Dare to dream....

For those of you who don't know (or those of you actually reading this lol) it has always been my ambition to be a writer, at first this was all to do with wanting to write stories about things that inspired me and I hoped others, now adays I have learnt that the things that inspire me go beyond the realms of my imagination and it has been my dream for some time now to become a journalist. Ideally in a little town or village, somewhere with a strong community and where the local paper plays an integral part in the daily lives of the inhabitants!
Over the past months I have been working full time and studying to complete the intial journalism training, and for those of you who have studied from home let me just take a moment to say CONGRATULATIONS!! Becuase it is bloody hard work, there are so many distractions and other things that you want or feel you should be doing and it is incredibly difficult to focus. So in order to get my head down and my revision done I am currently doing nothing but revising, I am learning about central and local government as well as media law and newspaper writing, and it is so incredibly difficult, more than I could have imagined. But I do keep thinking, that the things in life you really want shouldn't be too easy to obtain, and trust me this has been far from easy. There have been tears and tantrums a plently and now as the exam dates are looming I am desperate to pass them first time! My short hand is another matter and I plan to start a college course in January to get to grips with it (although this will cost me almost as much as the entire journalism course did) but teaching myself has been next to impossible.
During this time I have of course been applying for journalism jobs (as well as using my holiday to complete work experience at local papers, of which I have loved and it has killed me each time Friday has come around and I have had to leave that wonderful world behind) The last position I applied for was as a features writer for a local paper, I love writing features and I am good at it, even if I do so say myself, I love finding the personal angle and getting someones inner story across. But it is far from the ideal time to be trying to join the world of journalism. Over 100 people applied for the features job I went for and safe to say I did not stand a chance. Junior positions are also a rarety, with more papers making redundancies in the current climate, than hiring in new blood, but today I spotted one. It's local, it's perfect, but I am terrified and I haven't even applied yet! I need to show the editor not only that I could do this job but that I could do it well....better than well and better than anyone else applying (and there will be a lot). I know that I would love every second, not waste a moment and stay as long as they would have me! So how do I do it? Well I am not a religous person but I am going to start by praying, by writing the best damn application letter possible and sending samples from my portfolio in a hope that something he sees there will wow him, that he will see the determination in me that I feel in my heart, and that I may finally be given the opportunity to prove that I can do what I love......and write!