Lent and the F.U.T.U.R.E

In three months I graduate from university. The plan for my life is to then get a job as a junior reporter, slowly climbing the ladder until someone lets me into Features and I eventually become an Editor. The reality is journalism jobs are dwindling, but more people are turning to it as a profession. Which means that for every job opening there are hundreds of applications. And much as I hate to admit it, my CV would not stand out.

So, I need a new plan for the future. And here's where my problem lies. There is a very good opportunity for a very good job as the Editor of the the university newspaper. I have been involved in the paper for two years now and the previous Editor told me I should go for it and at the time I really wanted to. But a year has passed since then, I've seen from the current Editor how much work the job is which i'm not sure it is the ideal job straight out of university.

I am also unsure I want to be an Editor, it was never part of my plan to do Editor first then go back to reporter. I'm not even sure that would be possible. I don't want to get pigeon-holed into an Editor position without ever having the experience of court reporting or a junior reporter. This is how people get their contacts and their tales and these are the experiences which shape you as a writer. I really don't want to miss out on that.

But the alternative is to get any job that will pay the bills and freelance until someone realises my potential which could be years and I might lose the thrill of journalism. Something else which I definitely don't want to happen. So i'm going to at least go for it- what's the phrase? "Throw my hat in"?

That was a whole lot of rambling for a decision wasn't it?!

Today is Pancake Day, so I had the customary body weight in pancakes, sugar and lemon juice. That makes tomorrow Ash Wednesday and the start of Lent. I've never been much of a Lent person. I don't have any addictions, nothing which I could really do with cutting out of my life so my usual Lent line is "I'm giving up giving up, i'm very good at it."

This year however i am partaking in Lent in order to help out a friend. My friend wants to quit smoking but he can never manage it. So my housemate and I have decided that we will give up baking and eating cakes, including doughnuts, if he gives up cigarettes. Nobody quite understands what cakes mean to us.

Almost every weekend since the beginning of third year we have made a cake. If we are bored, or meant to be working, or there is something to celebrate, we make a cake. It's not the face that we then eat them that is the hard part, I can cope with not buying a flapjack when I go to my Monday lecture. But baking is my stress relief and final year is a lot of stress!

In the next 47 days (Lent, it turns out, doesn't count on Sundays) I have four deadlines. So ordinarily that would be 8 cakes, one while reading and preparing, one whilst writing or finishing. So I am officially in the market for a new stress release. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Well, that's me for the night!

Gemma