What I learnt today
I am not perfect. I know I have a lot to learn. I think the way to keep learning is to listen to those around you. One of my lecturers, David Dunkley-Gymiah, often refers to "the smartest person in the room syndrome". Basically, everyone knows something you need to know. Without meaning to sound trite, we all need to help each other. This is especially true of journalism. Yes, you have to be ambitious to get ahead, but if you try to do it all alone, you will not go far. After a short time on a new course, I think that I am beginning to see the point....
Let me start from the beginning. I finished my degree 6 months ago. In five years I was encouraged to ponder, pontificate and generally be a smug student. I studied language, film, philosophy and literature and thoroughly enjoyed it. Going straight from the comfort of school to the big-wide-world was a shock, but I still had a routine. I enjoyed learning, but sometimes got the feeling that I was storing up information for an exam rather than learning for the joy of learning.
University is a privilege. It wasn't so long ago that only the privileged few were able to go to university. Now it seems that the opposite is true. In many areas in Britain, those that finish their A Levels and do not go on to university are in the minority. I wonder what this means.
Just going to university for the sake of it seems pointless to me. Why waste 3 years and huge amounts of money if it isn't going to be useful? More and more degrees are becoming available. Perhaps I am being cynical in wondering whether a football studies BA will actually lead to a career, or more importantly, be useful at all. All I want to say is that it is important to learn. The more information a person can take in, the better and then we can learn from each other. People are nosey. We are all interested in people which is why blogging is so exciting. If this 'noseiness' can be used as a catalyst to learn, it can only be a good thing.
I want to learn as much as possible and I'm glad that I am now studying to become a journalist which means that I am acquiring knowledge which will actually be useful in my life rather than collecting information for an exam.
After a conversation with friends today, I have discovered a new mantra. A good journalist has to depend on others. What attracts me to journalism is the fact that I will always be learning - learning about and from others as well as professionally.
Let me start from the beginning. I finished my degree 6 months ago. In five years I was encouraged to ponder, pontificate and generally be a smug student. I studied language, film, philosophy and literature and thoroughly enjoyed it. Going straight from the comfort of school to the big-wide-world was a shock, but I still had a routine. I enjoyed learning, but sometimes got the feeling that I was storing up information for an exam rather than learning for the joy of learning.
University is a privilege. It wasn't so long ago that only the privileged few were able to go to university. Now it seems that the opposite is true. In many areas in Britain, those that finish their A Levels and do not go on to university are in the minority. I wonder what this means.
Just going to university for the sake of it seems pointless to me. Why waste 3 years and huge amounts of money if it isn't going to be useful? More and more degrees are becoming available. Perhaps I am being cynical in wondering whether a football studies BA will actually lead to a career, or more importantly, be useful at all. All I want to say is that it is important to learn. The more information a person can take in, the better and then we can learn from each other. People are nosey. We are all interested in people which is why blogging is so exciting. If this 'noseiness' can be used as a catalyst to learn, it can only be a good thing.
I want to learn as much as possible and I'm glad that I am now studying to become a journalist which means that I am acquiring knowledge which will actually be useful in my life rather than collecting information for an exam.
After a conversation with friends today, I have discovered a new mantra. A good journalist has to depend on others. What attracts me to journalism is the fact that I will always be learning - learning about and from others as well as professionally.
posted by Mary-Ann at 10:38 pm
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