DRJ#10 - Reflecting on the final project and final semester.

Introduction

This post is on a reflection of my final project and final semester!

I have to start of by saying this, there is a lot like most I would have done differently this year. That being said, I am proud of what I have achieved and how far I have come. I did not exactly have what you would call a "standard educational journey". I came back to Uni at 26 years old, to a degree and a field that has been dominated by people that have been working with media studies, films and working with the equipment for years. I knew this road would have been difficult, but I have had an amazing time none the less. I have met new people, learned new skills, changed myself through hardships and grown as a person tremendously.

Theory

This part of the practice was difficult for me as I do not consider myself the best of academic writers, but thanks to my appendix rupturing in January 2023, it gave me a lot of time to read, research and think about the topic that I wanted to write about. I am extremely proud of the paper I have written and put together, and I believe it is the best piece of written work that I have created in my time at Ulster University.

I was able to write about my two passions in one paper, look into and discover topics that genuinely interested me and drove me to have a steady flow of writing. There is nothing I would change about this paper, as I feel that it was the best I could have done and I don't think there is anymore that I could ask for than that.

Practice

The practice had a few hiccups that I had mentioned in DRJ#8 (Filming Day!), but despite those it provided a learning experience that I will never forget. Even if using a Zoom recorder is an extra layer, it gives me more comfort knowing that it is a trust worthy process to get into the habit of and invest in.

In DRJ#9 (Editing "The Evolution of Cinematics of Video Games: An Introduction"), I had also mentioned that the audio was nightmarish to fix and almost made me have a heart attack when I heard the quality of the audio when I was editing. But thankfully, with some great advice from Peter Finlay and Matt McNally I was able to save my audio and produce an educational participatory documentary that I was proud of.

Conclusion

Win, lose or draw. I am extremely proud of myself for becoming more outgoing, confident and sure of myself over these last few years of education. So sincerely, from the bottom of my heart thank you Ulster University for helping me to become who I am today. Without you I would still be working in retail and would not have achieved my goal of working within this industry. I would also like to thank Victoria McCollum as well, for being such an inspiration and a rock to many students including myself, Ulster University please appreciate the type of employee that you have as Victoria is a paragon of what a lecturer and educational supervisor should be.

Thanks for reading!