Exploding ideas

So it’s already week three and day two in the busy, bustling, noisy media hub. It honestly feels like we’ve been here forever- by Christmas it will probably feel like a couple of life times.

I’ve built on from what I learned last week- tracking down people to talk to, doing it within a reasonable timescale and shouting over Alex whenever I’d lost my way. Today I arrived full of coffee, and like many of us with a topic already planned in my head. Over the weekend I’d decided that I was going to write about World Mental Health day, partly because It’s something incredibly close to my heart and I knew that there would be scope to find an interesting angle. Talking through these ideas as a group at the start of the session helped to formulate my plan further, and to take an approach that had I been sitting at home writing the same article, I would never have considered. It was interesting to hear everyone else’s ideas, but also to be offered suggestions and pointers for mine.

This second day brought home the feeling of being a ‘real’ journalist- finding new stories, speaking to people, worrying about deadlines and gaining advice from those around you- this was all something I’d imagined we’d be trying to work towards, but not so soon- and definitely not in the third week. I can see my writing improve as time moves on, it may not be by much- but every bit of feedback helps to develop my next article.

I’m finally feeling less overwhelmed, that I’m able to find my feet in the busy and diverse life as a journalist. I sometimes feel like ideas are exploding all around me, as if I’m in a maze of new & old ideas- and my task is to find the right way.

Above all today made me realise how much I’m enjoying myself, thriving on the environment created in the media hub and being able to channel my love for writing into something incredibly positive.

I’m sure you have your own perspectives on the experience in the media hub now we are in week three. It will be interesting to hear how everyone’s doing? And if your caffeine intake has increased as drastically as mine since we started uni?