I was all ready to undergo my first interview for my first article but it is now all going to have to wait as the guy I'm interviewing is only available when I need to be at Uni.
How selfish of him. How very selfish.
Anyway, I emailed the editor of the magazine and explained I couldn't see do the interview before the deadline because of University (reasonable?) and he said it could wait for the April edition. This is irritating as it means it won't be published before my Press Association interview but oh well. He is currently trying to think of something else for me to write...
...apparently...
I say apparently because I thought instead of waiting till the morning, it would be a brilliant idea to email back the editor last night at a party while slightly intoxicated. I spent a long time making sure I had put no drunken spelling mistakes. It was only this morning I noticed I had ended the email with:
"Thanks again!
Sarah
Thank you very much!!
Sarah"
He is either going to think I am desperate for his approval, insanely happy, or just fucking stupid.
He hasn't emailed me back since. Sigh.
University Newspaper meeting on Monday. Let's hope I nab something there.
Saturday, 29 January 2011
A Monologue
Presently I am studying a module called "Playwriting for Beginners" and our first exercise was to write a monologue from an imaginary character that had to have a 'reveal' at the end. I thought it would be a good idea to post what I wrote here.
"I swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help me God.
My name is Bruna Adler. I was born in Poland and moved to Frankfurt in Germany in 1908 with my parents when I was a young child. I am unmarried and have no children. I was a secretary at an accounting firm in Frankfurt until 1941. Like many of my peers I read Der Sturmer and began to hate the Jews, I saw what they were doing to our country, and I wanted to help. I felt I could be most put to use in the SS and was at first a guard in my town, rounding up the Jews and sending them to the camps. At first I did not know what was at the camps, I assumed the Jews and other lower classes were being made to do something constructive, making things needed for the war effort, finally making themselves useful. Soon I proved my worth and I was sent to Birkenau camp in Auschwitz in 1942, and was a guard at the female camp under Elisabeth Volkenrath.
My responsibilities included keeping the female camp in order and making sure the prisoner’s were behaving and kept to their work schedules...
Another of my responsibilities was to...pick and choose what campers to...exterminate. The camps were getting increasingly crowded, we had no choice, if I did not do it, I would be shot. I often sent families together; so that no one was left without their family...I thought I was helping them. It was best for me not to think of them as human, in a way they were not, they were Jews and homosexuals, and gypsies, they were...they were polluting our nation...it was their fault...we had no choice.
I never really got used to it though...I remember towards the end I sent off one girl...her mother and sister had died from tuberculosis, she was on her own. I thought it was best for her to be dead herself. But she reminded me so much of...a friend I had at school. She had big brown sunken eyes, and I imagined her hair being as long and thick and the same chestunutty brown colour that I...used to have...I sent her off and I closed the doors on them. And I heard them shuffling around, I heard them work out what was going on and starting to grow in dread and fear, like the same way I had every other time, but I never got used to that sound. The sound of growing panic and confusion, of children crying and mothers screaming and begging for their lives. Of the gas hitting their lungs, the sound of them struggling to breathe.
(Slowly starting to grow panicky)
And I had chosen to put them in there. And I had ordered their clothes off. And I had pushed them through the door when they pleaded and begged for me to let them go. And I had closed the door behind them. And I had turned and left them in there to die. Just for having Jewish blood running through their veins.
Like me.
(Starts breaking down...crying, begging, inconsolable)
I, I’ve never told anyone, please don’t kill me, I’m not really a Nazi, please, please don’t. It was just all to protect me, my name is Ethel Goldberg. I was born to a Jewish mother and...and when she died, and everything started to happen, and I lost my job I thought, I just, I just thought, I should just leave. And I left. And I stole another woman’s papers, and I, I hit her, and she fell and hit her head, and I didn’t mean to kill her but I needed her papers so I took them and I’m sorry, I’m sorry but I had to, I had to because they were coming to get me and everyone I knew and I had to go, I had to go. And I pretended to be Bruna and I, I joined the SS because I thought that’s where they would be least suspicious. And I had to do what they told me and I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. Please please don’t send me off with the rest of them, please let me live, I know I did bad things but I didn’t want to, I had to for my own life. I didn’t want to do those things, please..I...I don’t know...how to say... please, please don’t send me away. I only did it to protect myself. Please don’t kill me. I didn’t have a choice! I’d have been in there with them too otherwise! Please...please...I’m sorry, I’m sorry. "
"I swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help me God.
