As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to write. As a child, I would write bedtime stories for my little sister, I wrote a poem to Blue Peter, a letter to the Prime Minister and I was always the one in English class who wrote a novel rather than a page of work. I just loved words, the magic of stringing them together to create a story from the beads of my imagination. For a painfully shy young girl, putting words onto paper gave me a voice when I couldn’t speak.
As I’ve grown up, my ability to communicate verbally has vastly improved, yet the magic of putting pen to paper still enchants me. I am now studying Magazine Journalism at Cardiff University and am lucky enough to get to waltz with words every day. I love being able to use my internal hard drive of memories, inspirations, observations and strange encounters to create a narrative, shed light on important issues and inform and entertain readers.
The world of journalism can be a competitive arena. There are early starts, late nights, strict deadlines to meet and there’s always a race to the finish line. Sometimes, my body functions only off caramel lattes and pure delirium. Yet, when I think back to the little girl who dreamed of writing for a living, having her work published and being able to meet and network with remarkable people, I have to pinch myself. I’m no longer Wendy, dreaming of an escape to Neverland, but am a woman who is almost grown-up and living her childhood dream.
The world of journalism can be a competitive arena. There are early starts, late nights, strict deadlines to meet and there’s always a race to the finish line. Sometimes, my body functions only off caramel lattes and pure delirium. Yet, when I think back to the little girl who dreamed of writing for a living, having her work published and being able to meet and network with remarkable people, I have to pinch myself. I’m no longer Wendy, dreaming of an escape to Neverland, but am a woman who is almost grown-up and living her childhood dream.
A few weeks ago, the dream seemed a little closer to my grasp as I, and a few of the Magazine Journalism girls embarked on a mini-road trip to Bristol for an Immediate Media open day. We made our way to Tower House ready to explore the Olympus of the magazine world and listened to all the tips and tricks that magazine editors had to offer. After the introductory talk, we were taken upstairs to meet with teams from different titles and a banquet of magazines were laid out for us to browse through and keep - and feast we did!
Everyone was extremely approachable, friendly and happy to help, answer any questions and give out contact details. People were so friendly in fact, that in the process of breaking the world record for the greatest number of people to fit in a lift at one time, we managed to network with a lady who provided contacts and content for our MA magazine project. It was as if Zeus himself had aligned the stars in the shape of our urban craft and home decor magazine, Urban Chic!
Everyone was extremely approachable, friendly and happy to help, answer any questions and give out contact details. People were so friendly in fact, that in the process of breaking the world record for the greatest number of people to fit in a lift at one time, we managed to network with a lady who provided contacts and content for our MA magazine project. It was as if Zeus himself had aligned the stars in the shape of our urban craft and home decor magazine, Urban Chic!
In one afternoon, Immediate Media had confirmed my hopes that the magazine business is as creative and cool as 13 Going on 30 portrays it to be, and restored my faith in travelling via flying metal box. I also managed to speak with the editor of Mollie Makes, Cath Dean. We bonded over our strong Welsh accents, our experiences in Cardiff University's 'Maglab' and our love of home decor and craft. I scribbled down her contact details on a crumpled up piece of paper, and left pleased knowing that I had been able to network without knocking over any warm liquids, or mumbling, stuttering or rambling. Today, she offered me work experience at the magazine over Easter. So, despite the early starts and late nights and strict deadlines, days like this remind me of how far I’ve come and how close I am to achieving the end goal of becoming a fully-fledged magazine journalist. It makes me think that maybe Peter Pan wasn’t right about pixie dust after all, because all I really need to succeed is faith, trust and pen and paper.
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