Saying that Journalism is the easiest course on campus is likely to land the speaker in hospital, or less dramatically, earn him or her a severe tongue-lashing. Journalism students at Rhodes University are among the most stressed out people on campus, constantly walking up and down the hill to and from the Journalism Department.
One of the factors that makes Journalism and Media Studies at Rhodes University so challenging is the workload. In term four of our first year, students are required to create a blog. This is our assignment for the term. Now, while students in other faculties may see this as a fun and easy task, Journalism students know better. Hours and hours of time usually spent performing activities necessary for survival, such as sleeping or eating, are now used to meticulously polish up, check and re-check each and every one of the numerous assignments given to us weekly. The workload might actually be bearable, if Journalism and Media Studies was the only course we had. One look at the Week-By-Week Breakdown of the Term is enough to send any normal, sane person into hysterics.
Rhodes University is one of the country’s most prestigious universities. It has a sterling reputation and is world-renowned. This places immense pressure on students, especially Journalism students, as Rhodes is most well known for its School of Journalism and Media Studies, run by Guy Berger. The pressure lies in the fact that Rhodes’s name and standards must be upheld at all times. For first-year students, this is especially difficult as we are expected to adjust to a completely new way of life, as well as maintaining pleasing, acceptable results. Another reason Journalism is such a difficult course is the stress factor. Many students, myself included, are only at Rhodes University because of its excellent Journalism programme; if not for that, I would be attending the University of KwaZulu Natal, an institution that firstly does not offer a Journalism degree, and secondly is not as widely recognised as Rhodes. The stress of knowing that if I do not get accepted into JMS2 I have to go back to Durban makes the course I have chosen so much harder. This is because I know that all the hard work I have done this year could be wasted and all the aspirations I have could possibly be shattered with one decision.
The most significant reason, I think, that Journalism is not the easiest course on campus is the application. Other degrees and faculties do not require the students to apply to get into their second, third or fourth year of study. In most cases, just passing is enough to guarantee one a place in their desired class. Journalism, however, requires every student to apply to get into his or her next year of study. This is a daunting, terrifying task to most first-years as the application basically decides their future.
In conclusion, I would like to reinforce my opinion that Journalism is most certainly not the easiest course on campus. All the views expressed in this piece give evidence to the fact that Journalism is a challenging, tiring and very trying course. The words of John Pilger describe perfectly the role JMS students will attempt to play in the world, and this is a huge responsibility: “It's the journalist's job, first of all, to look in the mirror of his own society”.
Divania Timmal
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