Ten months ago, when I first received a reference to apply for an internship at Sunday mid-day, I was in a very dark and uncertain place in life. College had just ended a couple of months earlier, and the one university I had applied to for a Master’s had rejected me. I had a very strong will to work in print journalism, but every newsroom I applied to turned me away because I didn’t have a journalism degree.

I sent Aastha Atray Banan — Sunday mid-day Editor — an email with all my credentials, quietly praying that, unlike the 31 other places I’d applied to, this one would finally show a green light. Three days later, she replied: “Can you join on Tuesday? Work starts at 12 pm. The office is in Bandra East.”

I don’t know which gods I had propitiated to have landed my first big-girl job here. I started off as an intern for two months, but Aastha soon offered me a full-time position. I wasn’t sure at first — part of me wanted varied experiences — but taking this job was, without a doubt, the best decision I’ve made so far.