She was born and raised in Denmark, and as a child she discovered how much she enjoyed reading. “I am a big fan of reading all kind of stuff. When I learned how to read, I would always read everything.”

Becoming a journalist was always a secret dream of hers, but after reasoning that it would be hard to find a job in such a competitive field, she decided to study a less career specific subject and got her bachelor degree in international studies and English. Once finished, she went to England to study International affairs: “I had already realized that I didn’t want to be a politician, but I was interested in the events and developments on the global scene and wanted to tell people about them”.

Her search for a suitable internship began like many others. “I submitted my CV online and Toonari Media found it! I started out hoping it was going to be interesting. I didn’t have any expectations, but as the days passed by my expectations were fulfilled beyond my imagination.”

She was one of the first interns to join Toonari Post. Even though her adventure has just begun, the past months have already challenged her. “I had a hard time when we started doing interviews. I think I could be a journalist in the future though. I have an interest that is big enough for me to pursue a stories. And Toonari Post is one of the best mediums for this. They give us some guidelines but they allow us to explore the field ourselves, give us responsibility and make us want to improve. I always feel I want to contribute to Toonari. In other work environments you can’t expect this freedom. It really helps your motivation to get involved as a writer, as an editor.”

Also, the internship at Toonari Post offered her a virtual experience that other newspapers seem unable to provide. “I think it’s the future. It was something that I hadn’t thought about before. The more I worked with people virtually, the more I got used to it. You get to meet people from so many different countries. Get a completely new perspective on collaboration, and you don’t really expect it, everything just comes to you. You just open the door.”

Claudia shared one of her experiences, when she did her first interview with an Openleaks member. “The whole thing about getting the interview with Mr. Snorrason, finding a contact from Openleaks, was an expedition. The task of finding a way to reach the organisation seemed impossible. We ended up getting immensely frustrated. Finally, when it happened it was such a relief but you realize that the process is so long – you interview, you hear the recorded version and you think, “do we really sound like that?” Then you transcribe the whole thing and have the audio edited. It’s an ongoing thing, it feels so far away but its not”.

Being part of Toonari is a different experience. “It feels like I’ve worked here forever, it feels like home, but despite this familiarity you continue to learn new things, meet new obstacles, new experiences – and new people every week, joining the internship.”

The mentoring part of the internship is a very important part as it takes your training to a new level and gets you to advance your knowledge, skills and leadership abilities. “In the meetings, I try to find a road to develop. I realized how hard it is to explain to people what I mean, to train them, and to get them to learn and understand. For me it is like trying to explain how the universe expand! Every week there is a new challenge, I still get exited about work and every day is just a new chapter.”

Claudia wanted to share a message to all Toonari readers out there, and new people that want to join the internship. “Our concept has a great potential and once we’ve reached out to the masses, we can make a big deal out of it. We encourage young talented writers to become media active people, and awesome journalists. Keep your mind wide open, and take responsibility for your own fate and luck as a writer. We just need interest, and enthusiasm; this is going to be a big step in the right direction.”

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About the author

Estefania Herrera
I come from the half of the world, Ecuador. I am 22 and by leaving my country to study abroad in Spain, I've grown up as a person in an incredible way. Therefore I say, its good to experience new things, and get to know new cultures. But most importantly LiVe, lOvE and LaUgH.