Discovery’s First Ever Global Intern is Ben Mikha

After 10 weeks, 10,000 entries and almost a million votes cast, Discovery Channel has found its first global intern, 25-year-old Ben Mikha from Auckland.

As the inaugural Discovery intern Mikha will soon jet off to travel the globe for free, documenting his adventures for Discovery Channel’s social media channels and soon-to-be launched blog, Heaps of Stuff.

Mikha is a self-taught photographer and videographer whose passion for travel and experiencing different cultures was ignited by a trip to India a few years ago. Consumed by wanderlust, he pursued a job as a flight attendant just so he could get himself to more countries around the world.

The calibre of entries from New Zealand and Australia was overwhelmingly strong, according to Discovery and uncovered a wealth of untapped talent. It was no easy feat for the judges to choose a winner from the Top 5.

Rounding out the final five with Mikha was Jessica Whalen (Australia), Sam Deuchrass (New Zealand), Talman Madsen (New Zealand) and Corban Tupou (New Zealand).

After hearing the result, Mikha wrote in an Instagram post:

“I’m still pretty speechless and lost for words. A huge thank you from the bottom of my heart for helping me achieve this dream; it’s surreal and still hasn’t fully sunken in.

“Regardless though, I hope my journey so far inspires you to pursue whatever it is that you dream about each day, because it’s all definitely possible with a bit of self belief and hard work.”

Original article by Discovery Channel, March 10, 2017.