My name is Bruna Adler. I was born in Poland and moved to Frankfurt in Germany in 1908 with my parents when I was a young child. I am unmarried and have no children. I was a secretary at an accounting firm in Frankfurt until 1941. Like many of my peers I read Der Sturmer and began to hate the Jews, I saw what they were doing to our country, and I wanted to help. I felt I could be most put to use in the SS and was at first a guard in my town, rounding up the Jews and sending them to the camps. At first I did not know what was at the camps, I assumed the Jews and other lower classes were being made to do something constructive, making things needed for the war effort, finally making themselves useful. Soon I proved my worth and I was sent to Birkenau camp in Auschwitz in 1942, and was a guard at the female camp under Elisabeth Volkenrath.
My responsibilities included keeping the female camp in order and making sure the prisoner’s were behaving and kept to their work schedules...
Another of my responsibilities was to...pick and choose what campers to...exterminate. The camps were getting increasingly crowded, we had no choice, if I did not do it, I would be shot. I often sent families together; so that no one was left without their family...I thought I was helping them. It was best for me not to think of them as human, in a way they were not, they were Jews and homosexuals, and gypsies, they were...they were polluting our nation...it was their fault...we had no choice.
I never really got used to it though...I remember towards the end I sent off one girl...her mother and sister had died from tuberculosis, she was on her own. I thought it was best for her to be dead herself. But she reminded me so much of...a friend I had at school. She had big brown sunken eyes, and I imagined her hair being as long and thick and the same chestunutty brown colour that I...used to have...I sent her off and I closed the doors on them. And I heard them shuffling around, I heard them work out what was going on and starting to grow in dread and fear, like the same way I had every other time, but I never got used to that sound. The sound of growing panic and confusion, of children crying and mothers screaming and begging for their lives. Of the gas hitting their lungs, the sound of them struggling to breathe.
(Slowly starting to grow panicky)
And I had chosen to put them in there. And I had ordered their clothes off. And I had pushed them through the door when they pleaded and begged for me to let them go. And I had closed the door behind them. And I had turned and left them in there to die. Just for having Jewish blood running through their veins.
Like me.
(Starts breaking down...crying, begging, inconsolable)
I, I’ve never told anyone, please don’t kill me, I’m not really a Nazi, please, please don’t. It was just all to protect me, my name is Ethel Goldberg. I was born to a Jewish mother and...and when she died, and everything started to happen, and I lost my job I thought, I just, I just thought, I should just leave. And I left. And I stole another woman’s papers, and I, I hit her, and she fell and hit her head, and I didn’t mean to kill her but I needed her papers so I took them and I’m sorry, I’m sorry but I had to, I had to because they were coming to get me and everyone I knew and I had to go, I had to go. And I pretended to be Bruna and I, I joined the SS because I thought that’s where they would be least suspicious. And I had to do what they told me and I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. Please please don’t send me off with the rest of them, please let me live, I know I did bad things but I didn’t want to, I had to for my own life. I didn’t want to do those things, please..I...I don’t know...how to say... please, please don’t send me away. I only did it to protect myself. Please don’t kill me. I didn’t have a choice! I’d have been in there with them too otherwise! Please...please...I’m sorry, I’m sorry. "
Friday, 28 January 2011
So Far...
Let's get everyone up to date shall we.
Now that I'm in my third year at Uni, I thought it was about time to start planning what to do when I graduate. The thought of graduating with nowhere to go and nothing to do motivated me to the point of obsession. Every day over the christmas holidays I would send out CV's and cover letters to papers or companies I could potentially get work experience with. I knew that I would never get a job as a journalist without experience.
When googling "journalism", I discovered the NCTJ course. I had been told about it before my Henry Claridge, my University lecturer, but at the time hadn't fully grasped how useful it would be to do it. Not only would they teach me the basic skills to be a journalist, but also taught me parts of the career I'd need that I hadn't even thought about; Media Law, shorthand etc.
I had written off an MA at the beginning of last term as I really wanted to get a job and get my career started, but the NCTJ seemed like it would be invaluable if I really wanted to get serious about journalism, so I applied to the new course at the London Press Association. At first I was a little scared; I felt like a fraud. Instead of writing articles every spare minute while at University I had been concentrating on my degree and not really involving myself in anything else; something I truly regret now.
