Every student has expectations when he/she looks over the list of classes at the beginning of every semester. For this semester, one of the classes that stood out for translators-editors was “Reporting”. Whenever one thinks of reporting, he/she thinks of journalists wearing helmets and vests, tightly clasping a microphone as they cover warzones. That was what most of the students expected when the class kicked off.

The first assignment was to write about our own neighborhood. It wasn’t a project where we had to gear up and travel across the globe to uncover and share important news. The scales were obviously different, we weren’t transmitting news to a whole nation, or a whole country, but we were, rather, shedding light on a humble part of our everyday life. Armed with a small pad and a mighty pen, we set off to interview the people we’ve considered neighbors for most of our lives. Some were hesitant to answer questions once they were told the purpose for these interviews, others were accepting while a few refused to humor us.

Nevertheless, a good journalist – which we were not – is never dissuaded by negativity and hurdles, but chooses to persevere and rise above problems for the sake of the cause. During this exercise, we had a small taste of what journalists usually have to endure, and we appreciated them more when we were forced to find ways to achieve our goal.

Here’s to more discoveries, more quests, more information and clarity and definitely… to more interesting assignments.

Line Chokor

M2- Traducteurs Rédacteurs