My Voice

This is the probably the first blog post that I have not been assigned to write, or that is not an expansion on topics that I am covering in my journalism course. It has taken me while to start blogging and this is largely due to the fact that I was not sure what I wanted to blog about! It is not in my nature to just sit and write about any small thing, I would much rather write about issues that are important and it is not until recently that I have had the inspiration to start writing about such things.

I have always loved the film Born Free (this is actually relevant I swear!) because I was completely inspired by Joy and George Adamson but particularly George Adamson. He gave up a 'civilised' life in order to work with lions in Africa and his life story has been inspirational to people all over the world. Some of the last words in his autobiography are ones which I know are going to stick with me for the rest of my life:

"Who will raise their voices when mine is carried away with the wind?"

This one question has been going around in my mind from the first time I read them years ago. They were originally meaningful to me because I used to want to be a wildlife conservationist and I thought that I would be the one to raise my voice. I have always wanted to make a difference in the world, like millions of other people in the world want to! As I matured I began to interpret the words of George Adamson in a different way, and began to think about how important it was that his voice was listened to by the world and while I would have loved to go and work with people and animals in need, it would not have been as influential as making my voice heard about these topics. So I decided that journalism would be an excellent step into making sure I was able to make my voice heard.

So the next problem I faced to make sure I was certain about what it was I wanted my voice to say! There are quite a few people who assumed that I want to become a fashion journalist or write "and finally" pieces, and while these are valid careers they are not the kind of work that I aspire to, and these blog posts will prove that the assumption made by others could not be further from the truth!

These posts are going to be about establishing my voice as a journalist, so that when the time comes when my voice is lost to the wind, it will be missed. And I hope that those of you reading this will start to consider what you want your voice to say.