Every second counts

By Simon Wright – Follow me on Twitter @Siwri88

The month of July is full of milestones for me, both in a good and bad way. They range from the anniversary of my graduation to recently, completing a full year in my full-time role in the publishing industry.

Of course, nothing’s ever perfect in life. Some aim for total perfection but it simply isn’t possible. And this particular month brings back some painful memories which will always remain forever.

It is an incident I don’t like to talk about, largely because it makes me emotional. After much deliberation, I have decided not to go into detail about what actually happened to me on the evening of 23 July 2009. What I will say though is it changed who I was and the proof that every second really does count in life.

Luck on my side

Those close to me personally will know what happened. It was an incident that really shook my confidence. On the night of Thursday, 23 July 2009 – my life could well have ended. I’m not exaggerating either. It was a truly terrifying ordeal and there wasn’t much I could have done when it was taking place. It is at these points and I’m not a religious person where you want the Lord to be looking down on you and ensuring no great harm is done.

I suffered relatively light injuries (that’s if you put a broken nose in that category). In the days afterwards, I had never felt so shaken up, terrified of what might happen next. I was in-between the transfer of finishing college to starting University. I was moving into Halls of Residence in Northampton in less than seven weeks’ time and here was a massive hurdle that was now in my way. I became tense and scared of even leaving home. So, the days afterwards were some of the hardest I’ve ever had to go through. Gradually though, it would get better.

I admit I am very lucky to even be here today. So, I know that but I’m encouraged to have progressed so much since.

That hasn’t come though without needing to make some changes.

No more risks

I think that what happened has made me more of a cautious individual, particularly when it comes to taking risks or a chance that could backfire. I have never been a massive risk-taker anyway but you don’t appreciate the consequences of what could happen if things go wrong. That’s just something that doesn’t need to be factored in.

It has perhaps made me more reluctant to commit to certain aspects of life but if it is what keeps me secure, then it is hardly a crime.

For sure, I became a safer person. There was a period where I would enjoy going out, hitting the nightclubs and having a few too many drinks. Then I would somehow stumble home and not quite remember how that happened. Now, I don’t take those chances anymore. I still like to go out, but I’m more likely to have a few drinks in a bar and have a giggle with some of my close friends rather than go clubbing. Those regular days ended with what happened and while there were still occasions of this at University – only the nights out in the Balestra nightclub in Northampton felt anything truly special. I would always go and have a good time, but remember to get home safe and know I’ve done that too. I’m happy I took this route – it was just a shame something bad had to happen for me to realise this.

The real life lesson

Five years is a long, long time and the fear that was built around me slowly started to come down as the end of summer 2009 approached. I’m thankful the University adventure was when it was. The move to Northampton came at the right time, a great opportunity to make a fresh start.

Physically, I’m okay and emotionally, it is tough to talk about it but when someone asks, I will give brief details. The days afterwards, I got some fantastic support from the people I valued and respected. Friendship is an important part of my life – right up there with family values and for me, much more than a relationship.

Mentally though, the scars of that night will probably always be there. It is not something that can totally be forgotten. It might be the case for 360 days of the year but in the week leading up to the date, it becomes a bit more difficult. I would be lying if I said the incident hasn’t been replayed in my head but luckily, that is only in rare circumstances.

The real life lesson out of it though was the general appreciation of what life is all about. It was something I told one of my closest friends from the college days around a fortnight afterwards and that was; ‘every second of my life is precious now.’

Make the most of the time available to you

And it has been too, both in the good memories and even the moments where things haven’t gone according to plan. Every second counts in life. Always cherish those special moments and make the most of what is available because no-one knows what is around the corner. The unexpected really is the unexpected.

Since then, I am a journalism graduate, a full-time worker in one of my preferred chosen fields, freelance journalist and successful blogger and been on many journeys since, from holidays in Fuerteventura to visits to the Olympic Park in Stratford, the home of British motorsport, Silverstone (twice) and a VIP tour of Wembley Stadium. And I know that if things had gone slightly different five years ago – none of that might have been possible.

