Hello! I know, I know, another excuse-laden post about the fact I’ve gone AWOL. I’ve been very busy with all sorts of things recently, so blogging has very much fallen by the wayside! I’ve had some interesting extra little projects going on recently to keep the writing ticking over, and admittedly a lot of non-writing…
Tag: nctj
Appointment #8452
Hello, I’m back from Madrid! When I have some spare time and have put my photos on my laptop I’ll write my city review, but for now I can sum it up by saying 44 degree heat, meat and so many chispas. All will become clear, little ones. The title today simply stems from the…
Happy birthday journalism career!
Hello! A quick one today as I’m snowed under, but a year ago today, on 16th April 2012, I started the NCTJ at Journalist Works. My decision to train as a journalist was the best I ever made and despite the cost, I have no regrets. Everyone agrees that I was right to do it…
Why I don’t regret spending nearly £4,000 on my NCTJ
My NCTJ diploma is the most important qualification I will get in my life. GCSEs? Worthless. A levels? Fun, but overwritten by my degree. Degree? Haven’t enjoyed it anywhere near enough to warrant the amount of money I’ve spent on it and the amount of time spent ploughing through essay after endless essay. The NCTJ…
Exciting developments
Hello! The exciting news here is that I am employed! I will be working in Haywards Heath in the realm of internet marketing and SEO, which will involve article writing, blogging and learning the basics of HTML and SEO techniques. I’m very pleased, very excited and very relieved to have a job! I can honestly…
A quick blast of Teeline
Hello! Just a quick Friday treat today – a lot of people find this blog by Googling ‘how to write ___ in Teeline’, so I thought I’d post the responses to some of the most recent searches. Top row: light, baby, animal Middle row: hello, I love you, dog Bottom row: Teeline shorthand, question, this…
Portfolios and a major life change
Hello! Once again, I’m sorry for my absence, but I have the most legitimate reason of them all this time! About a week and a half ago, I was rushed into hospital, suffering from a severe form of diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), which led to a diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes. It’s the ‘unlucky’ type rather…
A wild laptop appeared!
Hello! So sorry for my absence, as per usual my laptop has been broken and has been ‘being repaired’ by the hopeless, incompetent fools at PC World’s KnowHow. The only thing they KnowHow to do is send back my laptop in exactly the same broken condition. We’re paying a FORTUNE for our laptops to be…
Working 9 to 5, what a way to make a living
Hello! I’m extremely excited today, because tomorrow I am heading back to London for a few days, where I will be doing some freelance sub-editing for four days with a financial services company near Regent Street. This is GREAT for me, as I missed out on a subbing work experience placement, and although it’s only…
Staying out for the summer
Hello! Apologies for being a horrendously poor blogger recently, and I don’t even have a real excuse for it. So just… soz. Since I last updated, I have had another piece in The Argus – in fact, the very same piece that was published in Sussex Society! I had no idea it was going in,…
Autumn appears
Hello! I’m really enjoying the appearance of autumnal chills in the mornings! Autumn has always been my favourite season, so I should start perking up a bit now the heat is dwindling! I hate to gloat, but I’ve had a great week at work experience. I’ve found that I really enjoy copywriting, especially as I’ve…
Kayleigh tries her hand at copywriting
Hello! I’ve just finished day three of my second work experience placement, and I’m LOVING IT. I’m doing some copywriting at a local design and marketing firm, and it’s been great so far. I’m allowed to express my creativity in my writing, which is nice, as I’ve been given full responsibility over what I write….
Experiencing even more work
Hello! So, my week at The Argus is over. I’ve had a few more pieces in the paper, and a couple more pieces are also online, such as this about university places, and this about a bus replacement taxi service. My double page spread should be in the paper on Tuesday, and I have a…
Work experience, where I have my own phone
Hello! I’m now on work experience at The Argus! The first thing I need to get off my chest is that I HAVE MY OWN PHONE. MY OWN PHONE. People can phone ME directly at The Argus. To speak specifically to me. On my number. On my phone. Oh my god. This brings with it…
I’m a golden girl!
