Thursday 17 March 2016

Week 22: Week 7: Excited for the Easter Holidays!

Hello!

Let's get the ball rolling again! I definitely plan to have a more structured plan after Easter but my timetable changes a lot in May so I'll see what happens with these posts after that - something to think about I guess!

Monday - I may have missed my 9am lecture... again... but having just started getting over feeling ill, my boyfriend said I was perfectly within my rights to say I was ill and not go in. However I got a message at 10 asking where I was because I was meant to be filming for a News Day story! A bit late, but I did meet up and was filming until about half 3 and ended up having to only go to a tiny bit of my seminar. I went for the news quiz and to find out what I'd be missing that session but then had to go back to filming!

Tuesday I may have possibly missed another 9am lecture? My bad? But I did go to the seminar! Even though it was rubbish and we finished really early but even then I was back over to the main campus uni to finish off the News Day filming from the day before and with editing, I was at uni until half past seven! The latest I've stayed in a very long time... so I was justified in going straight to the pub for a massive burger right? Even then I went home that night and had to upload 10 videos for News Day and do more editing, so justified I think!

Wednesday was the first 9am I managed that week but with a struggle! I was put on an awful story that was completely unworkable and we were put on a new, slightly better story which I worked on, then went for lunch with my boyfriend and our friends and went back to wait to sign out. Dance that evening was really great though which made up for a questionable day!

Thursday was my day off and boy did I need it, unfortunately I didn't get it but for good reason! I went and got my lip repierced at long last, after it healed up at a dance competition. After that we went to Asda to buy food for a Roast my friends were doing that night and I made the most amazing apple crumble! I've been trying to replicate it since but with no luck! But it was a really good night none the less.

By Friday I was feeling much better than the week before so video was actually pretty productive! I wrote the script for part of my assignment and I managed to do a rough edit of most of the video clips too so actually useful. I was also assigned to a News Day story for the following week when I shouldn't have been, so I had to get equipment out for the next night and carry it home all by myself which wasn't fun!

But I went out and filmed on Saturday and it was nice because it was the first story I've done in a while that felt like a proper group which made me feel less reluctant about it. Then on Sunday I got the video assignment edited and I edited video and audio for the story, so productive day! And I tidied my room!

Everything's starting to come together a bit more but I'm more than ready for the Easter Holidays now!




Personal blog: http://sophiecountsclouds.blogspot.co.uk/
YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/SophieCountsClouds
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SophieALuckett

Wednesday 16 March 2016

Week 21: Week 6: Exhausted

Hello!

Still a couple of weeks behind but let's catch up with the week commencing February 22nd! 

After a week at Channel 4, a dance comp weekend, a week back at uni and then a day in my boyfriends home town, I wasn't really ready for another super early morning dance comp. We left at 5am to drive to London, got lost, ended up running into the arena with 8 minutes - eight minutes - to get changed and get onto the mat to perform and then everything was done by half past 8. 

Right?

Then we didn't leave the arena till about 7 or 8 in the evening, got home about 10 or 11? It was a painfully long day and I was completely exhausted and not ready for the oncoming week (an attitude I stick by two weeks later when writing this!).

So I missed my 9am lecture the next day. I felt horrifically guilty, especially considering I've never missed a lecture before and I was already beginning to feel a cold coming on. Not a good start to the week!

But I pulled myself together a little bit and went in for my seminar, where we were looking at writing features and I ended up analysing the language used in The Sun and writing a story in the same style - somewhat exciting!

Tuesday... I missed another 9am lecture... however I have a better excuse reason this time! There were 3 fire alarms last night - quarter to 2, 3am and 5am. No. I don't want this (it's beyond the point that there were a further two later that day!). But again, I went into the seminar, got patronised by the law lecturer I don't like and then went home. I went to the pub with my friends that night and that's when I knew I was ill because I just turned and needed to go home early.

But I braved it and went to my 9am Wednesday - News Day! I've enjoyed News Days a lot more this semester and I did have an assignment to do today so I was running around getting video for a World Book Day story whilst also thinking about writing some of the copy for a story on the 80th Anniversary of the Spitfire! Two very different stories but felt good to be so productive in one day and be the last first years in the news room! Latest I've stayed so far.

I went home and crashed that day because I was not feeling well at all.

Thursday was meant to be my day off but what I did was go into town, still feeling very ill and we spent hours in town - browsing and doing jobs and I was no having a good time of life!

But I was determined to make up for my poor attendance at the beginning of the week! Despite being ill and bunged up and feeling very foggy, I braved it and went into video, to learn about filming and editing interviews and to be patronised by another lecturer about how ill I felt without being sent home. Just told that I shouldn't go anywhere near her in case I infect her! Definitely made me feel better. I did go home and collapse for the weekend.

