This is a guest post by Monique Jones, owner/webmaster of Moniqueblog an alternative entertainment site focusing on how movies, comics, and cartoons can teach tolerance and acceptance of others.
Being 22 isn’t as mind-blowing as I thought it would be. Although, I don’t think being 22 in real life is the same as how 22 looks on television shows and movies.
In the movies, 22 looks very glamorous, especially if you are watching one of those chick-flick movies where the main character is the editor or intern at a leading Manhattan fashion magazine. Eighty percent of the time, the aforementioned intern or editor is, for some reason, barely doing any work, which is completely unrealistic if you’re actually going to be in the journalism field. Most of the time, they’re given some task that involves going to high-end shops, buying expensive clothing, dressing fashionably, and going for drinks at ritzy places. Meanwhile, we never see that intern or editor actually write anything. Who’s going to write the articles? The magazine won’t write itself?
One thing these movies and shows don’t do, at least most of the time, is show how that intern or editor got to where they ended up. None of this happens overnight, and especially not through magic. It takes months or years sometimes to get to where you actually want to be in life. Take, for instance, me, a journalism student at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
All journalists go about getting jobs in different ways, but if you’re like me, 22, a journalist looks like this: I’m finishing out my last two classes before graduation while staying at home with my family (I’ve never gotten into the hang of staying in the dorms). I’m on the computer most of the time, either looking for a job, writing freelance articles (like this one!) and articles for my own website (moniqueblog.net), and figuring out different ways to network with the big fish in entertainment. Meanwhile, I’m listening to movie and TV podcasts, watching Dancing with the Stars on Monday and Tuesday, Project Runway and On the Road with Austin and Santino on Thursday, and CNN every day. I go to school (both physically and online), take tests, watch movies (I’m minoring in film studies), and come back home. And then the week starts all over again.
I’m not sure if any of that sounds depressing, but there is an upside; if you’re like me, you’ve had some jobs fall directly into your lap. A friend of mine asked me to be the Editor-in-Chief of her developing magazine, and another friend of mine, a friend I used to write for on his website, offered me a position as a freelance writer in the business where he was employed. And by sheer will (and emailing), I’ve negotiated some interviews with people in entertainment that I never thought I’d be able to talk to, much less include in my LinkedIn connections. And Warner Brothers added my site to their Entertainment Affilate Program, which allows me to get free movies.
However, those jobs that seem like they fell in my lap came from a lot of hard work and diligence. As I said, I’ve written for that friend who recommended me for the freelance job. My work on my own site, as well as my former career at the college paper (which included being Editor-in-Chief), made my entrepreneur friend realize that I might be a good fit for her project. And by putting myself out there, even without name recognition, contacts, or any friends in high places, I was able to prove that I have grit and gumption, thus landing me some of those aforementioned interviews. And being kind and courteous doesn’t hurt matters.
Basically, there is a lot more to being a young professional than some movies and television shows will let on to the viewer. It took a lot of work and time before my site got to where it is now. When I first started working at the college paper as a writer, I had to work there for a year for free. And even now in freelancing, a lot of work and tracking down is required to keep the ball rolling. There is a lot of reward that comes with the effort, but unlike what a lot of entertainment wants you to believe, working is…well, hard work.
Monique Jones is currently a senior in Journalism at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She is the owner/webmaster of Moniqueblog, an alternative entertainment site focusing on how movies, comics, and cartoons can teach tolerance and acceptance of others. She is also a freelance writer who writes a column about what comic books can teach young girls for Goodkin, a family-oriented website, as well as writing copy for many businesses throughout the Southeast.
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