Why I chose to study Journalism?

When I ask myself this question I think back to when I was choosing my AS- Levels in in the summer term of 2015 - wow that's almost 5 years now.

Like most people I hadn't a clue of what I wanted to do. Unless you were one of those people who have their whole life planned out already- I mean who does at age 16? I never knew what I wanted for dinner let alone what I wanted to do potentially for the rest of my life. At first I wanted to be a pathologist- this is the study of disease. I know it can be very dark but I really liked crime shows like Castle and iZombie. I don't know why but I wanted to find out what the cause of death was. I know I know that so random, but I liked criminology, law and crime scene investigation like CSI. But that route in life didn't quite pan out for me. I mean I can be squeamish, not that I'd squirm at the thought of blood or looking at veins as such but putting myself in that situation wasn't really realistic for me.

When I spoke to my mum about this she simply said 'Denesia I didn't want you to become a nurse or a doctor specifically, you just do something that makes you happy.' I was taken aback- didn't every parent working in healthcare want their children following in their footsteps?

This really got me thinking. I was already one year into my A- Levels, I already dropped Chemistry- to focus on Biology (to this day I don't know why because I loved Chemistry), I was failing Biology and all I wanted to do was something creative. So I picked up Graphic Design and dropped Biology all together.

Biology and all I wanted to do was something creative so I picked up Graphic Design and dropped Biology all together.

I was definitely happier with this decision. I still loved to write so English was something I knew I wasn't going to give up. I kept Psychology as well because I like people and wanted to know more. When I finally put two and two together I realised journalism- this was perfect. It involved writing and storytelling but it is also about people and the stories that they share.

Five years on and I couldn't have been any happier with this decision, I love every single aspect of journalism, I've learned so much about it. the course that I choose also enabled me to try each little section but has also helped me narrow down what I didn't like - politics and law for example. And what I do like- presenting, TV and Radio.

What I love about journalism is that I get to meet a range of people from the owner of a new restaurant to the people along the high street. Not only that, I get to listen to their story and have the opportunity to share it with the world. yes, not every story is maybe happy and upbeat but that's what makes it reliable as they are all human stories One thing that I've learned is that everyone has a story, which is what makes people interesting. Going forward I still have a passion for writing and creating content (which is great I think) and I love that I'm constantly pushed out of my comfort zones.