Zizipho Beshe

My craving to become a journalist was something that happened by chance. I had my mind set on studying drama for as long as I can remember and nothing else. The idea of journalism slowly crept up on me during my search for avenues to broaden my horizon but still within the entertainment industry and that would compliment my studies in drama. So naturally the radio and photography fields caught my interest as something worth investing my time and studies in.
Rhodes University was an absolute must because of amazing talent that its drama department had and has- dramatically it’s considered one of the best. I then soon found out that it was also considered to best university to study journalism at. I began communication with my cousin who has been a journalist for a number of years and he had nothing be great things to say about being a journalist, he even recommended Rhodes without knowing that I had already had my eye set on studying there. I took that as a sign that I was indeed going the right way. I then went on to converse about the idea of taking journalism with a family friend who had been in the field for over ten years. She absolutely loathed being a journalist; she said it was the most depressing field to go into because of the nature of journalism reflecting life. That once you are journalist you see life for what it really is, that statement still has me confused until now. She did how ever make an illustration about journalism that I will never forget she had said that journalism is like a tree rooted in life with many branches through which life is expressed. I think it was that illustration though I doubt it was her intended intention that influenced my decision to become a journalist the most. I wanted to express and reflect life- that is what made me fall in love with drama.
Having the power to reflect the very thing we as people strive to hold on to and find purpose in- LIFE! As this my fist year in journalism has progressed there have been days, weeks where I am just confused as to why I took it in the first place but I keep going back to that illustration to gain clarity on why I want to become a journalist.