News & blog

As I write this I feel energised, hopeful and optimistic. I have been inspired and I can’t wait to see what’s next to come.

What do you want to be when you grow up? It’s a simple question and one which thousands of children will be asking themselves up and down the country.

Having spent last night shortlisting applicants for the NCTJ’s journalism internship, it’s evident that some students might improve their chances by taking more care with their applications.

I remember attending a ‘how to break into journalism’ speech at university and leaving with the impression that it was going to be impossible for me to become a journalist because I wouldn’t be able to afford the course fees. So instead, I applied for a position as an editorial assistant at a newspaper in Newcastle and tried to accept that journalism just wasn’t an option for me.

That seat, to be precise, is in the studio of one of Britain’s top broadcasters, Sky Sports News. It’s a far cry from the university room I once sat in worried about how to get my first job in journalism, but I am in no doubt over who made that move possible in the first place, the Journalism Diversity Fund.

I have been pulled to various parts of the UK for the sake of NCTJ training. Being an Aberdonian, who has adopted Bournemouth as my second home to study Magazine Journalism at Up To Speed Journalism Training, it was nice to get the chance to go ‘up north’ to Manchester and visit MediaCityUK to see what all the fuss was about.

I recently attended the NCTJ Student Council at the University of Salford in MediaCityUK. Being chosen as the student representative for my course at Brunel University was a role that I was looking forward to undertaking as I would be able to put across any views and opinions of my class mates concerning the NCTJ syllabus.

Waking up on a Monday morning must be a real drag if you hate your job. Thanks to the Journalism Diversity Fund, I never have that problem. I love what I do and if a career in journalism is what you want, then it’s well worth the hard work that it takes to get into the industry.

As a child growing up in the nineties I was always told of the importance of school grades and family. That’s why I wanted to become a reporter: magazines and newspapers were my entertainment and escapism.