And We Are Live...

My MMP is now uploaded and available to read. I'm not sure how to feel! All of my hard work is now on a webpage and I feel a little relieved. But how did my little plan turn into a finished project and what have I learned?

I couldn't have imagined in September that I would have the finished product that I do now. I had my aims and my hope for interviewees but I actually didn't have massive amounts of faith that I'd be able to turn them into a reality. If you'd have told me in September that I was going to interview Rugby legend Rocky Clark, Red Rose's captain Marlie Packer and superstar Ellie Kildunne I wouldn't have believed you. As much as interviewing these people was an incredible experience for me as a rugby player it is also so incredible for me as a journalist.

Now - I know I am tooting me own horn just a little but interviews have always been the thing I struggled with in this course the most (I know shocker right - its a journalism course and thats basically the main part!). Give me an AC90 and I can set it up in a minute or ask me to take some shots for an article - no problem but interviews... I've always found them tricky. Tracking people down that don't seem to want to talk to you - I've always found that daunting. Then trying to answer questions without stuttering and being nervous... I'm even worse. When you consider this and then imagine me trying to interview someone I genuinely look up to, I was very very nervous.

But this project as hard as it has been, has improved my interview skills so so so much! At the start I was a bit nervous and messy but by my last few I barely bat an eyelid. I felt like I could walk into the media rooms at the sports matches I attended without feeling like I didn't belong.

Fairly near the beginning of th project on my first day of filming I remember saying to my friend "what if people think I don't know what I'm doing?" I quickly realised that it didn't matter and that was the whole point. If I didn't practise I would never find it easy. By the end when I returned to StoneX stadium for a second time I knew that I knew what I was doing.

When I interviewed Marlie Packer in the media room at StoneX that day I was interviewing her with a room full of journalists working behind me. When I asked a particularly good question Marlie even said "And the room goes quiet - they're all thinking go on Packer what are you going to say to that!" A journalist behind me then said "I really want to know the answer." Although it was a small moment it made me feel like I was doing everything right.

That said I am sure I still have a lot to learn and I'm looking forward to the rest of my final year and just how far it can push me.

I hope you all enjoy reading my article - thank you for following along.

Darcy