Now, as many of you may know, I am a final-year Journalism student at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT), completing the practical part of my studies at the FunDza Literacy Trust. Next week I’ll be submitting my portfolio for Media Practice 3 and my time as an undergrad Journalism student will finally have come to its happy conclusion.

Although I am somewhat relieved, I can’t help but feel a tinge of sadness at this journey ending.

Journalism is not for the faint-hearted – many a time I found myself haranguing with my classmates, shouting at the top of my lungs over and over again ‘not all Muslims are terrorists!’ Each and every time I heard Islam or Palestine being mentioned in classroom examples of current events and debates about ‘My People’, I’d cringe, fists clenched and red-faced, ready to pound anyone to the ground who dared express their perceived prejudices towards me.

My lecturers were an interesting mix of monstrous and liberal, each and every one of them bringing something new to my life that I will take with me forever.

What I learnt most about the journey is that, in any room you happen to find yourself in, there will always be someone smarter than you are. Not everyone is book-smart, but even the quirkiest of my peers had their individual strengths.

Those who didn’t do well in tests had a lot of general knowledge and insight on current events. On more than one occasion I’d be looking around my classroom in awe of how much insight my classmates had, which had me feeling like an airhead most of the time.

Frizzy-haired, chubby-cheeked me, always walking around with a romance novel, what would I ever have to offer the cut-throat world of Journalism, I often thought.

I was always book-smart, but sought the help of my classmates when it came to any practical elements of our course, be it editing video on ‘Adobe Premier Pro’ or designing magazine or tabloid pages on ‘InDesign’. We all had our own niches and thrived in different aspects of the craft.

I am so grateful to have had this experience and to have met the people I’ve met, all of whom will be successful in the respective avenues of Journalism that they have chosen to go into.

As for me, I’ve discovered that, although I’m not interested in traditional politics or business journalism, there is a place for me in the media world. I want to write novels about love. I want to crush the prejudices against Muslims and fight for Palestine in every way I can, making my voice as a Journalist heard. I want to be a columnist for a leading magazine, writing about romance, food and my love of Islam, three of my favourite topics. There’s so much I still want to do with my life as an aspiring media mogul and author.

Every person I’ve met during these three years has had an imprint in my life (whether positive or negative) and I’d like to thank them for that.

Until we meet again, salaam, au revoir and bhabhayini, folks.

Do any of you guys miss school? If so, what do you miss most?