News & blog

I work for a local weekly newspaper and in the last three months since I’ve started my job, I’ve had a free kite surfing lesson, donned wellies to visit a dairy farm, interviewed a member of JLS over the phone, covered a high profile rape case, and spent a day on the beach reporting on a sandcastle competition.

Thursday was the annual celebratory lunch for the Journalism Diversity Fund. The event brought together more than 60 professionals from across the industry and provided the opportunity for me to hear from past bursary recipients and discover whether the industry was as doomed as I’d heard.

Yes, I am finally here. Having worked as a reporter for mainly Turkish media for the past seven years, I became a student journalist at the London headquarters of the Press Association.

‘Getting your foot in the door’ is a term that aspiring journalists get told time and time again, so if you’re not used to hearing it, get used to it.

If you ever doubt your journalistic quest, try and think of another job, which introduces you to criminals, top academics or celebrities; where you are ahead of the game, writing part of history.

My heart was thumping. Was it nerves, or was it the adrenalin rushing through my body like my mid-morning coffee had been spiked with ecstasy?

If you want to be a journalist, you have to be able to adapt to change.

As my course draws to a close, I am experiencing a mixture of emotions. I am sad, and slightly scared, that 20 of the most enjoyable weeks of my life are almost over, yet very excited about starting the career I have always dreamed of.

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.