I ended up having a really busy weekend but hey, what's uni without a few completely exhausted, ill weeks right? Right?!

Almost up to date now! Sorry for the many delays on this blog, hoping to make a more regular schedule after the Easter holidays!




Personal blog: http://sophiecountsclouds.blogspot.co.uk/
YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/SophieCountsClouds
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SophieALuckett

Wednesday 9 March 2016

Week 20: Week 5: Back to uni!

Hello!

It seems that I forget to write these posts and then I write four in a row, but in terms of looking back on it or helping someone else in the future, at least I'm writing it? Right?

Monday was my first day back at uni after my week at Channel 4 and I was in the brilliant position where I was sat alone in the lecture! Normally I find someone I know but that day I couldn't find anyone or maybe less people like me than I hoped (fingers crossed it's not the latter!) but I sat through the lecture on writing style in news and then went straight to the library.

To work on an assignment. That was due that night. That I hadn't started yet.

I'm not a bad human being I swear! With the busy weeks I had leading up to this deadline and the dance competition the weekend immediately following, I hadn't had a chance to even think about this assignment so three stressful hours in the library were had! Then I went to a seminar where the only notes I have are on appropriately referencing in the assignment I'd just been working on.

Tuesday was a bit of a relief because my 9am lecture was cancelled (I was so grateful for the extra time in bed!) and then I went to a really useful law seminar on codes of conduct. I say 'useful' because it was interesting and also it was just copying notes and that's my favourite kind of lecture because I can just type without thinking too hard!

I like Tuesday's because my whole day is finished by 2 and that makes me very happy.

Wednesday wasn't as bad as last semester - I used to dread news days and now the only thing I worry about is whether I'll be on a good story! This week I was - I got to write about the upcoming Brit awards (they were that night!) and whilst I forgot my purse, my lovely boyfriend bought me lunch so I wouldn't starve. By the time I got back from lunch the story had been uploaded and there was nothing more for me to do, so another early (ish) day!

Thursday was my day off but it didn't feel like one because I didn't really get to lie in - my boyfriend started uni at 9 and when he left I was really awake so I went a tidied my room a little bit and then met him and our friends in town to go for lunch and do a few jobs that we all had to do. It ended up being a fairly long day and it definitely didn't feel like I used my day off to its full potential! Well, not in the way it's meant to be used anyway.

Friday led to my first session in video having missed two weeks of teaching, both of those being our lessons in editing using Final Cut Pro... I was a bit behind and struggling! Alongside that, I had to plan two video assignments, figure out how on Earth I was going to teach myself to edit on a program I wasn't familiar with and everything was a bit overwhelming! The stress is real and lasting, which definitely didn't help in trying to keep up all my blogs!

But now (in real life, a few weeks on from Week 20!), everything is starting to sort itself out a little and the looming Easter holidays is more than a welcome relief! Two weeks off - yes please!

For now though, going to try and stay busy and get as much uni work as I can before I go home for Easter!




Personal blog: http://sophiecountsclouds.blogspot.co.uk/
YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/SophieCountsClouds
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SophieALuckett

Week 19: Channel 4 Work Experience!

Hello!

It's been a busy few weeks since I got back from Channel 4 and I've only just realised that I've not updated this blog for about three weeks so time to try and remember what I've been up to!

However week 19 was fairly easy - whilst I missed uni for a week, I was at work experience and Channel 4 and I blogged every single day!

Day 1: My first day at Channel 4 was daunting, a little bit tiring but absolutely brilliant to be able to glimpse inside such a massive company!

Day 2: This was my first day in my department at the company - I was working in the Online department with some amazing people.

Day 3: The middle of the week saw a little bit of drama and disheartening as I was ill and wasted half a day of work experience - I still feel awful about it!

Day 4: After some food and a good night's sleep I was ready to make the most of my last day in department and make a good lasting impression!

Day 5: Today the whole work experience came back to work together and feedback on what we'd done this week and talk about the next step.

It was an amazing week and I got a lovely reference, hoping to work with Channel 4 again soon - would love to go back to the work experience lot and my department and everyone I got to meet! 

And the Channel 4 canteen was amazing, good food (and free food vouchers!).

Thank you for reading! (There's going to be a few posts going up in quick succession, good or a bad thing??)

Here's to getting more work experience!




Personal blog: http://sophiecountsclouds.blogspot.co.uk/
YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/SophieCountsClouds
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SophieALuckett