Curious to find out what a typical day is like for a MA International Media Journalism student? Find out why Courtney chose to study her course, and what she thinks of postgraduate life...

Because Courtney's blog was written before the global pandemic, some aspects of the experiences she describes may be different while Covid-19 restrictions and social distancing are in place.

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Hey folks! I’m Courtney and in this post I’m going to cover what an average day at uni is like for me. In addition to my studies, I’m a women’s volleyball player. Of course, each day is a little different, but I hope this gives you more insight into my schedule!

9:40

I head out for my 10:00am morning lecture for Multimedia Journalism 2 (MJ2). Currently, we’re working on building personal news websites around a specific niche that each of us has chosen. I find our lecturer to be extremely engaging and interesting, but I still always stop on the way to class for a cup of coffee at Great Grub (despite the name, they have great lattes too).

11:00

I head from my lecture to a seminar for Freelancing as an Enterprise. This class focuses on putting students into small groups of four people and throughout the semester we work on creating a business idea – at the end we present it to the class. I’ve really enjoyed the creativity these classes foster and how it forces each of us to think in different ways by looking at our business idea from multiple angles. The class also includes students from the Arts, Business, and Creativity Masters programmes, so I’ve really enjoyed working with a different group of people here!

13:15

After my freelancing class, I head home to take a break for a little while and eat some lunch. I only live ten minutes away from campus, so it’s nice to head back home in the middle of the day. While I eat, I’ll usually compile any notes that I’ve taken in class and decide what I need to work on for the rest of the day.

14:30

At this point, I’ll be back on campus, and I’m more than likely in the Culture Lab. For MJ2, we’re working on creating content for our own niche journalism websites we’ve created. I tend to spend vast amounts of time in the Culture Lab because all of the computers have the software I need, including Premiere Pro, Adobe Audition, and Photoshop (there’s also a high chance that I’ll run into some of my journalism classmates there which is also a plus).

18:00

I’m at the sports hall for volleyball practice. We have something going on almost every weekday for volleyball, whether it’s a workout, training, or a fixture. Getting in the gym is always a nice way to take my mind off my studies for a little while!

20:00

I’m back at my apartment and winding down from the day. I’ll organise my backpack and prep for whatever classes I have the following day (and double check that my laptop is fully charged). After that, I’ll usually try to read for class for a little while before going to bed!

I hope this helps paint a better idea for what it’s like to be an International Multimedia Journalism student here at Newcastle University. 

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