Hi, I am Jessica Stark, a fourth year Journalism Student at Edinburgh Napier University.

My compulsion is to share the stories of those who cannot always tell them by themselves. And I have a desire to see the potential of multi-media platforms fully unlocked in order to bring justice and joy into the lives of visitors, viewers and readers.

As journalists we have both a responsibility and authority in the world of news to share not only the truth but also to bring things that may pass the world by into focus for the people we serve.

Where It All Began

As mentioned elsewhere, I found a love for journalism when entering the university context but, truth be told, that is not where my journey began…

It all started with the local, as it does for so many of us. Allow me to transport us back to a moment I remember all too well, my first real job. I marched my very confident little self along the heart of Glasgow’s up-and-coming south side and walked into the first shop I came to and began what would be four years working for my local independent charity, The Glad Foundation, a combination cafe-cum-charity shop-and-live-music-venue all rolled into one (with free musical training on the side!).

I fell in love with the local but very quickly saw the potential for more. It was obvious that the incredible service that this remarkable charity provided needed to develop more of a reach and legacy than it was currently. Happily, The Glad Foundation agreed. As the ‘young one’ on the team I was entrusted with the social media responsibilities and, almost without realising, I stumbled into birthing a new local newspaper, linked to a growing online presence - just at the outset of Instagram’s video hype. Completely naive at the time, I can now look back and understand that this was where I found my ‘thing’ for the first time. With this fresh success in my rearview, I craved the next project. I then designed, wrote and published the school’s yearbook and started my first (admittedly not very good) blog. My English teacher, being a former journalist herself, must have noticed something was going on because she persuaded me - still unaware of what a journalist truly was - to apply for the course at university. From there? Well, the rest is history - or should I say, that was just the beginning.

From Lockdown to Live Radio

I fell in love instantly with my degree, despite landing in it right bang in the middle of the ‘covid generation’, when everyone’s drive was hitting a nationwide all-time low. But my passion for the art of news writing - and then broadcasting - only grew and grew, and I firmly believe it is the thing that has kept me zoned in to hitting goals and meeting personal achievements. My drive did not die.

With the first year heavily impacted by the lockdown, my second year was where I was really able to throw myself into the ENRG team and I regularly helped the lifestyle and culture segment of the newsroom. In the years that followed it was radio that took up most of my time and I started my own show, later being voted station host and then running the morning show along with my co-hosts.

But this is not the whole story - far from it! Being a goal driven and achievement oriented individual I took on a lot of ‘side hustles’, as some would say, in order to further grow and develop the skills I know I will need to thrive in the future. More of this can be found on the home page Specialities segment.