The other day, someone asked me why I want to be a journalist. Of course, the first reason that sprung to mind was, ‘I love to write’. However, on reflection, I quickly realised it was about far more.
Journalism hasn’t always been a part of my dream, but storytelling has. Writing is woven into all of my earliest childhood memories: making up fairytales, emailing my mother chapters of ‘books’ I was writing at age 6. Even when I was dedicating my childhood and teen years to tennis, travelling to different countries and always on the road, I always had a pen and paper in hand. I’d write articles for an online sports magazine about the tournaments I won, and self-published an e-book about a tennis player. I suppose you generally write about what you can relate to… so I wrote about culture and travel, because that was all I knew.
I have always said I wanted to be a writer, but it was stepping into university that really kick-started my ‘career’ as a journalist. In my first year, I was just a ‘silly little fresher’, but I remember my enthusiasm about coming to my first ever section meeting, pitching ideas and constantly saying I felt like I was living my ‘Devil Wears Prada’ fantasy.
I would spend practically every day in the Hive (where the section meetings take place) and imagined I was working at Vogue. Any idea was an opportunity to write, so you’d often find me typing away anything and everything from travel to mental health, and, eventually, fashion. To this day, I still remember my excitement at seeing my first article in print – it feels so nostalgic!
In summer ’24, I got my first taste of the fashion world, attending Paul Costello’s London Fashion Week show and interviewing the designer of Tell the Truth. My eyes were opened into a new world of possibilities, realising the kinds of stories you could tell through design.
My second year saw me as Head Editor for Lifestyle; learning the ins and outs of SEO, editing, team leadership, and actually getting a taste for what a job like this could truly entail. I began networking and making more connections in the world of PR, was invited to write some brand-launch pieces, and continued dipping my toe more and more into fashion. My involvement in The Mancunion was starting to bridge that gap between the academic and professional world. That January, I spontaneously solo-travelled to Paris, interviewed a designer during fashion week, and, for my first time, began to tell the story of how fashion and politics can overlap.
As a politics and international relations student, I would say I’m quite caught up with global and current affairs. Having always been exposed to diversity (both my parents having migrated to the UK to work and having friends, through tennis, from all over the world), I’ve been saddened, like many others, to hear the hatred spurred by national and global disparity. Talks of people ‘stealing’ each other’s jobs and houses, for people to ‘go back to where they came from’. I hear less and less about the kinds of foods they eat with their families, what traditions they have upheld from their ancestors, and what different pieces of art or music mean to them. Story-telling. What makes people, people.
I decided I wanted to be a part of telling those stories again through my podcast, Behind the Scenes. My way of using my love for journalism to increase exposure to, and normalise, ethnic and cultural diversity. To tell stories of people’s lives from all over the world. To prove that no matter who you are or where you come from, you can achieve anything you set your mind to. To show we can all coexist.
So, I relaunched this in September 2025, and interviewed the likes of Tracy Chevalier, Andrew Coggins, Linxi Zhu, and more. I had always done a podcast since my A-Levels, but seeing the opportunities journalism could bring, the way it can be a part of bridging that gap, I wanted to use it as another medium to tell stories of diversity and inform the world of its importance. Without the Mancunion, the connections I had by this point would not have been possible, and I will be forever grateful for the doors it opened.
Now, more recently, I have just attended my third London Fashion Week, but this time on behalf of my podcast. I’m starting to get a taste for what this could look like when I graduate, and really taking the world of journalism into my own hands. I got to bring my friend, be creative with how I made the content, interview the designers, and I recognised a few familiar faces at the event. Essentially, the university paper has not only given me opportunities I could have never imagined, but the possibility to use what I love to be a part of something bigger: positive, impactful change.
I am extremely passionate about multiculturalism and diversity – it’s what I’m dedicating my dissertation to and love to harp on about on a day-to-day basis. Culture and stories are what make life worth living; it’s what creatives like Foday Dumbaya work to represent through his fashion designs, what musicians tell through their songs. Laura Weir (head of the British Fashion Council) couldn’t have put it better herself when she reminded us that fashion brings us many joys we take for granted in day-to-day life. Without it, we wouldn’t have music or film!
It was my mother who always encouraged my writing. She was a prime example of someone who was passionate about culture and stories, and not only encouraged me to write but also to learn. To learn about history and diversity… really, she inspired me just by being her. Now, one day, I hope to travel and tell stories from all over the world. To show that there is no one ‘right’ way to life. That we can actually learn from and appreciate one another instead.
I want to be a journalist, because it is honouring my childhood self. It’s living the dream of the girl who fell in love with The Devil Wears Prada when she watched it for the first time at age 7. It’s for the girl who was adamant that every house she went to look at with her parents had to have a spare bedroom. Not because she wanted a playroom or an extra room for clothes, but because it would be her ‘show studio’ to record in, just like the one she saw on ICarly. Most importantly, though, it’s for the girl who fell in love with writing and the impact it can have, thanks to her mother. Someone who, without realising, showed me the importance of diversity, culture, and always made me believe in myself.
I once heard the quote, “Your passion is what you love to do, and your purpose is using your passion to help others”. That’s what I want to do through my work: to tell stories and make the world a better place.
That is why I am a journalist.
