Starting my career: Day 1

Today, I begin my first full-time job. Here are some reflections and some predictions.

Almost 18 years of school and three years of university-level journalism later, I'm sitting in my living room, only a few hours before my first full-time job begins. It's not what I imagined this year to be, nor what I imagined my summer after getting my degree to be, but maybe that's what makes it that much more exciting.

2021 was supposed to be the year I travelled. I would complete my year abroad in Australia, then finish with a 1st class degree, and follow my passion to communities in North Africa and the Middle East. I was going to finally put my intermediate level Arabic to the test, and follow in the footsteps of Marie Colvin and Frank Gardner. In their time, they threw themselves into the zones that they wanted to soon become experts in and became some of the best journalists we've ever seen.

But Covid-19 hit, and like many people — my plans were derailed. So I finished my degree early and took to applying to over 30 jobs. While my part-time job this year was good, I'd had to quit to focus on my degree, and realised that I wanted a new challenge come summertime.

Starting today I'll be working as a trainee news reporter for the Global Competition Review. I'm nervous and I'm excited. It's taking me back to years of back to school days, and my first day of university. The feeling of butterflies caged in my tummy that never seems to have left.

When I got the news of the job, I was with friends in Brighton. I'd come to peace with the job search and was ready to take a break over the summer before returning to it in September. But this changed everything. It still meant getting to see the family in Italy and getting to detach completely from my hardcore work mindset, but it meant a shorter holiday — and it meant no more relentless job searching.

My graduation is officially on Wednesday, which means that, technically, I am one of the lucky few who is in full-time employment before they've even graduated.

But I know that getting here is only half the battle. I'm going to have to bring it my all. Use every bit of learning I've garnered from my years at university and school, and apply them to every news story and every meeting that comes my way.

I don't know what awaits me today, or this week, but I do hope that on Monday 2 August, I'm just as excited and eager to be where I am as I am today. Here's to new beginnings, and here's to the start of a successful career.