It’s all about the headline. It’s about getting your point across in the most direct way you can. These personal statements are very good example of this, in just a few lines I have to get my message of why I want do a degree in Journalism across to my prospective universities. That is one of the reasons why I love to write, the challenge of putting over a complex thought or concept to a large audience of people and convey it in such a way everybody will understand it. As the great writer Hemingway once said, “My aim is to put down on paper what I see and what I feel in the best and simplest way.”
My own personal experience of journalism started young, my dad used to write for a magazine and take me with him when he went to interview people, since then I have been fascinated with the industry. When I was 14 I was lucky enough to get a work experience placement at “News International” in Wapping. I got to work on the websites of “FiredUp.com”, “Revolver.com” and “Page3.com” as well as have a tour of the offices of “The Sun”, “News Of The World” and “The Times”, I have also recently been offered a day’s work experience at my local paper and I am currently waiting for news of work experience at the BBC.
I pride myself on being well organised and thorough in my research. I have also developed many skills such as interview techniques and being able to see things from another perspective, a skill I have acquired through Sociology and Communication Studies, analytical skills through Film Studies and Media Studies and I have learnt about analysing and collating numerical data and factual evidence in Psychology. Although I have already completed three A-Levels and two AS Levels, I have taken a year out to study AS French, Sociology and Spanish. I did this in order to improve my grades and to give me a wider choice of qualifications as my previous subjects are all very similar with their syllabus as well the fact multiple languages would be an invaluable advantage to have when working in the area of communication.
Some of my outside interests are music, politics, the Internet and reading. Music in particular is a great love of mine, I regularly attend “gigs” and concerts and have been an active member of the “Sum 41 Street Team” for over a year, this involves spreading publicity through flyers and posters to promote the band, I find it very fulfilling and enjoyable. Another one of my interests is the Internet, I contribute articles to a site dealing with issues such as “top-up fees” and other important student matters, which I enjoy greatly and is helping to improve my knowledge of university for the future. I have a part time job waitressing at a local hotel which I do a few nights a week. It gives me a sense of my own independence and responsibility, I also help my mother at the local Red Cross during half terms and holidays cooking for the elderly and have also recently volunteered to sell Poppies for Remembrance Sunday throughout my town. Another activity of mine is being my tutor group representative for our college’s student council and regularly attend meetings to deal with concerns of the student body.
I am thoughtful, organised and handle pressure well, I love to write and it is my ambition to do so, I believe I can bring many things to the courses I have selected and in turn can get a lot out of them as well.