Domestic Violence + Lent

*DISCLAIMER- This may offend the deeply religious among you, but it is just my opinion, so, sorry.*

In order to fully understand what I was undertaking by giving up cake for Lent I went off on the Internet in search of the basis for it. I have always been an atheist, reluctant to believe in anything bigger because I think that life is ultimately in our own hands and we make of it what we will.

Don't worry I know the basics- six days, day of rest, Jesus was born, there was a donkey, he died, he came back again etc, but Lent was one of the stories that I had never fully known. And for those of you that are in the same boat (surely i'm not the only one?!) here it goes...

Lent lasts for 40 days and 40 nights because that is how long it is said that Jesus spent wandering through the desert. So for 40 days and nights people are meant to give up something very tough for them so they can understand the trials and tribulations of being Jesus. Or something like that. Except, whatever we choose to give up we can indulge in to our hearts content on a Sunday because apparently every 7 days Jesus was allowed some water.

As i've made clear, i'm not all that religious, but I really don't understand this part of Lent. I can understand with Ramadan that they can eat once the sun has set because they have to eat. But the point of Lent is to understand the suffering and surely everyone would understand it better if they couldn't indulge in a sneaky cigarette at the end of each week?

So, for Lent, as some of you may have read, I am giving up cake and doughnuts, baking and eating. Which is a lot tougher for me than it sounds. But by my reckoning it's going to be very easy if I am allowed to bake and eat an entire cake each Sunday! So my house mate and I have agreed that we will not have cakes, even on Sunday. So we're actually going to have to go 47 days without cake. So technically, we're going to be better than Jesus yeah?

Unfortunately for me, Lent has come at a very bad time. In the next three weeks I have three assignments due which add up to almost 9000 words. And they are all Sociology so it's a lot of reading, a lot of understanding and not a lot of enjoyment on my part since I have completely lost the "buzz" for sociology.

I am currently in the middle of reading up on domestic violence and why it happens and if there is one thing you need after a day of reading about how "all men are potential rapists" it's a cup of tea and a slice of homemade Victoria Sponge. So, needless to say, i've been finding the challenge of Lent very difficult, especially since we have some cupcakes left over from our last baking session that I am not allowed to eat!

But I am determined to complete this challenge. I am well-known for being a person who gives up, unless it is something that i desperately want. For example, when i was 11 and had to choose which secondary school I went to I would only let my parents put one school on the list which was a grammar school, for which I of course had to pass an 11 plus to get into. But, because I wanted it badly enough, I did it and got in.

When it came to making the decision about what I wanted to be when I grew up, as the name of the blog suggests, I was determined that my future was in writing and journalism was the home for me. And here I am several years later, still holding on to that dream no matter how many people try to shake me off it!

Now, I may not have the same amount of determination about this cake business as I did about my education but I am determined enough that when a cupcake is waved in my face to say no (some people are as determined to see me fail!).

But it is only Day 2 so we shall see!!!

Gemma

Day One of the rest of my life!

Hello,

Technically this is not the first day of the rest of my life because i have been studying Journalism and Sociology (strange mix i know, i'll get onto it later) at the University of Salford for two years now and started my third year four weeks ago.

But in many ways this is the first day of the rest of my life because this blog will be updated daily, no matter what i have been doing. I have found in the last four weeks that i have done something towards becoming a journalist every single day and so it seemed an appropriate time to start a blog all about my journey along the road towards becoming a journalist.

So, as the title suggests, many people wonder why i have chosen a career that is often low-paid, gets little recognition unless you are either extremely talented or extremely opinionated and is one of the most hated professions in modern times. Well, unfortunately i cannot say that i am extremely talented; talent comes with experience and i have little in real terms, nor am i extremely opinionated. Opinionated yes, but not extremely. Not yet anyway!

The answer is simple- when other teenagers were outside riding bikes around the local park and playing kiss chase (i only played once and knocked my two front teeth right out, never again!), i was sat indoors creating a newspaper all about 'So Little Time'- Mary-Kate and Ashley Olson's attempt at teen drama before they became real teenagers and truly discovered the opposite sex! I have always loved to write. Of course, at the age of 13 i was adamant that i would write the next Harry Potter and would be insanely rich by the age of 21. I am 21 now and still waiting for the insane richness to kick in! I had a momentary lapse of judgement at 14 when i decided i wanted to be an air stewardess but it was short-lived when i was told i would have to study French and German at GCSE level. Never going to happen.

So i reverted back to my roots of writing. And it hasn't really stopped since. Reading and writing has been my escape from an otherwise mundane life so when the careers advisor asked me what i wanted to do with my life the obvious answer was writing. She soon set me straight about my chances of writing a best-selling novel before leaving school but lead me to journalism courses.

I chose Salford University because it offered Shorthand as part of the course (of course i didn't realise that was only if i did Journalism as a straight course) and the rest, as they say, is history! I chose Sociology because i had done at A-Level- there were no other viable options for me to pick in all honesty- and discovered i was actually quite good at it. So i figured why not continue being good at it? Turns out sociologists blame most of society's problems on media saturation and sensationalism, hence the clashing course but i have not been perturbed and stuck with it.

And so we come to now. I am in my third year. I have studied reviewing, public relations, feature writing, news writing, music journalism and journalism in the context of everyday life. I am also in the process of learning everything i need to know to take my NCTJ's (National Council for the Training of Journalists exam), including a whole new language in Shorthand. I am Features Editor of the university paper- Student Direct: Salford Edition- for the second year running, i contribute regularly to www.unitown.co.uk and now i have this blog, as well as my modules for my final year.

But it keeps me busy, on my toes and prepares me for the real-life, day-to-day schedule of a journalist so i am very happy. There isn't a day goes by where i don't do something towards being a journalist so everyday i will tell you what i did that day. You'd be surprised how much work goes into saying how you feel about something!!

Over and out for now!!

Gemma