”SAJ gave me everything – the most professional trainers, the best practices, and especially a job”

The School of Advanced Journalism came at the right time. After three years of study in an area that I felt wasn’t mine, in the summer of 2012 chance made me come across an announcement in Facebook about the School of Advanced Journalism enrolling new students. Unlike other people, I have never before heard of SAJ, but intuition told me that it was exactly what I needed. I registered for SAJ nearly at the last minute, and at the interview I honestly … made no impression.

However, from the very first days the School taught me the best practices, made me feel equal to the students who already had some experience, because SAJ raises standards.

I still remember trying to write my first material. We went to a boring conference at the Academy of Sciences and then we had to write a news story. There was chaos in my head, I didn’t know where to start and how to finish. And a trainer also said: “You know, a news story can have several leads, depending on what you want to emphasize.” I thought: “What does he want from us?” However, I had enough enthusiasm and desire to work. And the School managed to teach me the craft, because trainers weren’t telling us things from books, but were sharing with us their experience. Also, fieldwork felt as if we were thrown into water without knowing how to swim, but we still managed to save ourselves because they gave us all we needed.

I can say that the SAJ gave me everything – the most professional trainers, the best practices, and especially a job at one of the best media outlets. Now, television runs through my veins, and I don’t see myself doing anything else. And when action is taken and problems are solved after the materials I made are aired, there is no stronger motivation to continue.