Imagine yourself holding your regrets like balloons in your hand. One by one, release them into the air.
“You have to ask controversial questions, you’re not a PR person.” With that one line, it was enough to gauge how the rest of the journalism classes of that semester were going to proceed. Both the journalism professors assigned to us in the 3rd semester were experienced professionals with tons of experience pertaining to the media and the world in general.
If I were to describe what constitutes a ‘good’ college, I will always take into account the kind of professors and the way they teach as a deciding factor. The way one has been taught something will more likely be remembered better than what was taught.
Journalism classes stood out the most for me for all the semester at college. Whether it was discussing crime reportage or how to conduct a successful interview, I found almost every lecture extremely interesting. Semester three seemed like the most enriching and informative of them all. Classes with Mr. Ramesh Menon, an award-winning journalist were the most interesting ones. From teaching us the importance of detailed research, empathy, body language to the importance of travelling, each of his sessions made me surer of the subject I wanted to major in.
“There is a certain method to the madness”, our Journalism professor, Mr. Amitabh Dasgupta would often say while talking to us either about the various editorial policies of newspapers around the world or the functions of The Desk in a publication. He always laid emphasis on how reading isn’t enough and how important it is to interact with people because it is from people themselves that stories emerge along with new and hidden perspectives. They taught me the necessity of being media literate, which is reading and analyzing the messages that daily inform, entertain and sell to us.
Apart from being a rich source of academic knowledge, SCMC also tossed me into a whole new world filled with all different kinds of people. They aren’t all like me; they aren’t even all my age. I grew to appreciate and respect those amazing cultural differences. Further, it has taught me that life doesn’t hand you anything. Projects don’t fall on your lap, dreams just don’t happen. You have to work for things; you have to make things happen. Reach out, talk to people, connect and network.
Finally, I have learned that living with regrets is plain silly. We all have things that we wish we could change or that we wish we did differently but why carry around that heaviness? Imagine yourself holding your regrets like balloons in your hand.One by one, release them into the air.
Article by: Aroshi Handu (Batch of 2019)
Photograph by: Akhil Reddy (Batch of 2019)
