By Simon Wright – Follow
me on Twitter
As the second
anniversary approaches which signalled the end of my education life and the finale
to my journalism degree at the University of Northampton, I have decided to
share my own personal experiences from my three years at UoN. This includes a
look at some of the nightlife memories, a critical assessment of the video
products I produced and my insight into each of the three years I had in what
was my second home.
The next article places
specific focus on the third and final year of the journalism degree. 2011-12
saw the countdown towards the London Olympics and the Queen celebrated her Diamond
Jubilee. Plus, Manchester City won the Premier League title in the most
incredible way possible. For me, third year was all about building on how
second year ended. It started badly, but improved rapidly and finished with
mixed emotions which involved saying goodbye to my many friends I had made.
Two years
down and one to go, the University journey had certainly contained its ups and
downs. First year had been almost been in cruise control; second year provided
far more challenges. Looking back two years on, third year was harder but I
managed to conquer challenges better than second year, possibly because of the
previous experience.
The planning
for the final year had begun as early as June 2011, when I had to decide on a
topic for my 5,000 word dissertation. I was always intrigued by the 24-hour
news channel concept and decided to focus on the rise of Sky News in TV
journalism, combining it with a major 90s news story which made them a more
creditable source in media. The OJ Simpson trial was fascinating as much as it
was sensationalised, with many of the witnesses playing up to the live TV
cameras when giving their evidence. It was Sky’s coverage of the helicopter
chase of OJ the year before his trial in 1994 that saw it win widespread praise
from all quarters for the first time. I was glad that the dissertation was
5,000 words only. As a group, we were all lucky it wasn’t 10,000 which was the
case on other courses. I wouldn’t say the journalism students got off lightly
but it was a nice luxury to have. A 10,000 word essay would have been mighty
difficult for all of us.
After the
slow start with second year, I was hoping for a better first month to third
year. How wrong was I? If I had to pick a month where I was in a bad place,
October 2011 would top the list. The final year began on my birthday of 3rd
October! Although the first week went okay (largely thanks to a Thursday night
nightclub celebration for my 23rd year of existence), it went downhill
from there. I wasn’t in the right frame of mind. The summer break had been too
long and I wasn’t prepared for what was to come. I was also majorly affected by
the deaths in quick succession of two well-known motorsport figures in IndyCars
and MotoGP. I got very upset by these events. While I had every right to be
shocked and slightly downbeat by what had happened, these events were out of my
control and by allowing them to get into my personal detailing, it clouded
judgements. After a lecture where an essay topic was changed; two weeks after
having already prepared something, I lost control of my emotions. There was
only one thing I could do to try and drown the shambles of the month and that
was to get drunk. It wasn’t like me at all. Sure, I liked a drink – we all did
on the course and we all enjoyed a good party but it was a rare episode where I
let alcohol do my talking. It was the best thing I could do. By drowning my
sorrows, staring in mirrors and playing loud music in my room, I had to just release
all the tension and stress that had been building up.
It affected
my social media activity too. Both Facebook and Twitter took a break for a
month while I got myself back on track in November. I did that and the episodes
of the first month of the year were slowly, but surely forgotten. Concentration
turned towards various assignments in the five modules I undertook. Some
underlined my strengths and others highlighted weaknesses. As 2011 turned into
2012, my grades in the first half of the year were not good enough. I had
collected too many average marks and feared for my final degree classification.
With the job market as it was, a 2:2 would be utterly hopeless to me. I had to
get a 2:1. Rather than feel sorry for myself like before, I seeked advice from
my lecturers (two pictured below) and it got me back on target.
 |
| Two of the best lecturers, Hilary Scott and Richard Hollingum got me back on track in tough times |
In third
year, I will always lookback on my TV project with immense pride. I came up
with a modern idea, and utilised it with plenty of research and filming in my
spare time. It was an interesting topic and something I immersed myself in
throughout the opening months of 2012. While I wouldn’t have it down as my best
project, it was the most enjoyable work I underwent in third year. The task I
hated the most was the group project on motorsport. With my racing background,
I was expected to ace this topic in our group, which involved a media day trip
to Silverstone for the final round of the 2011 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car
Championship. I didn’t enjoy it – I don’t know why (apart from someone stealing
our tapes), but while everyone else seemed to have fun – I found the day
slightly unrewarding. As I had already committed to TV for my final project, I
had to work on an eight-page magazine and I hated every single minute of it. I
worked with someone who I really couldn’t stand. The individual was irritating,
frustrating and so opinionated. They even had the cheek to ask me to compromise
my antivirus security to bring my laptop into University grounds!! I couldn’t
do that and was unwilling. I didn’t help myself by coming up with a feature piece
called ‘Death in Motorsport.’ It was such a grim idea and one I regret
suggesting. Nevertheless, the whole project was a joke. The other three members
of the group were fine but I didn’t get the camaraderie I was hoping for. Perhaps
not being able to choose group members would have worked better on reflection.
As the weeks
went on, so did the months and once again, the spirit of the group was shown in
abundance. That is what I found out about our course. We started a year all slightly
distant to one another or in our own friendship band groups and we all had them
but as it reached crunch time, we all pulled together and helped each other out
if necessary. Whether that was explaining how to burn MP3 tracks to a CD,
suggesting a sound change to a narration or even having a chinwag about
everything in the SU in spare time, it was worth it. I will never forget the
appreciation and the time of the final few weeks in both second and third year.
Being one of
the elderly statesmen in the group at the time, I saw it to myself to set an
example for the rest. It wasn’t something I needed to do but I felt it was my
responsibility. If I slacked off, it was a bad example to everyone else. The
extra two years at college doing a BTEC National Diploma really helped. The
experience of this shone through in the period when deadlines emerged. I was
never programmed to leave assignments until the last minute to beat a deadline.
With this, I was often asked for help, advice or assistance and I didn’t mind
doing that, as long as it didn’t compromise my own performance. There were
times where I did think ‘do your own work’ or ‘stop asking me, I might be
wrong’ but 99 per cent of the time, I would try to offer the best support I
could to my colleagues.
I had made a
load of friends throughout the three years but I made more in third year. While
I stayed close to people I had known from the start of the course, I made sure
I knew everyone and tried to get on with everyone too. There was the odd
individual who I struggled to see eye-to-eye with and there were occasional personality
clashes but I couldn’t complain too much. It was nice to know people but also
work closer with them as the degree went towards its closure. When all
projects were handed in on 16 May 2012, my journey was complete. A wild night
and few weeks were to begin (more of this in the nightlife chapter) but it was
the end of an era.
Saying goodbye was one of the hardest things to do. These were people who you saw on a weekly basis, daily basis in some instances. I’m not great at saying farewells to individuals who I know so well. When I last met Ellie around a month after everything finished, we spent a few hours reminiscing and trying to make each other laugh, which I think we did. When it was time to say goodbye, I could feel the emotion from both of us, realising that this was it. I would say I was friends with 95 per cent of the course, but I did make special friends along the way.
However if there was one who I shared
many great memories with the most, it was with Ellie. We bonded so closely from
day one and were always there for one another. There were times where we let
each other down but that happens in most friendships and whenever there were
tough moments, we always worked hard to ensure it didn’t get in the way of what
we had as a friendship. If I was forced to pick one person I miss the most and
would like to see again, Ellie would be top of the list – just because we
shared so much, relied on each other and had such a fantastic friendship. I
would like to think that we might see each other again at some point, or our
careers collide into one another in the future.
So that was
that, University was over and a new chapter of finding employment after
graduation was about to begin. It was to be a tough and far more testing
proposition than first anticipated.
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