I am often asked what I studied at university and my answer is usually met with surprise. "Music - really?"
Then comes the follow-up question - almost always, "so what instrument do you play?" There's a widespread misconception, in my experience, that a degree in music is all about performance. However, while I had endless opportunities to make music at Cambridge, for me at least, all that was very much extra-curricular.
I performed the Elgar Cello Concerto, I played Schubert's "Cello Quintet" with the professional Fitzwilliam String Quartet and I was even music director for a somewhat unusual musical set in a mental asylum during the French revolution. I had a lot of fun and some of these experiences still rank among my proudest achievements. For a comprehensive school kid from the South Wales Valleys I sometimes had to pinch myself that I was getting these opportunities. But all of this had no real relation to my academic work day-to-day.
The degree itself seemed to me, at least, like one of the most varied subjects you could possibly study. It was a course that could be increasingly tailored to your own academic interests and took me on journeys into literary theory, semiotics, linguistics, statistics and much more. It wasn't easy. I recall feeling somewhat intimidated by the challenge of grappling with such diverse disciplines. But it turned out to be the perfect preparation for a career in journalism, where the ability to think critically and nimbly is so vital. A degree like this won't teach you curiosity, but it does help you understand how far a curious mind can take you.
I began writing about classical and jazz for Varsity in my second year but soon realised that my journalistic interests lay beyond the field of music. I had no contacts or family history in journalism, but then I hadn't in music either. I decided to give it a go although I had no idea where it might lead.
I still play the cello and post the odd video online, where I've found a surprisingly enthusiastic audience. Music never leaves you. In fact, in my case at least, I'd say music set the course for the path my life would take and I wouldn't have it any other way.
Ciaran Jenkins studied Music at Fitzwilliam College. He is a Correspondent and Presenter for Channel 4 News, having previously worked at the BBC where he specialised in politics and education.
