An encounter with stars: Lessons from my first international trip

Challenge yourself to grow because building a career from the ground up needs boldness.

What you need to know:

  • Do not waste a good opportunity by being afraid. Challenge yourself to grow because building a career from the ground up needs boldness. Take your chances with the opportunities that come your way.
  • In a world where there is pressure to be an expert at everything, take time to learn, make mistakes here and there, and develop a solid base for your career.


Peace Anyiam-Osigwe, the founder of the Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA), died last week. AMAA was established in 2005 to celebrate the best in African film. An AMAA award or nomination is a statement of approval by experts in cinema for an actor, film director, producer, screenwriter, and so on. Simply put, AMAA is the Oscars of Africa.

I am writing about Ms Osigwe because she signed my visa request letter, which doubled as my invitation to Nigeria to attend one of the glamorous AMAA events. It was a constellation of stars – a gathering of film icons from Kenya, Africa and the diaspora, including celebrated musicians. This was my first international trip, to a country I always wanted to visit – thanks to the vivid images painted in my nine-year-old brain after reading The Motherless Baby by Cyprian Ekwensi.

A Facebook post announced Ms Osigwe’s death to me. As I struggled to wrap my head around this reality, I searched my email to find my invitation letter to Nigeria to look at her signature again.

Trailblazer

The words, “Daisy Okoti is a guest to the Chief Executive Officer of AMAA, Ms. Peace Anyiam-Osigwe…” brought new nostalgia and a deep sense of loss for someone who opened a massive door for me when I had just turned 20.

As I pay tribute to a woman who was a trailblazer in the film and television industry on the continent and beyond, I would like to share two lessons from my first international trip and engagement with some of Africa’s most renowned film and TV personalities.

First, you are at that table because you are, in fact, worthy of being there. Have you ever found yourself in spaces where you are the youngest person or the least educated – or any other form of exclusion criteria? On that trip, I was the youngest in the Kenya team; I was also an undergraduate student. The only work experience I had was an internship. And here I was travelling with the crème de la crème of Kenyan cinema – think Ng’endo Mukii, Ken Ambani, Wanuri Kahiu and many others.

This was my first international event to cover as a journalist in training, and I needed to show my boss that I had what it took to represent the company at an event of such magnitude. I had to be a journalist; my age was immaterial. I had to walk up to people who had just been crowned winners to interview them. From this first international trip, I learned to engage with diverse classes of people and started to build a professional network. The point is, do not waste a good opportunity by being afraid. Challenge yourself to grow because building a career from the ground up needs boldness. Take your chances with the opportunities that come your way.

Fellow travellers

The second lesson I learned was you should neither be embarrassed by what you need to learn, nor be intimidated by people who seem to know their way around things you find challenging. Many people will be gracious and honest enough to let you know they, too, had a first time and probably made sillier mistakes. There was a lot I needed to learn about international travel. I was overdressed for the hot, humid weather that awaited me in Lagos.

Now I can’t decide who I was trying to impress with my new clothes: Fellow travellers preoccupied with kids who couldn’t stand still, or the airport staff who were bored and numb from seeing too many passengers. The point is many of us are not born experts. Don’t take yourself too seriously. Asking for help is not a sin. In a world where there is pressure to be an expert at everything, take time to learn, make mistakes here and there, and develop a solid base for your career.

May Peace Maria Ogechi Anyiam – Osigwe rest in peace. And may those whose paths crossed with hers through work, school or family experience the peace of the Lord that passes all understanding during this difficult time.