Scholarship /
"Journalism is my way to dedicate myself to society" [3]
This is my essay for a scholarship, I hope I can get some advice..
strong will to be successful
One word that stands out throughout my life is strong will. I believe hard work will make difference, because success for me is the process not only the results.
2015, my lecturer told me not to cover a story for my final assignment. Not because of the story not worth to cover, but because he feels that I was incapable to get expected results from the topic. He asked to look for another issue, and give it to him immediately. That year, he was asking me to stand next to him to tell my friends, how can I covered the president.
I can picture that day clearly. Someone grabbed my shirt when I break through the president barricade while I lifted up my tripod, with the camera already recording on top. Dozens of national and local journalist crowded, trying to get the president on camera. I pushed into the crowd and slipped between the cameraman. I couldn't move and not even sure if the video focused or not, I couldn't see the screen because of the sun right above me. We stand still for more than 30 minutes as the reporter asking questions about the inspection that day. I still trapped and hoping for my camera to record that moment, and then the journalist disbands as the president is gone. I was so grateful when I found my recorded video was vivid and focus. That day, I was waiting for seven hours just to make a final three minutes video, but that was one of life changed memory for me.
2016, my mother forced me to graduate immediately to take the upcoming civil servant test. She wanted the stable life for me. In another side, journalism is not but it has become the part of my life. Local media has become the biggest concern for me. Anyone in this field maybe wants to write interesting stories, interviewing famous people, or cover sensitive issues, but for me, journalism is dedication with integrity. And I am willing to dedicate my skill, my way of thinking for people in backward areas in Indonesia.
I try my best to be the person that deserved society trust. I sharpen my skill by the internship in local and national media without even paid, I volunteer to be editor in chief for local online media in my region, and make a magazine for my church. I do not want to be an ordinary journalist, who graduate school to sell their idealism and become the extension hands of the media owner or fooled by wrong propaganda. I saw local people in my hometown, they deserved more attention, but for news value, there is no interesting issue there. The saddest thing is that there is no interest in reading there. Even the local media that should play an important role, now has no fangs. This is not only in my area, but in a lot of area in Indonesia. I can imagine what they do not get and what they deserved. I want something to change.