Wrapping it up...

Rose coloured glasses

Born in Africa, I migrated to Australia over half my life ago. It has not really been until recently though that I truly understood why the move was initiated, what my mother meant about, liberty, free speech and equality for all. It often seemed idealistic and devoid from the reality, as if she was looking at the world through the proverbial rose coloured glasses if you like, seeing life as it should be, not as it was.

Free Speech

This course “An Intro to Journalism” has been such a revelation for me. The pursuit not only of free speech, but the freedom to think and act as you wish (albeit within the confounds of the socially acceptable norm’s which protect and respect human dignity), have become so much clearer. The understanding of the importance of the Forth Estate in the balance of power and the support of  peoples rights are a far cry from the Kony’s, Mugabe’s, Idi Amin’s and Gadaffi’s of the world where the expression of free thought would more likely see one arrested and thrown into detention for treason than hailed as a giant of free speech. 

The clarity, to see the wonderful people like Mandela, who risked all to free his people and embraced all people as his own resonate with the philosophies of Gandhi, The Dali Lama and Martin Luther King.

 

The Soap Box!

I am so privileged that Australia has provided that clarity for me, that sense of what is fair and just and what equality stands for and this course ‘ Journalism 1111’  has given me the voice I needed to express it.

LIGHTBULB Moments...

As a new undergrad just out of high-school, the transition into the realm of tertiary education has been daunting. Add to this a dual degree in Science / Journalism and Fear Factors got nothing on the autonomic response in my body; generated by fear, panic and just a degree of self doubt.  Sweaty palms, racing heart beats and the feeling that one stands not so much on a precipice of ones future but at the base of a significantly daunting Everest , Eiger, Alps or the like. 

It has been though, threw the enlightenment received from lectures and tutorials during this first semester, that slowly I have felt that it is possible for me to stand on the shoulders of giant and see into the future; that my dream to become a wildlife reporter, is possible. That every day the knowledge that these giants impart and make available to us, are but building blocks for our dreams and aspirations. Never before though in 12 years of primary and secondary tuition, have I ever in my life realized the significance of the phrase:

                                                                 “KNOWLEDGE IS POWER”

...because it is through knowledge that I may one day be one of those giants that swoop down to empower those coming behind. In the mean time my journey seems less daunting and I am so grateful for the wisdom I have gained. Some of this knowledge gleaning must truly have been by osmosis, diffusion or Immaculate Conception because at 2am in the morning trying to meet deadline after deadline, I often wondered if any of the gems of knowledge would be retained. Surprisingly they have; the seeds of comprehension have been sown, the desire to absorb more and more and to grow in the shadows of the giants seems attainable and the dream which once balanced precariously on the cliff of self doubt now lives in the aspirations of who I wish to become.

Carpe diem

-Lecture 13

Your Big Opportunity may be right where you are now!

 -Napoleon Hill

Challenging the Norm

The stereotypical image of the traditional journalist, pen and notebook in hand in hot pursuit of the BIG story is about to be challenged…………………  

Bring on Steve Molk; the couch surfing, goggle box watching blogger who unpretentiously admits to a ‘meager’ 1.5 million hits a month to his site. More than that, these viewers are actually interested in hearing and reading what he has to say! This opposed to the multitude of passive audiences who just zone in and out of radio programs on the car audio system while driving to and from work not really engaging with the content. There’s nothing passive about 'MolksTVTalk' readers, his Blog relies on people logging on to the site or downloading the pod-cast – This is active audience engagement if ever there was, and maybe they enjoy the content, embrace the humour or just get a kick out of the quirkiness of it all – what ever the go – they’re looking for it and loving it!

Molk the Blog Master

If that’s not contrary enough it appears according to this successful and inspirational Blog Master that we as undergrad students, aged anywhere from 17years old and upward have the potential to formulate and build our own BRAND now! Steve himself has only been active in the industry for a mere 18 or so months and has not only created for himself a huge posse of in excess of 13 000 followers but guests himself out on radio talk shows several times a week – Amazing or What?