I was honest in the application, told them I had little experience but do have some planned (of which I will go onto later). I wrote what I would like to think was a heartfelt yet intelligent application showcasing my abilities and work ethic. I sent it off yesterday...and got an interview today. Though I am incredibly happy at this first step, I do not feel by any means that I will certainly get into the course. Far from it. Not only is the London course at the top of the NCTJ results table, but I had been told how hard it is to get on the course. With only a small portfolio and my degree to back me up, at first I almost felt like they wouldn't take me because I had nothing yet to offer- maybe they would think I was lazy or just another English student who didn't know what to do so went for the most obvious, though not the easiest option.
I hope to show in the interview this is not the case. And even if I don't get in, I will just apply again next year when I have more experience. I am optimistic.
I have a few weeks work experience at the News Shopper and The Canterbury Times in the Spring too which I cannot wait for. I am still enjoying my degree but I am so eager to get out and start my career and get as involved as I can that I am almost looking forward to graduating.
I have joined the University Newspaper and will be writing for them soon. I am waiting to get the go on an article about a new Student Village going up on Campus that apparently some residents are furious about, so that should be a lot of fun interviewing them. And I'm not even being sarcastic.
I have also just been asked to write an article for my local magazine in London: "SENine". The article actually seems really interesting, I have to interview a male Nurse who gets to his patience by bike in London so as to avoid traffic.
I was hoping to interview him next week but he is not available so I may have to travel back from Canterbury to London tomorrow. But I am excited.
I feel like I have so much happening and I've never been more busy with the articles and the applications and interviews and work experience and my degree...but it is really exciting, and for the first time in a long time I feel like I could be really entering into something that makes me happy.
I hope this hasn't been too boring, but at the same time I don't care as this is my own personal blog and no one will read it anyway :).
I will post when I have had the interview with the nurse!
Now that I'm in my third year at Uni, I thought it was about time to start planning what to do when I graduate. The thought of graduating with nowhere to go and nothing to do motivated me to the point of obsession. Every day over the christmas holidays I would send out CV's and cover letters to papers or companies I could potentially get work experience with. I knew that I would never get a job as a journalist without experience.
When googling "journalism", I discovered the NCTJ course. I had been told about it before my Henry Claridge, my University lecturer, but at the time hadn't fully grasped how useful it would be to do it. Not only would they teach me the basic skills to be a journalist, but also taught me parts of the career I'd need that I hadn't even thought about; Media Law, shorthand etc.
I had written off an MA at the beginning of last term as I really wanted to get a job and get my career started, but the NCTJ seemed like it would be invaluable if I really wanted to get serious about journalism, so I applied to the new course at the London Press Association. At first I was a little scared; I felt like a fraud. Instead of writing articles every spare minute while at University I had been concentrating on my degree and not really involving myself in anything else; something I truly regret now.
I was honest in the application, told them I had little experience but do have some planned (of which I will go onto later). I wrote what I would like to think was a heartfelt yet intelligent application showcasing my abilities and work ethic. I sent it off yesterday...and got an interview today. Though I am incredibly happy at this first step, I do not feel by any means that I will certainly get into the course. Far from it. Not only is the London course at the top of the NCTJ results table, but I had been told how hard it is to get on the course. With only a small portfolio and my degree to back me up, at first I almost felt like they wouldn't take me because I had nothing yet to offer- maybe they would think I was lazy or just another English student who didn't know what to do so went for the most obvious, though not the easiest option.
I hope to show in the interview this is not the case. And even if I don't get in, I will just apply again next year when I have more experience. I am optimistic.
I have a few weeks work experience at the News Shopper and The Canterbury Times in the Spring too which I cannot wait for. I am still enjoying my degree but I am so eager to get out and start my career and get as involved as I can that I am almost looking forward to graduating.
I have joined the University Newspaper and will be writing for them soon. I am waiting to get the go on an article about a new Student Village going up on Campus that apparently some residents are furious about, so that should be a lot of fun interviewing them. And I'm not even being sarcastic.
I have also just been asked to write an article for my local magazine in London: "SENine". The article actually seems really interesting, I have to interview a male Nurse who gets to his patience by bike in London so as to avoid traffic.
I was hoping to interview him next week but he is not available so I may have to travel back from Canterbury to London tomorrow. But I am excited.
I feel like I have so much happening and I've never been more busy with the articles and the applications and interviews and work experience and my degree...but it is really exciting, and for the first time in a long time I feel like I could be really entering into something that makes me happy.
