The Road to University - Up until now... Part 2

So starting University was a mixture of emotions, just like anyone will tell you, having to meet new people on your course, getting a feel for the campus, starting off lectures, learning new things, and generally learning a lot right from the start! Having said that it was an exciting start and opportunity to be given. Throughout the first year I learnt a lot across a whole range of subjects from film, television, radio, and a lot more theory than I knew before. Not only getting to grips with industry standards and the inside knowledge and operations of the individual professions and roles, it also taught me a lot more in depth understanding of the equipment and key setups and configurations in each department; from television to film, and to radio. As well as learning about new equipment and media theory we were also taught an array of ways of production depending on the genre or category and all the processes from pre-production to legal work to post production and marketing.

Within the second year of university I felt I certainly still maintained my interest in radio and production and passion for music but also felt that the first year had opened my eyes as I had tried everything from shooting a short film, taking various roles up within a television show from camera to sound to graphics, made audio documentaries, radio podcasts, and did my first live radio shows on FCOT FM 87.7 which gave me an eye into the world of radio from the technical side to producing to presenting. Whilst learning in more depth about the power of media, the digital revolution, and film theory, there was more involvement and more expected from us as second year students. Attending talks from industry experts from Sky, various radio producers, television companies, as well as photographers and graphic designers, gave me a further insight in to what each field required and the behind the scenes work that you might not think the role covered. Having these talks made me reflect on my passions and interests but still ended up approaching my third year being unsure what to produce as my final project and what options to specialise in.

So the final year... THE BIG ONE! Going into this year I was sceptical of what to expect and how well I would cope with it all as there were times during second year that really pushed my ability, especially in fields that weren't my strongest. Before starting the final year we had to make choices and submit what we were going to do in regards to our options and what our final projects were going to be on.

As some of you know I chose to specialise in Radio Management and Contemporary Photographic Practice but the decision certainly wasn't easy... well Radio was a must as I knew that I could thrive in this environment especially as I learnt a lot within the second year but more about this later... The next option was Photography. The reason as to why I was torn to take this over advertising was the fact that it had always been a passion of mine but never had taken a class or learnt much theory on the background of it. I knew that this could either be a success for me or a down right failure as I knew that because it was only one semester it would be twice the amount of workload alongside my other studies... but some words of encouragement and dedication outside of lessons, even unrelated at times, swayed me to take it and I'm so grateful I did in the end as I ended that module with a First Class in both my written and practical pieces!! (I'll post the written piece shortly if you want). So next my final project... Our brief was to create a final media product that was creative, individual, and as niche as possible. From this I knew I wanted to do a radio drama of some sort as I knew I had the capabilities of scripting, recording, and editing it all together. After spending hours and hours researching and looking back on previous dramas that had been produced I noticed a gap in the market and lack of dramas that were for children, but not just any drama, educational ones. That's right I wanted to form a new hybrid of drama combining children's stories with educational content. Safari Life. As the title suggests I created a series of dramas based on safari animals with the idea of educating children through character narrative and also the use of the animals talking themselves to engage them furthermore. If you'd like to listen to them head over to the radio section where you'll find a bit more about it and the dramas.

I'll mention a bit about Radio before wrapping up as I will expand on this amazing experience in a whole new blog! But what an experience it was! Stressful at times... VERY STRESSFUL at times but one that made the achievement and success of the station all worth it. A lot went into the station from rebranding, learning new software from scratch and programming the whole four weeks on FM radio, creating content, arranging live musicians to play on air, interviews, roadshows, competitions, and general operation of FCOT FM. It's an experience I will never forget as so much went in to the station and the praise and response we got back was better than ever imagined and to also be praised and appreciated on a daily basis was a huge motivation as the role I took of Program Controller and Tech Op. meant I had to be there from 7-9 most days fixing and rescheduling the system as well as technical and software issues, which there were just a few of shall I say...

Overall it is safe to say that the whole experience not only opened my eyes into the industry of media, but taught me so much from equipment to roles, to industry practises to professional standards of operations, to several life lessons and how to cope and deal with everyday encounters along the way. I'm so grateful for the whole experience and to share it with some amazing people that helped me out along the way from running the station, to voicing my final project, to picking me up when I was ready to quit, for reassuring me what I was doing would pay off, and taking risks along the way. Without that I would have never chosen Photography and got a first for it, I would never have chosen one of the hardest roles within the radio team and getting a first too, I would have never pushed myself harder than I did without such important people in my life inside and outside of uni. Just a shame I never hit the high grade in the Discourse and Representation module, sorry Calvin, otherwise I probably would've walked away with a first... I would've loved a first but to come away with a high 2:1 was miles upon anything I ever thought I could achieve and so thankful for it! So if you're ever struggling keep pushing through and don't let anything hold you back! Who knows what you're capable of! Three years ago I never would have thought I'd be where I am with a degree and so many experiences I will never forget...

#Upuntilnow