The Rat Race

To have your future hang in the balance of a motivational letter...how would you feel?

Well this is the situation that I currently find myself in as I am applying for a place in Journalism and Media Studies 2 (JMS2). With the application due tomorrow my nerves are fried, my fingernails nonexistent and my hair starting to grey! Journalism was the biggest reason that I came to study at Rhodes University. I gave up a career in London to come back to South Africa and take a chance on my dream of becoming a photojournalist. Failure to get into JMS2 is therefore not an option, but unfortunately that does not stop the debilitating feeling of nervousness that I am experiencing. I’m staring at a blank screen wondering how you translate your feelings into golden words that will completely win over the selection committee. I wish there was a secret password or a magic wand that I could wave to ensure that I get though. It is so strange how all my friends that do not take journalism think that I am being overly dramatic and have nothing to worry about. My grades are good; I have all the necessary things like my shadow week report etc and I have participated in a student newspaper so why would I not get in. They don’t seem to get how stressful the whole process is and how my future at Rhodes actually hangs in the balance of whether I get into JMS2.

While chatting to a third year JMS student at lunch today, who has just applied for fourth year, I realised that I will be this stressed and nervous at this time every year as you apply for JMS every year. It is the only course at Rhodes that is an absolute rat race, for a lack of another way to put it. So I guess all that’s left for me to do is put on my running shoes and get on in there and face the blank screen.

Wish me luck!