Here is the latest of our student blogs. 

Danielle Gibson is a highly caffeinated, muso enthusiast with a vocally straightforward view on life.

This time last year I wasn’t even thinking of college. I had done my degree in Media and managed to snag a PR job in London. I had resigned to myself that any dreams of journalism would only be a hobby. I was happy writing music reviews in my spare time. Or so I thought.

Fast forward to today and here I am in Glasgow of all places doing a HND in Practical Journalism. I won’t bore you with the details as to why I left London but after months of gruelling over what I wanted to do with my life, having an existential crisis, college funnily enough was the answer. Now I could have done a post graduate degree in Journalism in Edinburgh but that wasn’t enough. One year of education with minimal practical experience wasn’t enough.

In January this year I started my search. Where was the best place to study? As a Falkirk East native Edinburgh was my first port of call. I love the city. I have lived there and it’s where I got my degree. But Edinburgh lacks in its college based journalism courses. I couldn’t go back and do another four years at university where I would have to fully fund myself. It just wasn’t plausible. So I broadened my horizons. I went west.

For months I agonised if I should pursue my journalism dreams and to find Glasgow Clyde College made me jump high. In Falkirk we have Forth Valley College. I’ve studied there and in its own right is a good college but it lacks in the journalism field. Our local radio station, Central FM moved to Stirling back in 2012 and our only other source of journalism is the Falkirk Herald. But in Glasgow there are so many opportunities. Now I may have been slow on the uptake because although I know Glasgow is filled with newspapers, radio stations and broadcasters it didn’t hit me until I started my college search. Let’s just put that down to eastern mentality.

Since starting my course my outlook on journalism has broadened. Once a pursuing music journalist has now turned into a critical questioning politically minded student journalist. Don’t get me wrong, I will always dip into music and review the latest album or gig. But Glasgow has fuelled that fire.

Of course Glasgow isn’t the only place to get excited about journalism but here the Glaswegians are more brash and forward about what needs to be said. I have interviewed people on the streets and got more from them than anywhere else. But maybe when you’re doing ‘undercover’ journalism, don’t walk down Queen Street in a Scarlet Witch costume at 8am on a Sunday as you may get some unwanted attention from the very inebriated.

Glasgow is brimming with life and it’s just the start of my journey into the world of journalism and it is looking fantastic.