Last lecture, we had the pleasure of a fresh-faced woman speaking to us about her wonderful life as a journalist, her many experiences, her commendable achievements and she even divulged some helpful tips for the auditorium full of eager, wannabe journos. She also managed to perpetuate my overall fear of new wave journalism with a rather distasteful, yet intriguing game that reflected the current world news events. I am still trying to get my head around the quite sadistic pirates of Somalia game. However, as she was recalling her numerous achievements, one that fixed in my mind was her experience working in Bangkok, Thailand as a journalist for the local English speaking newspaper.
This my friends, if you were not already aware, is somewhat reflective of one of the things that I would love to do in my lifetime – a foreign correspondent working in Jakarta, Indonesia for the local English newspaper, ‘The Jakarta Post’. I’ve always loved going to Indonesia, and have recently returned from a month long, pretty much solo trip to the heart and soul of the country, Java. This gave me a greater understanding of Indonesia and its people, as well as reigniting my passion for overseas journalism. So, I decided, I would take this opportunity to timidly wait in line to talk to this elusive woman, who regrettably I cannot for the life of me remember her name.
She appears to me now only as ‘Elaine look-a-like from Seinfeld’. I’m convinced that her name is not as important as the message she instilled in my mind. I asked her about her time in Bangkok and informed her of my aspirations, and she told me
“Whatever you do, whatever avenue of journalism you take, do it with passion. I believe you can do it and I wish you the best of luck”.I left that lecture theatre with the corniest smile on my face and a spring in my step. Thank you, Elaine from Seinfeld look-a-like, for your inspiration and your time you spent talking with us. It meant a lot more to me than you will ever know.
No comments:
Post a Comment