Valuable insights and a lot of practice

Just after the final exam there's a big smile on the faces of Lorenzo, Richard, Paolo, Will, Adam, Rose, Luke, Judit, Denis, Lauren, Sabine and Bettina

We did it! Three months of learning about journalism, a lot of research and writing and 48 assignments lie behind us.

In April, twelve post-graduates aged 22 to 44 became students again. At the LSJ we learned how to develop ideas, do the research and writing of news stories, features, reviews and blogs. We were taught how the British government is set up and which legal dangers are waiting for careless journalists.

And we gained a lot of insights into journalism as all our teachers were working journalists.

There were ups and downs. In the live assignment we managed to get hold of a story on the streets of Maida Vale and wrote a 200-words report within two hours. We produced a three-minute radio news. And we got some "A"s for some well done articles.

But we also put a lot of effort into a piece and received a "B-". We went back into the classroom after lunch while the sun was shining brightly and we'd rather stay outside. And during the last weeks we had to hand in one assignment after the other without knowing when to do all the research.

Relieved the exam is over, we had a great evening out yesterday. We started in The Skiddaw, went on to The Elgin and some of us even went to see a concert of an "unknown Brit Pop band" near Angels.

I hope to see some of them again soon and that we'll keep each other informed about what's going to happen in our lives. Some of us might even enter Andrew's hall of fame.

It won't be easy to get the foot into the door, but each of us has learned a lot and knows much better now what to expect in journalism and what we're good at.