My thoughts on the online speech-based assignment

 

For my first news package in my third-year new media class, we had to do an assignment based on online speeches. 

The assignment was not meant to be difficult that much I got but the thing is that it had so many elements to it that needed loads of time and almost all my attention. The assignment would have been nothing but fun for me had I not had to do most of it during my one week Easter holiday.

All I wanted to do these holidays was chill and focus on trying to find an internship but instead, there was no time to relax. If I even tried to just spend a day curled up with a good book that I had been meaning to read for a month now I would literally feel guilty for neglecting my work.   

So instead of reading my book I read over the speech after spending two hours watching it. I paused it a few times just to make sure I was still awake, but the speech was nice. I really got to understanding it when I read it. I figured out what it was about and then got to writing the news article. 

Some of the challenges were taking a speech done in 2013 and trying to make it newsworthy now by choosing a new, fresh angle. Creating a poll was also a little challenging because figuring out a close ended question was not easy and also deciding where exactly I wanted to post my poll took some time. There was also a lot of stress over whether people would get involved in the poll or just ignore it and move on to more fun things especially because it was on Facebook which I never use.

The fun part came when everything was coming together and I got ready to email it to my lecturer. I always think I can do better on all my assignments so I had the same feeling two minutes before handing this one in but of course, I was out of time to make any changes.  

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Assignments always carry the same lesson for me, which is that I cannot get through life doing things in the last minute. Time management was essential for this assignment to be done well, as it is with all other assignments. 

For the next news package, I plan to start very early so that I have enough time to do all the elements involved with it. Nothing will be done last minute so as to avoid any sloppiness, but to be honest I make the same promise to myself after every assignment. 

How I ended up in journalism

When the time came for me to choose a career path that I saw fit for me it was a very hard decision to make.

Instead of thinking about it throughout high school I was too busy stressing about boyfriends whose last names I cannot even remember now. I had three options in my mind though, it was either I became a medical student which I only liked because of Meredith Grey on Grey’s anatomy. Also I figured which parent would not like to have a doctor for a daughter?

My second option and my personal favourite was studying dramatic arts, I loved this also because I figured I could play a doctor in a television series (Grey’s anatomy.) I realised later though that it is not that easy to be an actress and I feared being stuck at home with no job after having gotten a diploma in dramatic arts. I am not much of a risk taker and neither is my mother who had to agree with the course I was going to take because after all she was going to pay for it.  

So I had to look at my third option, an option that I knew would be a win-win situation for me and my family. My last option was journalism, it became my option because if anything has been constant in my life, it has been my love for writing and a general interest in media. So becoming a journalist became my more realistic choice of study.

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I knew that it would open up a lot of different doors for me, if ever I wanted to be a presenter it would be possible also I could acquire skills in photography, videography, radio, new media etc. with journalism alone I would get to do more and have fun which has always been more important to me than money, because let’s face it we have all heard that journalists do not get paid that much (whatever that means) and my first option of being a doctor would have led me to having a lot of money.

So cutting forward I ended up choosing journalism. I am now doing my last semester of the course, a choice that I think was the best one I could have made. I have fallen in love with the deadlines and constant interest in everything going on in the world. I am a better person and cannot wait for the rest of my life as a journalist to begin.

A quote I always keep in mind is that of Horace Greeley, “Journalism will kill you, but it will keep you alive while you’re at it.”

The feeling of accomplishment

I just finished doing a presentation that I have been preparing for since the year started.

I feel so much relief that I want to disregard all the assignments I still have left. Which would be going backwards and right now I need to move forward.

The year is about to end and I need a lot of marks to make it through. So basically even with this accomplishment I still need to focus on other things.

I basically do not have time to celebrate what little good I have done. Hopefully you have achieved a lot this week too.

Even though I cannot show it, the feeling of being done with something no matter how small, is amazing.

xoxoxoxox 

My, not so secret, obsession

When I decided that I was going to be a journalist or rather when I decided to study journalism I knew that it was not going to be something I focus on for the rest of my life.

But because life is unpredictable I do not know. I might just end up searching for stories the rest of my life but in a parallel world where I got to choose what I wanted to do, I would definitely be focusing on the one thing I have loved as long as I remember.

My secret obsession, fashion. I do not exactly know what I would like to do in the fashion industry specifically but its a cross between styling for photo-shoots and/or being Anna Wintour.  It is a little far fetched but what is a girl to do when she is a big dreamer?

The big question now is how am I ever going to make my dreams come true... I guess it all just starts with me getting my diploma in journalism and taking it from there. Tony Robbins was quoted saying, "Setting goals is the first step in changing the invisible to visible." Ima keep that with me this week.

Have a good week wherever you are!!!!!

xoxoxoxoxox

Eyes wide open

I see things and people for what they really are now.

It is depressing that this week had to be what it was. I realised that the people I thought I was close to I actually am not. I am not one to rant and rave about situations I can not change but this time around I can't even help it.

I have spent over a year with the same people, vibing with them and thinking I was one of 'them' but truth be hold I am not. So I have taken it upon myself to stop trying to fit in. I know the world has made us think we need people to survive but I am going to try to go through life with less people.

I mean I have my mother, my family, I have God so in actual fact I just need to be satisfied with that and move on. My days of thinking friends will always be there to hold your hand in the dark are fading away quickly and that's not such a bad thing. I read a quote recently and it reads,"Make as many friends as you can, but don't build your life on them alone. It is an unstable foundation."

If I am going to take anything from this unfortunate situation it will be strength. I will not be defined by the number of people I have in my life.

Hopefully I wont be this mad for my next post.

xoxoxoxo

When the holiday ends

Being home was like being in rehab the past three weeks and I mean that in the best way ever.

University is busy and is a rush, I always have to hand an assignment in or have to go chasing someone down for a story and when I do get a break, scarcely, all I can think about is when the next assignment is due. Basically I never have the time to just sit down and think, take a break and just not worry about anything. I guess only children get to do that now.

But being at home helped me get away. I was away from the rush, the unhealthy food, unhealthy habits, loud corridors just everything. I was in the peaceful space of the house that I grew up in and quite frankly it is exactly what I needed. I wish the holiday could have been longer in fact because the work I did just on myself was rewarding. but now I'm back to stressing and that suffocating feeling is coming back. The fact that the second semester is shorter and we have to finish everything in order to pass is making me suffocate faster.

SOS!!!!

xoxoxoxoxo

Just chilling

So with the holidays looming the school work has somewhat gone down. I still have a couple of tests waiting for me before the vacation starts but I am already mentally on holiday.

Which basically means I have had time to surf the net and of course I could not miss a glimpse of Caitlyn Jenner who I personally cannot compare to Bruce Jenner anymore but I guess that was the point.

No matter how weird or unexpected it was for me who has been watching the famous reality show, Keeping up with the Kardashians, from day one I have now settled down. I understand why Jenner had to go through the change, she needed it. From the pictures I have seen Caitlyn seems happy and at the end of the day that is what life is all about.

Do you booboo! do you!!!

xoxoxoxoxo