Open Days 2014

Selecting open days was a long process. First I had to determine the course I wanted to do.

After much thought, I knew I wanted to do a course which was media related. Next, I had to decide whether I wanted to specialise in a particular sector of the media, eg. Radio, Online, Film or TV or whether I wanted to do a broader degree, covering all the sectors of media.

With employability in mind, I choose broader degrees as employers look for graduates who are multi-skilled and have knowledge in all the sectors.

Then I had to decide upon whether I wanted to do a theory or practical degree and whether I wanted to study a degree, which involved examinations.

As I knew the outcome of my degree would affect my chances of getting a job, I thought that a degree, which graded me on essays, presentations and projects, would benefit me most.

I also thought about pursuing a career in another of my passions, which is creative writing. At the time, I couldn’t find many creative writing degrees, so I looked at similar options.

Journalism caught my eye, I already had a passion for creative writing and I already had work that was successfully published in local magazines. On researching Journalism courses, I came across another possible career path.

This was Event Management. I knew that this was a risk, as the employability possibilities were limited.

Although I knew I might not choose Event Management, I wanted to see what happens in the degree and how it would prepare me for a possible career.

Along with this I had to think about whether I wanted to live away from home or not. This would depend on the degree, how comfortable I felt in the city, had support from the university and whether I knew anyone that was going to the university or who lived nearby.

One location, I was debating with was Southampton. As my mom used to work there, she had knowledge about the city and friends there. As this was the case, I spend a lot of time there and find great comfort in knowing the city.

After extensive research, I decided upon going to following open days to look at the following courses:

·      Southampton Solent University – Journalism

·      Southampton Solent University – Media Culture & Production

·      University of Chester – Joint Honours Event Management & Journalism

·      University of Northampton – Joint Honours – Event Management & Journalism

·      Staffordshire University – Journalism

·      Staffordshire University – Radio Production

·      Birmingham City University – Media Production