A former journalist and UOW Alumni has encouraged prospective students to jump on every opportunity available.
Speaking on the University of Wollongong’s Alumni Stories: From Here On, UOW alum Keiran Deck encouraged show hosts Rachael Gregory and Thomas Panayiotou and their fellow journalism students to approach stories with a human first methodology.
“People bring their own narrative, their own story that they like to tell, and so your job is to get curious and dig deeper under the surface,” Mr Deck said.
“The better you know yourself, the better you know who you are, the better you like yourself, the easier it is to be curious about other people.”
Mr Deck, who graduated with a double degree in Bachelor of Journalism and Communications in 2013, said journalism needs to be approached with confidence and with work-life balance in mind.
“Don’t step out to the sideline-man in the arena, be present, do things, and then rest just as hard because that’s really important too, if you’re not balanced you will burn out before you have opportunities to achieve the goals you want,” Mr Deck said.
During his journalism career, Mr Deck was a newsreader for Southern Cross Austereo, sports commentator of rugby, volleyball, and swimming and worked on numerous projects across international documentary series and written features.
“I had a week to learn all the rules and the player names. It was quite daunting. In hindsight did not need to know much about the sport to become a good sports commentator I think you can learn it as you go, but the best commentators are the storytellers,” he said.
“The best things that come in your career come on the other side of discomfort. Once you get through that uncomfortable period, you can find yourself, so don’t be scared that you’re not good enough for something, just jump in and give it a go, first would be my advice in general to third year students.”
Mr Deck said he chased opportunities that would fulfil him and was led by curiosity.
“The takeaway is, take those opportunities even if it feels uncomfortable,” he said.
Hosts: Rachael Gregory & Thomas Pan
