Up until year 10 I was determined to become a high school history teacher. During that year, we had a guest speaker join our English class who worked for a magazine. I remember this as the highlight of my high school years because I realised how to turn my passion into a career. I didn’t want to be a history teacher. I wanted to be a journalist. 

I landed my first gig in the industry two years later as an intern at Girlfriend Magazine. It was fun, but it wasn’t for me. I knew I wanted a career in hard news.

When I was completing my HSC in 2015, I knew journalism was the path I wanted to follow. I didn’t get the ATAR I needed to study at the University of Wollongong like I had planned, so I enrolled in Macleay College where I completed a diploma of journalism and then articulated into the bachelor which I will complete in July.

With its own TV studio, newsroom and radio lab, Macleay College provided me with the writing, television and radio skills I needed to make it as a journalist.

I have since interned at the Sydney Morning Herald as a business reporter, The Australian as a crime reporter, Happy Mag as a music journalist, the Macarthur Chronicle, NSW Police Media, and Global Hobo as a travel writer based in Bali.

These experiences were a dream for any student journalist. I broke the infamous sentencing of politician Eddie Obeid and landed a front-page story on one of Australia’s biggest newspapers.

This opened my eyes up to where I would like to end up as a journalist. Feeling inspired by journalists such as Dan Box, Kate McClymont and Michaela Whitbourn, I would love to establish myself as a national crime reporter for a newspaper.

I landed my first paid journalism gig last year as a music and film journalist for Sydney’s independent street press, The Brag, where I have interviewed 360 and Less Than Jake. 

The Southern Highland News is my first full-time position as a journalist and I look forward to meeting more of the lovely people here in the Southern Highlands.

To say hello or submit a story idea, don’t hesitate to email me at brooke.gibbs@fairfaxmedia.com.au or call 0439 141 245.