So, I graduated, again!
It's been a little while since I last published a post, but I have a good excuse. Kind of. Life's been pretty hectic lately, and last Friday I graduated from Nottingham Trent University! If you're a regular reader, you'll probably have picked up that I studied for a Postgraduate Diploma in Broadcast Journalism.
Working in radio has been an ambition of mine since I was a teenager, and doing journalism as a postgrad seemed like pretty much the only way to shoehorn myself into a very competitive industry.
At 24, I actually ended up being one of the oldest people on the course. (I really resented being referred to as a 'mature student'...) My degree is from a different uni, so my experiences of undergraduate and postgraduate life were quite different. Going back to uni, and to Nottingham Trent, was genuinely the best decision I could've made at that point in my (stagnant) life. So, if you're thinking about going back to uni, do it! I doubt you'll regret it!
Broadcast Journalism is basically radio, TV and online news. So, I learned how to be a radio reporter, TV reporter, a presenter for both mediums, a camerawoman, a news editor, how to write online news, and even how to work in a TV gallery. It was quite full-on, which is why my blog suffered so much as a result!
Now, if you hadn't already guessed, it was a hard course. At times, it was really difficult to wade through, but I am genuinely so glad I did it. I learned so much about radio, TV, and online journalism and I also met some lovely people too! We felt a little bit like a family, as there were only 15-20 of us. There were days, usually newsdays (where we'd 'work' on our 'programme' all day, pretending we were in the industry) where we'd shed blood, sweat and sometimes the odd tear too. It was an education, and the only way we got through it was as a team.
The graduation itself was really early in the morning. (I thought my 7am commutes to Nottingham through horrendous rush hour traffic were over, but I was wrong!) Several people from my course were missing, which was a shame, but it was great to catch up with everyone else. We had a fantastic speech from the honourary graduate, Henry Normal, who wrote The Royle Family. His message was that we are all good enough, even though none of us feel like we are. Just what I needed to hear.
Then I went to the pub with some of my fellow graduates for a proper catch-up! My camera has lots of little video snippets of the day, so expect to see them creeping their way into my next YouTube video very soon!
(While we were sat down waiting for the ceremony to begin, I found out that Selasi from Bake Off went to NTU - I went to the same uni as the King of Cool. Shame it wasn't at the same time though!)
So, to finish, normal blogging service will resume shortly. It's time for me to play catch-up because my drafts are awash with half-written posts that should've gone out weeks ago. Sorry, guys.
Like this post? You might be interested in What I Learned From Studying Broadcast Journalism, Katie, Where've You Been?, 5 Tips For Starting University, 5 More Tips For Starting University, or even The Life Update: Whirlwind.
Little side note: I'm am SO sorry if you've been awaiting a reply from me. I've been a bit of an ostrich lately. Life's got in the way a bit, and because of that, I've barely been on social media - I've barely ventured onto Instagram recently and have avoided Twitter completely (except for scheduling the odd blog tweet here and there) for a few weeks(!) I've even neglected my emails and all your lovely comments too, so if you're awaiting a reply, please bear with me while I catch up with everything! Thanks! x