So, every second is precious. Don’t waste time – who knows what will happen next.

Categories: 2009, Changes, Five, Friendship, Incidents, July, Life, Milestones, Risks, Seconds

The UoN Experience - How Good is University?

By Simon Wright – Follow me on Twitter @Siwri88

As the second anniversary passes 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 into how good is the University in general, a critical assessment of the video products I produced and what happened after graduation.

The final article looks at the University’s reputation in general. I ask whether I made the right decision in going to UoN, and summarise everything about the experience as a whole.

Two years have now fully passed and it is amazing to think of the time that just flies. Even in my role today, I sometimes get sudden jolts of memories from the UoN experience. It was a magnificent time and I certainly don’t regret going.

I was a late bloomer. I had the chance to go to University in 2007, two years before I actually did. I dropped out of the UCAS application process quite early on in sixth form because after some iffy AS level results, I knew I wasn’t ready for the challenge. I needed more time to prepare myself, both mentally and even psychologically.

It was the right decision at the time and still is now. If I had gone in 07, I think I might have struggled really badly and not lasted much more than six weeks. By not going until 2009, I think I became a better person. I wasn’t as selfish and greedy as I was in early forms of education.

Is UoN the best out there?

No is the simple answer to the above question, but it shouldn’t be either. There are over 200 universities across the United Kingdom and Northampton has plenty of competition in the Midlands region, let alone the rest of the country. Alternatives include Leicester, Nottingham, UCMK in Milton Keynes, Bedford, East Anglia and Coventry. There is always plenty of choice for the prospective student.

The home of British motorsport is Silverstone, based in Northampton

However, what UoN does is provide a good choice for anyone to study. There is good nightlife, you can’t fault the transport links with many other UK towns and cities, the town is home to the British Formula One Grand Prix (motorsport action from a media day pictured above) and excellent rugby union side Northampton Saints, as well as Northampton Town and Coventry City in the Football League and there is a reminder of both the new, regenerated areas and the more classical, traditional locations.

Sure it might lack some of the character of other places up and down the land but it isn’t as rubbish as some think it is. It is a nice place to settle down into a routine. The University’s Park Campus is an excellent, modern campus to be based at and to study on. Whilst Avenue Campus (where I was mainly based) looks a bit outdated, that still offers decent facilities and students in the School of the Arts have flourished here with excellent work in journalism, creative arts, fashion, literature and computing modules amongst many.

In conclusion, I had other options when I applied to UCAS for the second time. Among them were Middlesbrough (Teeside), Staffordshire and Bedfordshire. I chose Northampton because I felt it could offer me all I wanted in terms of a job outside of Uni, comfortable accommodation and a nice place to study and socialise. I know I made the right decision.

You can’t fault Northampton’s employability record too. It is among the top five in the UK. Over 90 per cent of graduates get a graduate job within the first year of getting that all-important certificate. That is excellent going.

Do I regret going when I did?

If I didn’t go to University when I did, I know I won’t have. I went at the right time for me. It meant I was more mature and probably less wild than what I was in 2007 but that was a good thing. 

Two years at Milton Keynes College was the best choice after sixth form. Not only did I get a BTEC National Diploma and learned plenty about the media industry, it put me in good stead for the future. I became more independent, wiser and more confident without showing a pure arrogance.

If I have a regret about my education, it was not going to MK College earlier than I did, but if I hadn’t, I won’t have got my A Levels in English Literature and General Studies.

Also, if I had made the step to University earlier than I did, I would have never met the people I did on my course such as Ellie, Tamika, Chris, Shane, Josie, Farida and everyone else. I was lucky to meet so many fantastic people and there was no guarantee that would have happened in 2007.

So for me, there are no regrets about going when I did to Uni and no regrets about the Uni I went to. I will always thank the University of Northampton for helping me, giving me a second home and will hold them grateful for the experience.

In summary, not everyone wants to go to University. For some, it doesn’t suit them but if you have a chance, then take the opportunity. It a fantastic experience and that is from someone who knows.

