Living at home at 21 is a strange situation to be in as I very much feel like I have regressed to being a child again. Although there are benefits to this- I get my washing done for me, I don’t have to worry about cooking meals (and as a result, my diet has very much improved since the carb-centric, low vegetable diet of my student days)- at the same time my independence has been quashed by having to let my parents know when I’m going to be in for dinner and being reliant on them for lifts anywhere etc. Much of this is my own fault though, and I think subconsciously I let this happen as I quite like the fact that I don’t have to grow up and face the big scary world yet or take on any kind of real responsibility.
Despite feeling like a child, I am also suffering the paradox of feeling old before my time. Having moved from the lively and multicultural London where I was a student, back to my very white, middle class home town of Harrogate in North Yorkshire, I am very aware of what I am missing as a result of leaving the Big Smoke. In London, you can do something different everyday if you want to; there are always little markets to discover or clubs to go to. In my opinion, it is the best place in the world. Harrogate on the other hand is a very quiet town. Lovely for bringing up children, but hardly banging on the entertainment front. As a result, I have taken up hobbies more suitable for the 50+’s, than 21 year olds. I have almost finished knitting my first scarf and on most of my days off, can be found baking (I make a mean carrot cake, that’s for sure).
If truth be told, part of me has taken up these hobbies because I secretly hope that Kirstie Allsopp, of 'Location Location Location' fame, might find out about my hidden talents and offer me a job as her researcher. This is what I want more than anything. Not necessarily a job with Allsopp (although if you are reading this Kirstie, I am available to start immediately), but any job in the media. I know I have said that I am jobless. This is not strictly true. I do have a full time job. I work in a department store as a sales assistant. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a good job- the people are lovely, it stops me getting bored and its allowing me to save money for the trip that I am taking next year (I have no idea where this trip will be yet, or for how long, but I keep telling myself that I will take some sort of trip so that this year out I am taking will not have been for nothing). The problem is, this job won’t really have any long term benefit for me: I don’t want to pursue a career in retail. What I really want is to work in radio, or some form of broadcast journalism. I realise that this is a highly competitive industry to break into and as a result, this year out is also supposed to be a time for me to gain some work experience. This is proving very difficult.
Whilst at university I volunteered at a hospital radio station which was quite possibly some of the most fun I have ever had. Consequently I thought I would apply to volunteer at hospital radio here in Harrogate, but since first applying back in September, I am still no closer to making it into the studio. With so many hurdles to overcome- character references, police checks, waiting lists- it makes it nearly impossible to do this good deed! I have tried to remain positive, sending enthusiastic emails to the organiser about how keen I am to get started. However, I don’t think she took them as enthusiastic, rather annoying and as a result I have probably been pushed to the back of the volunteering queue!
Daddy dearest also came up with the very good idea of starting a podcast. At the moment podcasting is becoming a very popular way to break into the broadcast journalism world, so a friend and I decided to have a bash at one ourselves. How hard can it be? This idea was born approximately two months ago, and despite regular meetings to discuss it at the beginning, we are still yet to record one. New idea needed.
This blog, therefore, is another desperate attempt to do something that might get me noticed by some important people in the media world. I know it is highly unlikely that this will happen, but if nothing else, it lets me get things off my chest. And in the meantime, I can always hope…
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