I hope this hasn't been too boring, but at the same time I don't care as this is my own personal blog and no one will read it anyway :).
I will post when I have had the interview with the nurse!
A New Beginning
I have finally realised why over the last couple of years I always started a blog but never came back to it.
Because the theme was "I am Sarah and this is my life and this is why I am annoyed today".
I am usually annoyed by different things in what I like to think is a sort of charming Charlie Brooker-esque fashion, but is in fact probably not very attractive at all. Plus I don't think I am quite as miserable and whiny as I used to be...
Also I no longer feel comfortable constantly talking about myself as thankfully I am no longer the angry and self-absorbed 15 year old who HATED HER LIFE because her parent's had the audacity to be loving and supportive and wished she had NEVER BEEN BORN because she probably liked a boy that didn't like her back and life was SO UNFAIR so felt the need to vent it all to the two people who would read about it on the internet.
Thankfully, I am no longer that bratty child, I am an ADULT! With GOALS! And AMBITIONS! And I am happy and I love my parents and I am actually getting my life together. And it feels good in an odd "Oh so this is what it is like to actually sort yourself out" kind of way.
So I decided to have more of a theme for this blog, as opposed to the theme just being "Sarah" which now makes me uncomfortable and pity my former self. Instead, it is now "Sarah's ongoing journey into the world of Journalism, and her attempt at making it as a Journalist". Okay, that is not very catchy, but you get the point.
Not that anyone who would have previously read this blog (all 0 of you) would know this as all I wrote about was things like Ooompa Loompa's and Baby on Board badges, but I have always wanted to be a Journalist. Recently, over the last 6 months or so, I have decided to really pursue this career, and try and get into news journalism.
I thought that carrying on this blog and trying to drag it up from the sorry depths of Angry-Teenagedom it had previously languished in, was a good idea, as not only is it good practice for my writing skills, but also an interesting way for me to report the trials and tribulations I experience in trying to "MAKE IT".
I may sound flaky and like I don't actually really care, but I do, a lot. I'm not even joking when I say I've got my act together. It is truly astonishing.
However, it seems that my long winded introductions haven't changed, but I suppose I cannot ask for everything.
Keep up to date with my (hopefully) regular posts to see if I ever eventually "MAKE IT" and read all the surely HILARIOUS events and situations I find myself in along the way.
Because the theme was "I am Sarah and this is my life and this is why I am annoyed today".
I am usually annoyed by different things in what I like to think is a sort of charming Charlie Brooker-esque fashion, but is in fact probably not very attractive at all. Plus I don't think I am quite as miserable and whiny as I used to be...
Also I no longer feel comfortable constantly talking about myself as thankfully I am no longer the angry and self-absorbed 15 year old who HATED HER LIFE because her parent's had the audacity to be loving and supportive and wished she had NEVER BEEN BORN because she probably liked a boy that didn't like her back and life was SO UNFAIR so felt the need to vent it all to the two people who would read about it on the internet.
Thankfully, I am no longer that bratty child, I am an ADULT! With GOALS! And AMBITIONS! And I am happy and I love my parents and I am actually getting my life together. And it feels good in an odd "Oh so this is what it is like to actually sort yourself out" kind of way.
So I decided to have more of a theme for this blog, as opposed to the theme just being "Sarah" which now makes me uncomfortable and pity my former self. Instead, it is now "Sarah's ongoing journey into the world of Journalism, and her attempt at making it as a Journalist". Okay, that is not very catchy, but you get the point.
Not that anyone who would have previously read this blog (all 0 of you) would know this as all I wrote about was things like Ooompa Loompa's and Baby on Board badges, but I have always wanted to be a Journalist. Recently, over the last 6 months or so, I have decided to really pursue this career, and try and get into news journalism.
I thought that carrying on this blog and trying to drag it up from the sorry depths of Angry-Teenagedom it had previously languished in, was a good idea, as not only is it good practice for my writing skills, but also an interesting way for me to report the trials and tribulations I experience in trying to "MAKE IT".
I may sound flaky and like I don't actually really care, but I do, a lot. I'm not even joking when I say I've got my act together. It is truly astonishing.
However, it seems that my long winded introductions haven't changed, but I suppose I cannot ask for everything.
Keep up to date with my (hopefully) regular posts to see if I ever eventually "MAKE IT" and read all the surely HILARIOUS events and situations I find myself in along the way.
Thursday, 13 January 2011
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)