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I'm not a journo myself (at present, although I have done a few little pieces for odds and sods) but I know more than a few who are and there are so many different ways to get in to it.
Some are freelancers who started off aiming to be (lets take one for an example) a doctor, she relaised that she couldnt stand the whole being a doctor thing in her third year I think but finished the degree. After doing some backpacking she heard from a friend who was a staff writer at a big paper that they were urgent for health stories the two helped oneanother at first but eventually she took the plunge and did a course on journalism and now is a regular contributer for all sorts of health issues.
The other friend mentioned went the more traditional route taking a cadetship with rural paper staright out of school - learning the craft by doing allsorts of 'boring pieces' before moving his way up that ladder to do sports and politics. He then got a job with a big paper and hasnt looked back.
To be a freelancer I'm told your best to pick one topic that your an expert at wether it be a specific sport, al-Qaeda terroists, health etc. Also you have to learn what each editor (and the paper they work for like), they vary dramaticlly in audience and formats even the sophistication of language it may seem pretty trivial to some but to an editor it can make or break a story.
Good luck and have fun.
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