Hello! Before you condemn what could be perceived as raging arrogance in the title, there is a legitimate reason for it… and glory hallelujah, I’ve reached the gold standard in the NCTJ (apart from the portfolio which isn’t in until December, but that should be a breeze)! For those of you who don’t know, the…
A journalist set free
Hello, Not much to report on the journalism front this week. I got the coveted C in my Reporting exam, so assuming nothing has gone disastrously in the Production exam, I should have my gold standard. Hooray! Sorry I’ve fallen off the radar a bit recently – I’m sad to have to report that my beloved rabbit,…
A reflection: The end of an NCTJ era
Hello! So, it’s my first day of ‘freedom’ so to speak. Last night we had our end of course meal and drinks which was LOVELY. I was a bit giddy with excitement beforehand, and it was a really fun night. John proposed a toast along the lines of “It’s been an absolute privilege” (Media Law…
They think it’s all over… because it is
Hello! IT IS THE END. We had our final subbing exam today, which went OK I suppose. I really can’t believe it’s over! I COULD be at the pub right now, but instead I’m trying to collate documents for my future landlord, which is JUST want I want to be doing. Tonight is our final…
The point where I’m in denial about the end of my course
Hello! It’s the penultimate day of my beloved, darling NCTJ course, and I’m revving up to go out… on a SCHOOL NIGHT. I have an exam tomorrow morning. Good god. Today we received our PA results and I managed to slip in with a cool 84%. Hooray! Clearly offloading all knowledge on a matter, relevant…
It’s the final humpday
Hello, I’m afraid you’ll have to bear with me a bit today as I’ve had a hideous few days, mainly due to the fact that I’ve been looking at jobs and it’s made me realise that the last thing I want to do is go back to uni to complete the degree I despise and…
PA-nic at the disco
Hello! I’m afraid anyone who assumed the title meant this post was about the band will be sorely disappointed. Soz about that. However, I really am PA-nicking now. Il y a beaucoup a faire. I’ve now revised everything in a huge revision blitz today, but I need to relearn lots of it, especially Europe, the…
Andrew Lansley, GREEDY, Andrew Lansley, TOSSER
http://youtu.be/Dl1jPqqTdNo Hello! I begin today with THE song of our course: Andrew Lansley Rap. It’s particularly topical right now, when we’re all feverishly revising PA for our exam next week. This week is a weird one. Tomorrow we have PA revision, followed by another session with feature writer John Jenkins on Thursday, and more PA…
The end is nigh
Hello! I’m feeling a bit odd at the moment, as the end of this course is hurtling ever-closer, and I feel quite sad about that. I’m really enjoying Production Journalism, and it’ll be really weird not spending every day with my coursemates. We’re currently planning an end of course meal, which seems to have come…
The momentous occasion where I passed 100wpm
Hello! In case you’re one of the 2% of the population I haven’t told, I passed my 100wpm shorthand exam (along with 100% in my 80wpm, but obviously that’s less interesting and relevant). I’m SO relieved and happy! Readers of this blog will know how many times I doubted that I’d be able to get…
Legal eagles, and other journalism exam matters
Hello! Today has been a very exciting day at Brighton Journalist Works. We’ve received our provisional Media Law and Court Reporting results, and I got an A in Media Law and a B in Court Reporting (a true Christmas miracle, given how hideous that paper was). In fact, I don’t want to say this myself, so…
Examination station
Hello! Today, we sat our Reporting NCTJ exam. I think it went alright, but there is quite literally NO way of telling how we did. It’s almost entirely down to luck as to whether we’ll pass or not. It didn’t feel disastrous, so we’ll see how that went in a month, I guess. We got our…
English Summer Rain
Hello! Any Placebo fans might recognise today’s title. It is, of course, a reference to the glorious weather we’ve had of late. (any non-English readers: it’s been torrential downpours and galeforce winds and flooding all the way, hahaha) You’re reading the blog of a very chilled journalist today. Yesterday, we had our shorthand exam. I…
Exams ahoy
Hello! Here’s some exciting (shocking) news for you – I passed my 60wpm shorthand exam! Hooray! This means that as long as I pass everything else (at whatever level), I’ll have passed my NCTJ. Again, hooray! Alas, I have to sit an 80wpm on Friday. I don’t feel ready at all! I keep getting most…
Happy Humpday!
Hello! Now before you ask what the title is about, it was inspired by this hilarious blog post. I’d only ever heard the term on Mean Girls before, but never understood what ‘Humpday’ meant… but I now know that it refers to Wednesday, i.e. the ‘hump’ in the middle of the week! Seeing as it’s a…
Testing times in Teeline
Hello hello! Happy news – my laptop has returned, and I now have a working left-click button (it’s only taken two years to get it fixed) and the ‘1’ key has been reattached (well, they replaced the entire keyboard actually), so I’m now fully connected to the internet again! Obviously I had the desktop computer…
How to learn shorthand in six weeks
Hello! Here it is, the shorthand post I’ve been promising! As you may recall, I’ve already posted about shorthand, ten days after starting the course. Now here we are, six short weeks into the course, and we’re finishing the theory of Teeline this week. Yes, that’s right, by Friday we’ll know all there is to…
A variety pack of thoughts
Hello! Some fun news today is that my studentbeans.com article is now live! It’s all about some new ideas for toast-toppers. I’m doing a fair bit for the student web world at the moment, what with being a studentbeans contributor, and I’m also signed up to write for Kettle, and I am also in the process of…
Hello Hygge 