Carolyn Waudby; My Life As A Journalist.
Carolyn Waudby didn't always know she wanted to be a Journalist, her chosen degree in French Studies at Manchester University shows that. When choosing her degree, she picked a subject she most enjoyed. Carolyn is now fluent in French, although hasn't used it to her advantage in the world of Journalism.
Carolyn's primary motivation for becoming a journalist was based on how she loved to write. She wanted a varied job, one which isn't structured nine until five everyday. The unpredictability of Journalism is what caught her eye. A week after her MA in Creative Writing degree finished, she was lucky enough to get a job in Journalism as a columnist. After becoming a columnist, Carolyn decided to work freelance. Carolyn talks about the great benefits and freedom of becoming a freelance Journalist, yet it causes a major strain on finances. Carolyn carried on writing poetry, but then also decided to work as a Lecturer at Sheffield Hallam University, after much previous teaching experience. Carolyn enjoys the creativity side of teaching, and also enjoys working with young people.
At the moment, poetry has taken a back seat, and her focus is on teaching journalism, and travel writing, a keen passion of Carolyn's. It was a financial advisor friend that helped her see instead of going into debt for travelling, do the two things you love most: travelling and writing. This inspired her to set up a Cafe Blog, which you can find on her blog; 'Travels With A Pen'. Carolyn has already lived a year in France, and travelled in summers in America and Germany. She wants to carry on expanding her Cafe Blog, however would rather it stay an enjoyable hobby, rather than it being a job to her, something which she fears for, with the amount of interest she has had from Independent Cafe's asking for reviews.
Carolyn has been lucky enough to travel to many cities across the world. Her favourites being Paris, of course with the association of Cafes, Havana, and Lisbon. Both due to the energy vibes and also the cultural mix and architecture it has.
When asking Carolyn what was the most interesting article she has covered, without any hesitation, she stated it was the cover of the Pakistan flood disaster, which she won a Newspaper Society award for. This took so much funding, which she did all herself and achieved very well.
Carolyn believes the hardest thing about being a Journalist would be having to pitch an article. Its a tough, yet necessary task. Carolyn's only regret would be that she wasn't more confident when she was younger, and hadn't gone for bigger opportunities. She has never planned her career. “Who knows what's around the corner...I'd rather wait and see”. Carolyn would still love to write a novel, amongst many other ambitions.
As for what's next? A project next year on Falkland Islands. Carolyn is excited for this, especially as its where her parents met and where she was conceived. She is intending to write about the sea, islands, and everything associated with them.
Alongside this, Carolyn will continue her teaching, poetry, travel blog, and maybe get around to writing that novel. If only there were more hours in a day.