Categories: 2009, BTEC, Experience, Media, Midlands, Milton Keynes College, Transport, UCAS, University, University of Northampton

Skins - All good things have to end

By Simon Wright

I can speak for the majority of people who follow a television programme closely, so much so that they want to know everything about it – from transmission dates to filming behind the scenes and cast interviews.

It doesn’t matter if that might be TOWIE, Big Brother, Shameless, even Coronation Street or Deal or No Deal – we all have prime favourites.

One of mine of recent years has been the E4 teen drama series Skins.  On July 1, the seventh series of this gripping phenomenon will begin.  However, it is the last series to be aired – which is a sad feeling, but also the right decision.

But why has Skins had a core audience, and is a final flourish the right way to go out on?

Core audience

When Skins burst onto the television screens back in February 2007, the show was completely different from your normal brand of drama.  This wasn’t a predictable series of classic actors playing stereotypical characters in a plotline that can often get quite repetitive. 

Admittedly, I never really liked the first generation and only saw the odd clip of the first two series, but that all changed with series three in 2009.

Skins started off with an audience which has now grown up.  For example, those who first watched it six years ago probably weren’t following it so much when the final full series ended around Easter last year, but that is a good thing.  It has a specific core audience range of around 16-22, and I would be concerned if a 50-year-old individual listed it among their favourite programmes.  After all, it is about teenagers and life at college, and that’s as far as it goes.

The second generation of Skins characters were my favourites

Audience figures have generally been impressive, always just under the one million mark.  In fact, the series four opener which began with the death of a mysterious stranger in a nightclub attracted 1.5m combined on E4 & E4+1.  Even the final major generation still were receiving decent figures, despite the decline in writing ability and storylines.

I was a religious watcher of series three, four and five, and watched occasional episodes from series six, mainly if a character’s episode had been impressive in the fifth series (Mini and Franky) as examples.  

Although my interest in the show waned towards the end of series five and into series six, I will be tuning into series seven and see how things have progressed for the cast of the past.

Giving youngsters a chance

I should know this more than anyone, but in David Cameron’s Britain of today, the chances for youngsters are predominately thin.  Things could be better in terms of job prospects, or choices of what we can do.

One thing that has impressed me with Skins is the determination to give young actors and actresses a real chance.  The talent that has come through with Skins has been impressive, and often, the acting really does shine through, especially if a storyline is weak (series four was a prime example of this).

Dev Patel and Nicholas Hoult had the best success out of the first generation.  Patel went on to star in the award-winning sensation Slumdog Millionaire, whilst Hoult has gone into major roles in film, especially in the X-Men trilogy.  

In generation two, Jack O’Connell has come on leaps and bounds.  He has had roles in film and two powerful TV dramas, Dive and United.  Fellow lead cast member of this generation Kaya Scodelario has appeared in a host of music videos for the artist Plan B, whilst Ollie Barbieri, Lily Loveless and Kathryn Prescott have also had a host of different roles since Skins ended.  

Dakota Blue Richards was one of the stars of the third generation, and recently had a lead role in the ITV five-part drama Lightfields and Freya Mavor is currently starring in the gripping BBC thriller The White Queen. 

For the majority of these actors, these opportunities would never have come about had it not been for the successful breakthrough of Skins and the producers must take great credit for this.

Of course, that doesn’t mean to say that famous faces never appeared in Skins – far from it.  

There were plenty of guest characters playing minor roles, from comedians and impressionists, to presenters and normal actors.  Among fans favourites were Harry Enfield, Sally Phillips, John Bishop, Ronni Ancona, Pauline Quirke, the late Geoffrey Hughes, and Scott Mills.

And its success has been recognised.  Skins won the Audience Award at the 2009 BAFTAs, and Best TV Show at the 2011 NME Awards, as well as various other high-profile nominations and critical acclaim.

What happened to the movie?

In 2010, the green light was given to Skins: The Movie, as indicated on my first blogging website.  However, this never happened.  Ultimately, it was probably a good thing.

