Hooray for Hand Ins!

So finally my first hand in is complete! With an absolute nightmare just a few days before the deadline, where my hard drive decided to give up on me and I lost some of my work! ahh!,  I couldn't have been more pleased of myself to actually have got my head down and completed it all on time. So after having a few days to relax after the manic week of trying to get it fixed and then redoing the lost work, I have had time to reflect on the past few months at university and the course in particular. 

I hate to admit it, but I did find university very difficult at first. Although I am just over an hours drive from home, living on your own is such a shock to the system, and I didn't adjust amazingly to start with. With some of my best friends still at home, my boyfriend at university in Sheffield, and with weekly commitments to travel back to coventry for my competitive cheerleading team each wednesday night, I felt like I couldn't fit in the time to see everyone I wanted to and do all my work at the same time. And with no job, something I'm 100% not used to, I found the financial part really hard, but I've learnt a lot and now really enjoy my new friends and my university lifestyle. 

Never doing a course like FCP before, I also wasn't too sure on what to expect, but I'm really happy I chose this course in the end. I love how the lecturers and briefs give you so much freedom to express your own creativity and personal style whilst still giving you the guidelines and boundary descriptors you need in order to get a good grade. I also like the session layouts, teaching you new things, but also giving you the chance to go away and research more about you personal areas of interest. I'm pleased with the work I have produced, and even if the grade does not match my expectations, I think it's all a learning curve. I hope the course continues in this way, and as a way to improve myself, I have used the 'Stop. Start. Continue.' exercise which will hopefully help me in my future modules. 

Stop

• Worrying too much on what other people on my course are doing. I need to focus on my own work and ideas. Even if they are completely different to everybody else's work, it's about experimentation and individuality. 
• Getting over-stressed about briefs. Break them down into separate pieces and make notes on each brief. Getting stressed about what I have to do will not help!
• Being scared! Ask people for help. Not just course leaders but other people on the course. They may be able to give me a simpler explanation of what I need to do. 

Start

• Interacting with new people. I've started this a bit more since the New York trip, and have began making some really good friends on the course, but it would be nice to get to know even more people on the course. 
• Making contacts in the industry. This is really useful for after university and internships. It would be a great idea for me to start taking part in competitions and writing for small newspapers and magazines to get myself more experience needed for this competitive industry. 
• Venturing! Visit new cities or exhibitions. It's a great way to learn more about the industry and get inspiration, whilst also makes interesting posts for this blog! I would love to do so much, and think that if i budget better I'll be able to afford to do more of this!
• Backing up my work! Since getting a new laptop with Indesign and Photoshop on, I have been working off a hard drive to go between my two laptops. And when this broke, my whole 'next big thing' brief was gone! I have definitely learnt my lesson and do not want the stress again, so I will 100% be backing up all my important files over the next module!

Continue

• Writing on my blog. I think I have done quite well with keeping up with my blog, writing on it at least a couple of times a week. However I would like to make my content more individual and interesting, not just course related. I'd love to add more personal aspects to it. 
• Balancing my work with social aspects. I know university is meant to be a very social experience, and I love this aspect of it. But the most important reason I'm here is to get a degree. I feel like I've began to learn to balance this well, and this is something I hope I can continue with as the years go by.

#fcpreflection