Fan In Van

My Journalism Dream

Today I applied for an internship with Global BC.

Unless you’ve never met me before or if you’ve been living under a rock or been in a coma for the last three years, you’d know that I want to be a journalist. And like all guys in the field, I’m growing up wanting to be a sports journalist.

When I was young, growing up, I played a lot of sports. Baseball, soccer, hockey, you name it. The details are a little sketchy, but my mom told me that I used to go around in the dugout, before and after soccer games or on the sidewalk of the street we played hockey to interview teammates and coaches as if I were a beat reporter. Endearing, right?

But that was ten years ago. And when I graduated from high school I made the questionable decision to enroll in Simon Fraser University’s Communication program. You see, at the time when I graduated, I couldn’t say I was 100% certain that I wanted to be a journalist. And besides, there are a lot of things you can do with a Communications degree; public, media and community relations, business relations, marketing, advertising, the options are endless. In essence, my very own “Plan B”.

However, as I’ve come to get ankle-deep in journalism waters, I’ve encountered a lot of people who have the same dream as I do. I’ve seen friends get radio internships, newspaper internships and fellow competitors land gigs I can’t even dream of. And it’s times like these where I start to doubt myself. Did I make a mistake, going to SFU? Should I have went to BCIT first, got a diploma and went job-hunting right away? Or is being patient and securing a backup plan the right thing to do?

Life is full of the biggest questions that we ourselves can sometimes never answer.

Opportunities have come at me by the handful and not once have I passed up the chance to be a journalist intern, a web site intern, a television intern… a whatever intern. Unfortunately, I’ve been kicked to the curb each and every single time. It hurts, not being picked for a job that you feel you deserved or earned. And for anyone who’s ever had this happen to them, it gets a little bit harder to apply for these jobs the next time, just because your confidence has dwindled with each failed opportunity.

But one of my sports journalism mentors, who’s helped me through my dream since Day One, told me not to be discouraged; sometimes these things happen for a reason. And here’s the real moral lesson for anyone chasing their dream: You can’t ever give up. Yes, it’s corny, but it is most certainly true.

Pursuing your dream in life is like pursuing becoming an NHL player. When you’re young, you’re confident and think you have all the talent in the world to really be someone. But then one thing goes wrong: An injury, a personal setback, a benching … Hurdles. But the real challenge is picking yourself up and continuing that chase for your dream… in the end, there is a light at the end of every tunnel.

I think that, during this stage of finishing second place for these jobs, I’ve learned how to be even more resilient. You can’t feel sorry for yourself in this business, because that’s when the competitors pass you by. Instead, you’ve got to dedicate yourself to your craft and pursue your dream even harder.