The great thing about blogging is that the author writes the story and has control over it…sure the ‘death of the author’ still exists as with all writing (when the public access it and interpret it as they will, they feed back on it, give it meaning and new angles) but hey – its instant access to a global forum, it can be specifically aimed at the targeted sub cultures one desires, and blogging is BIG business let alone BIG News.

Creating opportunity for personal growth by making oneself more multi media competent, appears to be one of the fundamental key criteria to success – keeping abreast of all new media forms and always providing ones work in online formats, makes portfolios accessible to a vast audience, instantly. After all, it only takes one success to go viral. There may never be as great an opportunity for our success, than this moment in our time;

Carpe diem  / Seize the Day -  Y'ALL!

Its time to start blogging, tweeting, casting and write, write, write.

There’s no reason according to Molk that we, the budding future Jurno’s of tomorrow should not be establishing ourselves as forces to be reckoned with in media circles long before we graduate…. Bring on the Mark Zuckerburg Paradigm shift.

LIGHTBULB Moments...

I learnt a little bit about ‘Designer Babies’ in Biology this semester and it got me thinking about what the future will bring in terms of genetic selection BUT before I  go into more detail, I’ll give you a little background information…

On July 25, 1978, the worlds first ‘test tube’ baby was born and since then an exponential increase in assisted reproductive technologies has occurred, giving hope to the 1 in 3 couples globally who suffer from infertility. As processes became more advanced, procedures such as PGD (Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis) were established and the age of designer babies was ‘born.’

When PGD was first performed in 1989 it had the potential to diagnose over 200 diseases; latest research indicates that its potential as a genetic screening tool has doubled in recent years. PGD, which can be performed in conjunction with IVF (In Vitro fertilization) is used to test embryos for  inherited genetic disorders as it establishes the genetic makeup of the embryo.

Also used for aneuploid testing, this form of genetic screening can establish the gender of the embryo. Gender selection was established to exclude many of the sex linked diseases for example; hemophilia and some muscular dystrophies, currently however there is an increasing public demand to use this procedure to select the preferred sex of  babies. PGD for gender selection on the basis of choice was discontinued in Australia in 2005, following a release issued by the Australian Health Ethics Committee. 

Now, I hope you can see why this got me thinking!! Well this... and the fact that I watched the 1997 film “Gattaca”- "A science-fiction film set in the near future".

Gender selection has already moved passed its purpose of selecting against sex linked diseases, as people are now using it to create their perfect family. Just recently, Victoria "Posh" Beckham used PGD so that she could have the baby girl she always wanted! Now I’m not saying gender selection is a bad thing but when does society draw a line. Research is already being conducted into using PGD to determine phenotypic traits (physical characteristics), this means in the ‘not to distant future’ there lies the possibility of selecting the colour of your babies eyes, hair, skin and maybe even athletic abilities. 

The 'science-fiction' and futuristic world of Gattaca may not be as far fetched as we all may have imagined and perhaps not fiction at all…

LIGHTBULB Moments...

Fear is a negative emotion, it breads insecurity and it breeds self-doubt. In comparison I choose to embrace two, far more positive facet’s which will underpin my success, those are; a sense of belief and secondly the ability to imagine.

Albert Einstein who discovered the theory of relativity wrote that….

“Imagination is more important than knowledge. For while knowledge defines all that we currently know and understand, imagination points to what we might yet discover and create”

…and that more importantly incorporates the discovery of oneself and the ability to imagine the enormity of ones own potential.

Now just believing you are successful wont automatically make it so; my achievement in Chemistry is proof enough of that, in fact…I am still at a loss at why the intermolecular forces between neighboring polymers cause various properties within a bouncy ball!

Sometimes though, the lessons of defeat point you more forcefully towards legitimate success. Even if it is time to; “Just, Get Over It!” and I sincerely thank Mrs. Pringle (my chemistry teacher) for that valuable life lesson! As obstacles are indeed there to get over, to go round, to minimize; in order to keep moving towards your goal. If you can’t change it, change it to your advantage, but …never...ever… stop believing in your own ability to endure.

Know this… that, what you believe about yourself will have far more bearing on your life than what others believe about you.