BEGINNING OF A NEW CHAPTER

During my last year of University, I had the urge to do something different. The last thing I wanted to do was leave University and end up staying in London with a 9-5 job. I definitely wanted to take the route of Journalism but focus more on digital/social media. I’ve decided a long time ago that I want to steer away from the news industry for many reasons. However, at least with a journalism degree and the fact that I have this blog, I can continue writing as much as possible.

I’ve always had the urge to go travelling somewhere and so I started browsing the internet for fun experiences and job internships abroad. Believe it or not, I wanted to go to China or Nepal for a journalism internship and made that decision pretty quickly without thinking about it. I started talking to my mum about it and she was quite shocked that I was so eager to go. This was happening around March/April 2014. I was only a student with hardly any savings to go travelling. Now when I look back, it did seem quite impossible to do it and it was very spontaneous of me. But my mum had a better idea: “Why don’t you just go to Canada or America once you finish University and you can just stay there for a few months?” Seemed like a good holiday idea to me!

In May, I booked a ticket to go to Canada to visit my cousins, left in June and stayed there until September. It was my second time visiting Canada, I went back in 2005 with my family but didn’t do much as I was quite young. But this time, I had a blast. I fell in love with Canada. With Toronto. Within 3 months, I met some amazing people and it felt so good to be in a different place.

When I came back to the UK in September, I managed to start my first job a month later. I guess applying for jobs persistently over the summer while I was away came in handy. I only had one month to chill at home, get over my jet lag and prepare for my first job.

I currently work for a company that specialises in weekends away and I’m the website writer/editor. I managed their website, wrote content for over 50 pages, posted it all on social media, helped them rank up on Google and also wrote a blog post every week to help drive more traffic back to the website. As a journalism grad, this role is vital for my CV and I’m just trying to get as much experience as I can. It ticks all the right boxes on where I want to take my journalism career. It’s working online/ social media and I'm constantly writing. Check, check, check.

Saving up, trying to survive AND having a social life at the same time is actually a nightmare. I am the most irresponsible person when it comes to money. I don't even shop often. I spend a lot on food, if I'm being honest. Anyway, I had a very good feeling about Canada and somehow knew that I would end up there again.

I started researching about how I could do it - starting with a simple Google search. Oh how I love Google. I came across a programme called BUNAC, which helps people from the age of 18 - 30 get work visas and work in Canada, US, South Africa or AUZ. I was interested within 5 minutes of going through their website. I booked myself in for their talk in London, Victoria - just to give me that little inspiration boost that I needed.

By the end of that talk, I chose Canada without hesitation. And that's how it all started.