It seems fitting, really, that my first ever post as a student journalist would be to do with my first semester of really becoming a student journalist. Still, no time for irony, this is serious business.
The shock to the system hit home at least three times within the semester to either motivate me to do my best or 'bomb' the course. I tried the second one twice before eventually realising that the first was a better long-term option.
The first real moment of panic came in the second week. Our first weekly news story was due after just 11 days of settling in and moulding the newsroom seats to our perfect form, and it was plain to see that if the stress levels like this were continually frequent, how on Earth would i survive? Turns out I did. And just when I started to celeb- time for the next story!
The next few weeks went swimmingly you could say. Until I got my first mark back from Media Communication - a compulsory final year academic paper...Needless to say it was a very Dissatisfying mark. The floodgates began to pour and the stress levels began to escilate. So again I asked myself what the heck am i doing in this course! Somehow I managed to find a way to make another essay so could this time actually do better than I hope!
And then finally, the piece de resistance, a meltdown. I'd done something so frowned upon in the industry that I got called to see two tutors (Greg Treadwell and Helen Sissons). Thankfully they were both so helpful that I learnt much more than how to apologise in a professional manner. However, in dealing with Helen the floodgates had opened. My job as Maori Affairs Officer had got too much alongside uni. So Helen told me drop it. And without any hesitation I did. BAcked myself, and now here I am, carefree and on holiday!
I've been pretty fortunate that they have been my only pits of despair I guess - but it does give you an indication on how journalism isn't as easy as people think it is.
Either way, it's now the holidays and I'm well overdue for some Media Comm-less semesters. It's been a great learning curve - and Semester Two will be far tougher - features - but hey, Media Comm, you're a gonner, and that increases my spirits by one happy point every day.
ENDS
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