The End is Rapidly Approaching

Believe it or not, I'm into the last two and a half weeks of first year already. I think everyone is in a state of shock that it has passed so quickly. As expected, I am extremely busy with work. I have a 'creative biography' essay to hand in (I chose to do mine on Spike Milligan, and I have thoroughly enjoyed writing it), a video project to work on, another website to design and several articles to write for it. I have to say, though, there are times when none of it actually feels like work because I'm enjoying it so much. Well, most of it. I had a group presentation last week which I am only too relieved to have finally got out of the way...

Aside from having two and a half weeks of lectures left, I also have only three more radio shows. It's been great fun. As I've mentioned before, DCUfm has undoubtedly been the highlight of my year, and I hope to continue presenting The Rock Files next year. One way or another, I'm incredibly excited to be involved with the station for another two years.

Speaking of which, this week I also won a free pizza for a piece I wrote about my time at DCUfm so far. You can read it here if you wish: What do I love about DCUfm?

As for my summer plans, I'm about to start applying for jobs, though I'm not overly optimistic to be honest. I'll also be working on a radio documentary, the details of which will be revealed in time, and will be doing a bit of web design, both for myself and for other people. I'm trying to save up enough money to go and visit my friend in Leicester, and then I'm also going to play lots of guitar, as I have sadly been neglecting it since I started university. Terrible I know.

So that's pretty much the plan for the next four months of my life, and then I'm a big second year. Scary!

Assignments, Snow and Hybrids

I'm back in Dublin after spending Reading Week at home doing work. I handed in my Writing for Media assignment yesterday. It was a 1000-word magazine article. I've also handed in my first web design project and my group has finished our audio project.

As well as doing assignments, I've also been busy compiling a highlights package (minus the music) of my radio show, The Rock Files (6pm Thursdays on DCUfm!) which my co-host Aisling and I have entered into the Hybrid Student Media Awards. The Hybrids take place in the Helix on 4 April, and each category is judged by an industry professional, so it's all very exciting. We've entered the Best Arts/Features Show category. Competition is stiff, of course, but it'll be a great experience just to have entered.

You can listen live to the show on Thursdays via the station's website. If you want to hear the highlights package of what we've done so far, here's the link to the file on Soundcloud!
The Rock Files on DCUfm

This is a relatively short week, as Easter weekend is coming up! I'm going home tomorrow evening after the radio show, and I will be catching up with my bezzie on Friday... can't wait!

For the past two days, though, it's been snowing on campus. Here are a couple of pictures taken from my bedroom window in Larkfield:

Hope you all have a good Easter!

Reading Week

It's Reading Week for those of us who do humanities courses, which is basically a glorified mid-term break. Of course, as we don't have exams to study for, we are supposed to work on assignments, and I'm doing just that. I've got some of my sociology essay done, a couple of group presentations on the go and my authoring project finished. I also handed in my photography assignment last week. So, overall, my stress levels are really not bad at the moment. Apart from anything else, it's so nice to be home! And to be cooked for again, hehe. With all that's been happening, I felt as though I hadn't been home in months. There was Alice Cooper, which I've already written about, and last weekend I was in Manchester for the football, which I'm going to talk about now.

I went over to Holyhead on the ferry on Friday morning with my cousin, my uncle, his wife and some of her family. We're all huge Manchester United fans except for my cousin, who until last weekend wasn't very knowledgeable on football! Once we got there, we had a two-hour coach trip to Altrincham, just outside Manchester, where our hotel was. Manchester city centre is only a short tram ride away, and we went around the Arndale shopping centre and had dinner in Pizza Hut. On Saturday morning we made the trip to Old Trafford on the coach.

There's nothing quite like the atmosphere around the ground on matchday. It's such an incredible buzz. We were sitting just behind the goal in the East Stand, and when Robin van Persie scored early in the first half, we went absolutely mental! It was a brilliant moment. The Arsenal fans were of course extremely hostile towards their former striker, so for RVP to score and shut them up for a short while was priceless!

People say it wasn't a great game, and certainly it didn't have quite the same intensity as previous matches between the two sides, partly because Arsenal were dire and barely showed up at all, allowing United to completely dictate the game. But it was still hugely exciting for me, especially as Patrice Evra's goal in the second half meant we ran out winners, albeit by a 2-1 scoreline rather than 2-0 - the only time Arsenal really threatened the United goal was towards the end, and Santi Cazorla scored for them in stoppage time. David de Gea wasn't happy about losing his clean sheet, but still, a win is a win, and we're now top of the league. The fact that City, Chelsea and Liverpool all drew their games was the icing on the cake and made for a perfect weekend!

