The Deep End Diary (Entry #1)

How it feels to be a student again after two years in the dark.

I’m about two-and-a-half weeks into my Journalism honours degree at Wits, and I’ve never felt so simultaneously in and out of control. It’s a real relief to have some structure for the first time in ages, but I also can’t help but feel a little overwhelmed by the scale of the task ahead.

After an enormous administrative error delayed my graduation from the University of Pretoria, I’ve spent the past two years out in the real world trying to find some semblance of direction.

I worked on-and-off as a copywriter’s assistant, mainly conducting content research, but also making coffee. I spent months confused at a law firm doing the work usually reserved for prospective law student’s Winter Break internships. And most recently, I filled a position as a writer and knowledge management intern at a SMME consulting firm.

I don’t regret embarking on this, admittedly convoluted, path. It certainly taught me some valuable skills and helped me develop the work ethic required for my current enrolment. However, these jobs never truly prepared me for the level of self-responsibility that comes with pursuing your dreams.

Throughout my life, my ambitions have ebbed and flowed through the crests and troughs of my consciousness, leaving me at a loss for direction, whether due to lack of self-belief or concerns over real world practicality.

But deep down, I know I’ve always wanted to be a journalist. Nothing else has ever felt quite right.

That’s why, despite all the doubt and worry, I’m more than willing to dive headfirst into the unknown and join the incredibly new and wholly exciting world inside of and orbiting around the Wits Centre for Journalism.

University Corner building in the background, which houses the Wits Centre for Journalism on the 10th floor.

I’m already starting to feel right at home here at Wits, even with its lack of the almost plain-like terrain of my previous alma mater, which didn’t provide me with an unwarranted – albeit free – calf workout every morning.

I mainly have my lecturers’ and fellow aspiring journalists’ friendly and collaborative nature to thank for this at-home feeling. There may be a long nine or so months ahead of us, but I’m very eager to give it my all!

So, although it may feel like I’ve been thrown in the deep end, it’s probably the best thing that could have happened to me.

The first, of which I hope to be many, related songs that contain the word “deep” in the title, or have other deep adjacent connections that will accompany each Deep End Diary entry (there are more than you would think).

Elucidating the truth, in spite of the odds.

Tristan Monzeglio