Stories

Jack–of– All Student Journalist

“I am not sure what comes next, nor am I sure what I plan to do, but to me the future seems unclear and I am not sure what I am going to become,” declares a “typical student” of SAIT.

When she started at SAIT, she was unsure of whether or not journalism was the right fit.

“I am an introvert, and I like to write. But I get bored very easily and dislike social interaction.”

In her first year in an actual program, she considered several different career paths until coming back to having a main interest in writing.

“I always wanted to write on the side. I thought that there wasn’t an actual career in writing. But I still wanted to do it.”

With “personal health issues” caused by stress during her first year, her original first year consisted of online courses mainly of the biological or medical variety.

While still in grade 12, she considered enlisting in the air force. But with concerns about “doing things without question like a mindless soldier,” and supporting something one doesn’t see a point in– that it wouldn’t have been a great fit.

Next, she thought of going into law. But upon finding that they would need a precursor degree, she decided to put the idea “on the back burner” to return to, at a future date.

After graduating, the class of 2017, she looked into the medical field – hence the medical related courses.

“As interesting as anatomy and biology are to me – especially the brain – I could never handle the hardships that doctors deal with on a daily basis and would become bored, if I was to be just a regular old family doctor.”

She always thought that she would someday pursue a job in the psychology field, because of a long-term obsession with the human brain and behaviour, most prominently body, language.

“When I was younger I wanted to be like ‘The Mentalist’ or like the guy from ‘Lie to Me’, which was based upon a man named Ekman. I even read some of his work. It is interesting.”

However, unless she wanted to go into research psychology, there would have to be a decision between psychiatry and psychology. Neither of which seemed appealing.
The plan was to decide on a degree they that doesn’t involve too much math, and had to do with something she liked.

“My hobbies include a wide variety. I have tried many things over the years to cure the boredom that is ADD.”

ADD, also known as attention deficit disorder– is a learning disorder that affects a person’s ability to focus for long periods of time.

Her hobbies have included, but weren’t limited to, reading, writing, drawing, singing, baking, cooking, swimming, sewing, knitting, art, poetry, psychology, research, anatomy and many other topics and activities.

“Most of the things I like to do can’t be turned into a career. But the ones that can aren’t enjoyable enough for me to stick to for that long. I always said I would some day get a double degree, so I don’t plan to settle for just a diploma.”

At SAIT, she has been investigating which two-plus-two program would be most suitable.

“I don’t want what I accomplish at SAIT to end up going to waste, I am aware I most likely will not become an actual journalist, but it is a good interim strategy to ‘get my feet wet’.”

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