We spent the rest of Saturday back in Manchester city centre, shopping at the Arndale again and eating at Nando's. We got the ferry back from Holyhead the next day, and on the way through Wales we stopped off briefly in a town with the longest name in Europe:

Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch!

Or simply Llanfair PG...

Work and Play

I can't believe we're almost halfway through the semester already! Where has the time gone?

Things are getting more and more hectic with each passing week. Assignments, group project meetings, planning and presenting a radio show, football training... it's all piling up! I must admit, it can get quite tiring - let's just say I appreciate my bed more than I ever did before! But overall I'm enjoying it.

I mentioned presenting a radio show. Yes, I know I said I was going to produce, but I'm pretty happy that it's turned out this way! The show (which is yet to be named) airs on DCUfm every Wednesday from 1-2pm and is hosted by myself and three other people. It's basically a talk show, where we discuss all sorts of things, and also play a few tunes as well. You can listen in online at http://www.dcufm.com, so if you have nothing else to do, tune in!

Getting involved with student radio was one of the things I was most looking forward to about starting university, and although it's early days, this could well be the best thing about my time here. I've always had a huge excitement and passion for radio, so I absolutely love being in the studio and going through the whole process.

I have football training every Tuesday evening, and I'm having great fun with that too. It's brilliant to be able to play again. Of the three clubs and socs I joined, Music Soc is the one that I've had the least to do with so far, but I'm starting Music Production lessons on Thursday evenings, so that's something I'm really excited about.

I've got so much work to do this week, but I'll be taking a nice break this weekend. On Sunday, I'm off to London to see Alice Cooper at Wembley Arena. I can't wait! This will be my fourth time seeing Alice live (it's becoming an annual Halloween thing) and I'm really looking forward to seeing the friends I've made from seeing him the past few times, as well as meeting others for the first time. It's going to be great!

And now to take advantage of my lie-in tomorrow morning! I'll update again next week, when I've recovered from the gig!

Busy, Busy, Busy...

Three weeks in and life is beginning to get busier! I like it that way, though - it's what I signed up for after all!

My first assignment of the year is due just before Halloween. It's a photography assignment and the brief is 'Faces and Places of Ireland'. There are basically two parts to it. I have to take ten pictures that represent Ireland to me, and present them in class. However, I also have to submit three of these pictures to a competition run by the Dublin Photography School in aid of Brainwave, the Irish Epilepsy Association. It just so happens that's an organisation close to my heart, as my dad has epilepsy. The deadline for the competition is next week and there are €2000 worth of prizes to be won - not that I'm expecting any of my photos to be chosen! I have almost half of my assignment done. I'm renting the camera for this weekend to take more shots. It's a Nikon, very fancy... unfortunately that doesn't make the slightest bit of difference to my photography skills! On Friday I'm heading over to my aunt's place because it's a great setting for photographs, plus it'll be nice to see her and my uncle and cousin for a few hours. I haven't seen them since that family party back in July, and now that I'm living in Dublin it's nice to be near them again.

I'm not going to post any of the photos here until after the presentation - it's top secret information until then! You never know who could claim them as their own, and then I'd be up shit creek!

Apart from lectures and assignments, clubs and socs are also keeping me occupied. Tonight I've got football training and studio training for DCUfm, tomorrow I've got my first Music Soc meeting of the year - with free pizza! Speaking of which, here are some of the most important things I've learned about university generally over the past couple of weeks:

1. When you have as few hours as I do, getting involved in society life is absolutely vital.
2. Lecturers are not like teachers. They won't tell you what to do - only you can take responsibility for your own learning.
3. There is no right or wrong answer. It's all about being able to think for yourself and trust your own instincts.
4. When it comes to the ovens in Larkfield, forget about the cooking times you read on the packaging of whatever food it is you're making. When you hear sizzling, take the food out! The ovens tend to burn everything that touches them.
5. There is always a way to get free pizza.

Finally, today marks the birthdays of two of my favourite musicians, John Lennon and John Entwistle, both sadly departed. Happy Birthday to them!