it would be one of the hardest things I’d ever done and how if you make one mistake you’ll be fired on the spot, and if you get fired you’ll face grave consequences when back in class; and I have to admit that scared me a little!

But now, after my first few working days have flown by, I honestly I don’t know what I was scared of; the people are great, the office is gorgeous and the deadlines on the work I have to do are easy to achieve if you think of them like the deadlines we get on homework.

I wake up around 7 o’clock in the morning, get showered, eat a slice of toast, try and make myself look presentable before I leave the house. As my mum works at Meadowhall she drops me off there and then I walk to the tram; stopping on my way to grab a double shot espresso from Starbucks to ensure I’m wide awake by the time I hit my desk…

Every time I get a coffee I think about how in movies and television programmes, the person working at a very busy office gets them self a coffee and drink it straight away and how in reality they wouldn’t have been able to do that because it would burn their mouth; but I digress. After I’ve only just made it onto the tram because it almost went without me I sit and look out the window and think about what jobs I’ll be given for the day.

When I arrive at Castle Square I get off my comfy tram and wait for a bus to take me to the office as the tram lines are under construction. I wait for around 20 minutes before a bus arrives with the words ‘TRAM LINE’ printed across the side which always makes me smile. “It’s like the bus wants to be a tram.” When the bus pulls over and I step off I only have to walk for about 5 minutes before I finally finish my commute.

I have to walk past a lot of people racing to work in their cars on a busy main road before the transition to a small street with a bridge over one of the nicest little canals I’ve ever seen, a cute looking cafe and then a door with the letters ‘MK’ in bold, yellow print.

I open it and walk inside, closing the door behind me. To my left is an empty meeting room with a stylish glass table and some arty photography on the wall, past that waiting room with a very comfy looking sofa and an array of newspapers and magazines spread across the table.

In front of me I see my desk, monitor and keyboard unmoved from where I left it the day before. Behind that are three of my new colleagues; one of them notices me and says hi, the others look up, see me there and greet me too … I smile and awkwardly wave.

I then sit down at my desk and get on with the tasks that are given to me with the occasional break to go into meetings and take notes and try and contribute as much as a 15-year-old can do.

At lunch I go and sit outside and eat whatever my parents have packed for me, which is almost always very enjoyable.

When the day has come to an end and it’s time for me to leave I pack up, wave and say bye to everyone in the office. It’s a strange feeling you get when you leave a place of work; you feel relieved because you can go home and eat food and sleep but you also feel sort of content… You did it, you did a whole day of work and you didn’t get fired and you did your best and that’s all you can do!

Once I’m home, away from the loud, bumpy tram rides and busy main roads I collapse on my bed and look forward to the next day I get to spend at MK.

Mason Miller, 16, No Longer New To The World of World!