Bigger and better than Crohn's Disease

This morning I saw a trending post on Facebook and I couldn't help but write about it. It was an article from the Independent about a young man called Ste Walker who suffers with Crohn's disease. Many of you do already know, but for those of you that don't, my boyfriend and best friend Sam suffers with the disease. Luckily, Sam's condition doesn't seem as severe as Ste's, but of course, all his struggles are relative to him.

Sam was diagnosed earlier this year, however it was something that we knew had been happening for a while - he now manages his condition with a hefty amount of tablets and has just finished a course of steroids. His steroids have given him bad skin and he has a very weak immune system, meaning that small cases of what we'd see as a bit of a cold, can really affect him and make him ill.

Now - if you met Sam, you would have no idea that this was all going on inside of him. Although he is 23 next week, he is often referred to as "the man-child" for being so hyper and upbeat so unless he comes out and tells you (which he does tend to, as he's quite open about the disease), then you probably would never guess.

Talking to someone everyday, you don't really see the effect that the disease is having on their body, but when I look back to pictures of him at his worst, when he couldn't eat properly and was under 10 stone - I can really see how ill he was.

If I'm honest, I find Sam's disease hard to understand - I'm ashamed to say that sometimes I'll forget and get frustrated if he's too tired to do something or if he's being short tempered with me and it has really tested our relationship. But I always make it clear that he knows that no matter what happens, I'm always here for him - because if I find it difficult to understand, one of the people closest to him, then how can we expect others to? It doesn't matter how much literature I read on the subject or how much people try and explain it to me, Crohn's is a disease that is very hard to understand if you're not going through it. Which I assume is true for many 'invisible' diseases.

There is a very strong link between Crohn's and depression. This is for many, many reasons. The disease can give you extremely painful stomach cramps - making day to day activities difficult such as simply going to work or even leaving the house. This can leave you feeling not only in pain, but helpless - 'normal' people can go to work and go out with their friends with no problem, so why can't you? It doesn't seem fair. It's important that anyone with an 'invisible' disease knows that it's not invisible, people do care and understand and they do want to help you and make you feel better.

A lot of Sam's friends are at University and a few of them have just left for 6 months in Australia and so he feels as though there's very little to do with his time - although he's played football pretty much all his life, even that can be difficult. I know this gets him down, but luckily he has incredibly supportive family and friends, although they may not always be around, myself included. He probably wouldn't say it to many people as he likes to come across as the happiest guy around, but in reality, he's not necessarily. He has good days and bad days, luckily the good outweigh the bad. However, it's important to remember that what's going on, on his face is not always exactly how he feels and we need to be mindful of that. 

Later this year (or it could be next year, I'm not sure!), he has signed up to do two marathons in two days in order to raise money for Crohn's and I think it's very important that we all get behind him. It's something that has affected his life in a way that he never could have anticipated and it's something that anyone can develop; there's no known cause or cure.

Reading Ste's story this morning really hit home because although it's hard and it doesn't make Sam's struggle any less of a struggle, you can see that it is not as bad as it could be. I wish Ste all the best on his journey as I know that he is probably going through some very similar experiences to Sam. Something I know too well. 

Although it has strained our relationship in the past, it is part of who Sam is and it has made him who he is. I wish I could make his life easier and make it go away, but I wouldn't change our experiences. I believe that everything happens for a reason and Sam is dealing with it incredibly. He is such a strong person and I love him for it.

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/ste-walkers-facebook-post-about-living-with-crohns-disease-is-shared-more-than-33000-times-a6720451.html

Just doing my Best - My day at the Sky Academy

Long time no speak! I haven't blogged in a month as apparently University gets harder the longer you're there. Meaning that I have much less free time and when I'm not reading articles on Colombian Paramilitary Demobilisation or chapters regarding the Speech Act Theory, I do try to maintain some sort of a social life. However! Something has happened to me in the last week that I couldn't possibly go without blogging about!

Last Tuesday I took a trip down to London to take part in the Journalism Insight Day at the Sky Academy. For those of you who know me, please be extremely proud that I managed to get there and back safely. I got on all the right trains at the right times and I didn't even get lost (bravo, bravo).

When I arrived at Syon Lane station, I wasn't entirely sure what to expect. Rather than being nervous I walked into the room feeling excited, open-minded and ready to take whatever the day threw at me. The room was welcome, the staff open and the other young people and fellow students were exactly like myself.

It was refreshing to be around ambitious, like-minded people, people who I could definitely envisage in the competitive industry of broadcast journalism.

Firstly, we were sat down and told that we were very privileged to be there, as there were so many applications and so very few places. I couldn't help feeling extremely proud of myself, and the day had barely begun! After being told what to do in the event of a fire and various other formalities, we were given a talk from the legend that is Jim White. He told us riveting stories about his career to date and gave us his invaluable advice which stressed two main points - get contacts in the industry and learn shorthand. This was particularly useful information to me; it further consolidated my knowledge that in the industry of journalism it's ok to be bolshy, to build friendships and ask for phone numbers/emails and it also informed me for the first time that shorthand was an incredbly useful skill that could put you a cut above the rest.

(image from http://www.mainlinemenswear.co.uk/blog/2014/january-transfer-window-round-up)

The day continued with talks from Martin Stanford, Laurie Tucker and Mike Kumar - a deputy news editor. Martin highlighted the vast change in journalism with the growth of technology and reminded us that the industry we were looking at that day could change as quickly as overnight. They then led a workshop in which we created a 'mini news show'. We had to write headlines, an introduction, a piece to camera and then decide in which order the stories would be told. A challenging, but fun activity that was highly interactive and got those of the group who may have been slightly more quiet, right in the spotlight.

After lunch we were taken on a tour of the studios which was absolutely breathtaking. The feeling of being in a newsroom was indescribably exciting and (if it's at all possible) made me even more ambitious than I already was! This was followed by another talk concerning internal communications and more active workshops which taught me much more than I could ever learn sat in a lecture theatre.

The day was wrapped up with a "speed networking session" in which we met and talked to many people who worked in all different positions within Sky. They told us a great number of things about their careers and gave us advice on how we could enrich our own. The main thing that I took from this exercise was that education is important but experience is crucial. In order to succeed, we need to put ourselves out there, make our names and go from strength to strength as no one can or will do it for you, but you.

And this goes for anything, going to the Sky Academy taught me that in life it's ok to apply for a position that you may believe is slightly out of your reach, it's ok to ask that question that you might feel is a little risky and it's imperative take any opportunity that is thrown at you, whether expected or not. Because 99 times out of 100, you aren't losing anything, you're building your character and getting ready to jump over the next hurdle that you come across.

This is why after almost a week of reflection, I feel ready to go forth with my life confident that a career in journalism is within my reach if I work hard enough. I can't recommend the Journalism Insight Day enough to anyone aspiring for a career in the field. It has further encouraged me in a way I didn't think was possible, to continue to do my best in order to achieve. My best is all I can do and of course, it's what I'll do.