Midway in the third year of De Monfort University, in among all of my work and deadlines, the realisation hit me as it dawned on me that it wouldn’t be long before I graduated. I knew this day was coming, of course, I did, there was no question of that; but it was scary to think that I was officially leaving after education, seven years in total all going towards a chosen degree in life. Two years at Bournville College studying Level 3 extended diploma in Creative Media Production, a year at Southampton Solent University studying Media Culture and Production, a gap year spent giving myself a reality check and now three years studying BA Hons Creative Writing and Journalism.
Now I was going to be thrown into the world without any such guide or path. There were so many people who spoke up, having doubts that I would be able to study at higher education levels and handle it, this is and always has been one of my pet peeves; people seeing my situation and underestimating my abilities without even thinking and passing the judgement. It may take the disabled community longer to do something and we might achieve it in a different way, but the possibility is still there and more times than not, we will achieve it.
As well as updating my blog regularly on my take on the world of disability, I really don’t know how or where to start, but I want to be able to take an active role in changing people’s attitudes and perspectives on the world of disability. This so I can make subtle but vital changes to improve life for the disabled community so it can benefit the community for years to come and give the chance for those individuals who feel like they don’t have a voice to discover one.
When we are children, we have ideas of being princesses, singers, actors, teachers, vets, doctors and as they grow the ideas of what they want to be seen to change depending on what their hobbies and interests become. Due to my disability being what it is and how it has affected me, I have had to grow up faster and mature, life has given me no other choice.
People sometimes compare me to Hermione Granger from Harry Potter, she is shy at the beginning, hiding in her books, quite reserved and this was me in the first few years of my life, I was timid and soft-spoken, always sheltering behind others, letting them take charge.
Then, just like Hermione I grew as a person and in confidence in a world that limits me due to the situation I am in Hermione is limited by the fact she is muggle-born, but still, she is brave and takes charge of her own future and this is what I hope to do.
In more recent years, Katniss Everdeen became another role model for me. A young girl from an unstable background to a well-grounded, down to earth strong young woman who holds her family close to her heart and is well focused on her goal and has a positive, determined look on life just like I feel I have become.
I feel I’ve become a stronger, more confident person and have been able to show these newly found confidence and other skills when I was able to present on Demon FM. I had adrenaline and elation pulse through me after every show and I don’t want these feelings to stop just because I’m finishing De Montfort University, I want to launch a career in radio and gain more experience even if it’s working from the bottom upwards. I am a different person when I am radio and I want to be this person more often.
Since I was young, I have wanted to be a professional novelist, I have always found it as a way of expression and a release of pent up emotion when I feel it gets too much, it definitely helps and I have channelled wrongs in my life and transmitted them into words, into stronger stories, more in-depth characters arcs and plotlines. I want to write for the rest of my life! This led me to study Creative Writing as a degree for the last three years, I wanted to learn more, to enhance my skills so I am able to become a professional in the near future. Through the duration of University and even before, I had and still have a collection of stories which I had half-written or planned that I hope to write, improve and finish to make it into a series of publishable professional material.
My favourite genre of reading is fantasy fiction and any genre branches connected to either one of these. I love building new worlds, dystopian themed stories that is an escape from reality and takes them on a unique journey and gives them a form of escapism if only for a short time. I am a big fan of the Harry Potter books by JK Rowling, The Twilight Saga by Stephanie Meyer, The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins, The Divergent Collection by Veronica Roth, The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken and finally The Maze Runner By James Dashner. There are other books I read as well, but these are the main ones I read often and enjoy. I love how each novel are so in-depth and intriguing characters and plotlines, that parts are complex and sometimes confusing, so much so that you have to keep reading and re-reading the content to understand everything and get the full impact.
Based on all of this, I would say that J. K Rowling author of the Harry Potter books is my favourite author and an inspiration, she is able to create such an in-depth world with twists and turns in each book, a year each to make then unique which can only be explained later on in the series, this is great as it keeps the audience reading on and the books feature such in-depth characters that each have their own backstories and own pasts that contribute to the overall story of Harry’s adventure. A prime example of this is the prophecy featuring Harry Potter and Voldemort isn’t fully explained until book five and the first book starts after the murder of James and Lily Potter rather than many books which lead up to and end with the murder. This is really what I hope to achieve in some of my books.
I really do hope there is a lot more fantasy-fiction writing in my future and for the rest of my life, I want to finish the novel I am currently working on and get it published and launch a career and become a professional novelist.
The Life of Sophie 