Journalist’s welcome: Motivated to make the most of Manjimup

Leaving the city for a more rural life was always an escapist fantasy of mine, so when I got the opportunity to move down to Manjimup, it was an opportunity I was ready to take.

Having spent time in both Perth and overseas in South Korea, I am quite used to the fast and busy pace of the city and was ready to move away for a simpler kind of life.

Although I am still new to the South West, I am very excited to see where I go and what I do here.

Leaving my life in Perth was definitely a choice that required plenty of thought when I considered everything I would be leaving behind.

I was taking a big leap in terms of the independence and responsibilities I had given to myself, being away from my family and leaving home.

Not only moving away from home, but also to a new town hundreds of kilometres away from it.

But since taking on the task of packing everything up and moving to Manjimup, I have confidence that I will be able to settle in soon enough.

After graduating university, I was uncertain about my future and whether I would end up using my degree, so when the opportunity to write for the Manjimup-Bridgetown Times came up, I was more than eager to join.

Journalism was always going to be the career path for me after finishing my degree in Journalism and Fine Arts at Curtin University, even when I was in other industries at the time.

I am excited to see what Manjimup has to offer and learning more about the community within during my time at the Manjimup-Bridgetown Times.

I’m very excited to have a chat and get to know everyone in Manjimup!

Daniel Hocking is a journalist at the Manjimup-Bridgetown Times.