Journalist making a lasting impact to the world
As I'm in my senior year, I see a lot of friends who are very keen on job hunting. I myself have been interested in getting a job as well, since I was about to enter the next phase in my life after I graduate, and fortunately I succeeded in getting a job at a bank. I wasn't at all expecting to end up in a bank especially for my very first official job, but I guess life is full of twists and turns and you never know what is coming. However, I am not planning to settle in a bank for good because I have always had a dream to become something else, which is a journalist, not necessarily a writer, but someone who writes to help people know better. I don't consider myself a great writer since I have very little experience and the only writings I do is probably keeping journals and writing for my job and classes. But I believe the ability to write and the ability to be a great journalist are two separate things, and would love to work on to develop the qualities that I believe I already have inside, and also improve on what I don't have enough.
First of all, as I mentioned earlier, life is full of twists and turns, and that's wat journalism thrills me the most about. Newspaper is a daily material and thus journalists should be connecting with the world paying attention to every little detail on every side of the earth. Each day something new, sometimes unbelievable, happens, just like MERS which is spreading all across South Korea like no one had ever imagined before, and the tragedy of Sewol ship that sank last year leaving hundreds of innocent people dead. I believe that if you are not genuinely interested in what is taking place regardless of time and place, it is very hard to stay a journalist. It is their job to stay alert and keep track of things happening around. I am a thrill seeker and have lived a dynamic life so far, so it doesn't scare me at all to be reporting something unusual and ask brave questions to prominent figures if I decide that it is going to help people get right information, and it wouldn't matter to me how harsh the environment I would have to go to is in order to write about certain circumstances. The brave does not live forever, but coward does not live at all; the brave journalist may not be able to write forever, but fearful journalist does not write at all.
Another thing I like about writing a newspaper article is that the rule is to ignore the rule. My interest in journalism started when I began reading newspaper on a daily basis, and from then on I sensed a lot of things about newspaper writing style. Unless it's a short literary piece section, there are no long winded essays and journalists never seem to circle around the point and always seem to get directly to there. There is no fixed writing structure and clichés are uncommon, and as long as they make their point and use appropriate words and sentences, writing style doesn't really seem to matter. I am a person who does not like to stick to regularity and rules, and I am all for changes especially in workplace. Otherwise, I would get bored easily. If I have to write to make a living, I prefer it not to be mundane chores, but to be motivating and flexible so that I don't have to apply the same rules to every time I write. That's why in my college years I loved writing classes that offered a chance to write about various sorts of topics rather than those that teach specific sets of writing style and using them in our essays over and over again, eventually forcing every student to produce basically same essays every week. Journalism is very far from that, and it is all about reinventing my own style every day. Of course there exists writing guidelines that I need to follow and make up on, but as I go along, I am ready to experiment and do it in my own unique way.
The last thing I want to talk about is that I am always angry at the world, and I think anger is what keeps you motivated as a journalist. I wouldn't say I am a woman with justice, but I am very interested in issues regarding human rights and world peace, and I think the world still has a long way to go until everyone is guaranteed his or her rights and privileges. Sometimes when I read about terrible things going on in the other side of the world, I become furious and I start writing about it on my diary. I am not a person with authority and I don't really have any power to change the world, and most of all, I cannot give any fundamental solution to all the problems. However, I believe that if I am able to write about it and people all over the world get to read it, it is part of spreading the message and letting the world know better. I alone may not have the power yet, but if people read my article and get inspired to offer some help or see what they could do, I think that is the first phase of progress toward change. Some people say rage clouds a person's judgment, and that is true. But if it is a reasonable one, then there is nothing better that would make you passionate and inspired. If I write angry but edit calm, I think that would be the best way to efficiently convey the message for people, and I am already excited and ready to do that.
Deep-rooted passion toward world-wide news, flexibility, and anger are probably all the qualities needed to become a journalist I have gotten so far. I am not a fantastic writer, and I don't know how to tug at reader's heart without conscious and constant effort. Still, I know that if I try hard and foster good qualities that exist within me and develop it into additional skills, I can do better. What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything? Being a journalist takes risk, and sometimes you need to make a choice between writing the truth and getting more money by spreading fake facts. Sometimes rat-like cunning personality and a plausible manner will be required. But courage is not the absence of fear, but knowing that something else is more important. My hopeful wish for a better world and a community with justice may sound innocent, but for now, I am ready and overwhelmingly excited to bring my courage into next level to contribute to a well-being journalism community, and further take it to the whole world. I'm still young and have a lot to learn, so I'll take all the chances I encounter to make them part of my wisdom that I could later on utilize to be a great journalist and a positive influence to the world.
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