Unlike shows like The Inbetweeners, it would have been mighty difficult for Skins to have had major success at the box office, just because of the way things get portrayed in the TV series.

Consequently, work shifted more onto series five and six, and the doomed American remake, which turned into a complete failure and was axed after one highly controversial series.

Whilst there was disappointment that the movie dream didn’t quite happen for Skins, a final TV series is a better way to go out.

There has been some powerful storylines, and that is ignoring the drugs, drink and sex that is part of the teenagers’ lives in every series.  Having watched three full series, my favourite storylines were Katie Fitch (played by Megan Prescott) having to deal with the bombshell news that she wasn’t able to have kids in series four, and at the same time, attempt to keep the very popular Fitch family together as the recession starts to destroy their happy lives.  

Other favourites were the storylines that came through in Mini McGuinness' (Freya Mavor) episodes when she had to deal with an unexpected pregnancy and attempting to revive a relationship with her father, who simply didn’t care about her, and the successful pairing of Naomi (Lily Loveless) and Emily (Kathryn Prescott) as a lesbian couple in series three and four.  'Naomily,' as avid fans titled them, broke down new barriers and also proved that despite a lot of heartache, happy endings do exist in television drama.

The final fling

Last year, it was decided that there would be no more full series’ of Skins.  That might have disappointed budding actors and actresses who would have seen the open auditions as a great opportunity to get their name out there.  However, it is the right decision.

One of Effy Stonem’s lines in series four sticks with me: “Nothing’s ever perfect.”  That’s very true, and all good things at some point need to come to an end.  Last year’s series started to see some slow decline with the show, and another two years would have been a mistake, and left a mark on the legacy of Skins.

Some shows drag on and on, don’t reach a natural conclusion and then become so unbelievable, you just stop watching them.  American shows are particularly guilty of this, whilst the saucy Footballers Wives and fictional Sky football drama Dream Team both attracted huge followings, but probably went on at least one more year past their natural sell-by-date.

Kaya Scodelario returns as Effy in Skins Fire, the first of the final mini-series

The producers of Skins and Channel 4 have done the right thing, and by coming back with a mini-series over the summer is the perfect farewell.  Three classic characters in Effy (Kaya Scodelario), Cassie (Hannah Murray) and Cook (Jack O’Connell) will reprise their roles for two separate episodes each which shows how their characters have developed as they’ve left the crazy teenage world and entered the new adult planet, and how much they have changed.

Effy’s story is first, titled Skins Fire.  Effy gets a job in the city, and when she learns too much about a dodgy financial deal and has an affair with the boss of the company she works for, it puts friendships and people in grave danger.  Fans of ‘Naomily’ will be delighted to know that Naomi and Emily will return to their roles in a cameo backdrop, with Emily known to be studying a photography internship in New York, and Naomi living with Effy in London.  A trailer has been released by E4 for a sneak peak at what’s to come in Skins Fire, and that can be seen below.

Cassie’s story is next and is also set in London.  She is aged 23, two years older than the other returning main characters as she was part of generation one.  ‘Skins Pure’ will be edgy watching involving following people and the forming of a strange friendship.

In ‘Skins Rise,’ Cook is doing what he does best.  Now in Manchester, he hasn’t grown up from his teenage days of drugs, sex and violence on a regular basis, despite a brief stint in jail.  Cook is a drugs dealer and when his employer asks him to find a house for his attractive girlfriend, you can guess the rest.  Expect revenge to be served and a reminder of his previous dodgy past.

And after these six weeks, it will be all over.  Skins has left plenty of good and dramatic memories, given new actors and actresses a real breakthrough and is going out at just the right time.  Let’s hope that it ends on a high with this final mini-series.

Categories: 2009, Audience, Britain, Dakota Blue Richards, Dev Patel, E4, February, Jack O'Connell, Kathryn Prescott, Lily Loveless, NME, Plan B, Skins, Slumdog Millionaire, TV