Summer Antics

It has been three months since my last blog post. I hope you enjoyed the silence! A lot has gone on, good and bad, but I will save the negative bits for a later date. For now, a round-up of the good bits is in order...

I got my results at the end of June, and I'm delighted to say that I passed my first year with a 2:1 grade. I also got Firsts in a couple of my second semester modules, which I'm really pleased with. It's so nice to be able to look back on my work for the year with satisfaction and to look ahead to second year. I have to register in a few weeks and choose my modules, which I'm looking forward to. I've pretty much decided on everything I want to do this year, so hopefully my choices will work out as planned.

I've been to a couple of concerts this summer. Back in June, I saw The Who at the O2, performing my all-time favourite album Quadrophenia. I was so excited because I'd been hoping and praying for them to perform that album live for years. A couple of years ago, I saw Roger Daltrey solo performing Tommy and it was one of the best gigs I've ever been to, so to see Quadrophenia as well was something truly special. It was such a perfect night.

A few weeks later, I went to see Brian May and Kerry Ellis perform an acoustic show at the Olympia. I went with my friend and Multimedia comrade Adele, and we had a great time. It was such an intimate show; you could hear a pin drop. Kerry, for those not in the know, is a former cast member of the Queen musical We Will Rock You (which I have been lucky enough to have seen on more than one occasion) and she's an unbelievable singer. We bumped into her on the way in, and she's a lovely person. Afterwards we waited outside for ages hoping to meet Brian, but alas he'd already taken off, so that was disappointing. I met him a few years ago in London when I saw We Will Rock You, and that was an amazing experience. He's truly my number one guitar hero.

I was supposed to be seeing Blur a couple of weeks ago with my sister, but unfortunately I was sick so my ticket had to be sold. I'm still gutted about that, so moving on...

Last month, I went to Leicester for a few days to visit my best friend Mona. I had a great time. It was so nice to see her again, and to explore the city she now calls home. It's a lovely place; I was very impressed. We went shopping and sightseeing, and one of the most interesting parts was going to the Richard III exhibition. Mona is a History student, and I'm a big fan of it myself, so it was an enjoyable time.

I must mention that one of the highlights of my summer has been finally getting to see Monsters University at the cinema. As a huge fan of Monsters Inc., I was unbelievably excited about this, and it didn't let me down. While in Leicester, I ran into the Disney shop and bought myself my very own Mike Wazowski! Here he is below with his Minion friend, acquired by Mona on our trip to McDonald's.

As it's my 21st birthday soon, I have some nice trips to look forward to. My lovely mother and I are going for a spa treatment next week, and then I'm going to Manchester with my dad to see United play Chelsea at Old Trafford. It's David Moyes's first home game as manager, and I can't wait.

My living arrangements are all sorted for the coming year too. I will be living closer to town this year, which means that I will have to get the bus in and out of uni each day, but it's only about a ten or fifteen minute journey depending on traffic. I'll be living with family, so that will be nice. Living on my own last year was a great life experience, even if I wasn't Larkfield's biggest fan. I can cook without poisoning myself or anyone else, and I can look after myself convincingly. It could be a bit lonely at times though, so being surrounded by people I know and love will be nice.

I can't wait for second year to start.

Home Away From Home

First week of lectures done! If that statement seems a little premature, it's not - I have Fridays off. Lucky me, eh?

Already I'm beginning to feel at home here. Isn't that great? Don't get me wrong, I'm not Larkfield's number one fan or anything. What I mean is that I'm starting to feel like I belong at DCU. The vast majority of people I have encountered have been really nice and friendly. I've started to make friends with people on my course, not to mention a Journalism student as well. Hopefully this will continue with clubs and societies, though most of the people I've been hanging out with are joining the same ones as me anyway.

So, what's it like being a Multimedia student? Pretty good so far! I'm studying four modules this semester: Multimedia Studies, Photography and Design, Authoring and Introduction to Social Studies. I'll explain a bit about each of them. Multimedia Studies is a weekly lecture which I have on Monday afternoons at 4pm - and that's my one and only lecture that day! It's basically theory which covers loads of different areas relating to graphic and lens based media forms. It seems pretty interesting, though at the moment we've only briefly touched on it. Photography and Design speaks for itself. We're learning how to use professional cameras and software like PhotoShop, and as well as the practical element there's also a lecture covering things like the history and evaluation of photography. I'm not sure how good I'm going to be at that, but we'll see how it goes. I must admit I'm not looking forward to my photography projects and presentations. Social Studies is a lecture that we share with students on two other courses - Communication Studies and Contemporary Culture and Society. As its name suggests, it's to do with sociology and concepts such as Functionalism, Marxism, Feminism and Structuralism. It's pretty interesting stuff and reminds me of some elements of studying history at school, but I'm not sure it's going to be one of my favourite parts of the course. Finally, Authoring is a module in which we learn to combine different media forms (such as sound or video) to create animations, interactive programs and menus.

So far, the most interesting module to me is Authoring, which is ironic considering the second year Multimedia students who spoke to us last week led us to believe it was horrible. It does seem challenging, but that's what you would expect from a course like this. We're currently learning to use Flash, but unfortunately we haven't been able to use the software ourselves yet because in the Mac labs we were unable to log in. Our lecturer has been showing us how everything works, but I'm looking forward to actually being able to try it out myself.

Next week I'll be able to join clubs and socities. Exciting! First on my list is the Media Production Society (known as MPS) which consists of the radio and TV stations, DCUfm and DCUtv. I've always had a huge fascination with radio, especially since I did my work experience in a station in Waterford while I was at school, so I'm dying to get involved in that. In fact, yesterday I made my debut on the air! I went to a meeting with MPS in which we were shown around the radio and TV studios, and a few of us were interviewed about how we'd like to get involved. Pretty much everyone on my course, and indeed the other courses in the School of Communications, seems to be joining MPS. As they point out, if we want careers in the media (and obviously we do, otherwise we wouldn't be on these courses in the first place) getting involved with MPS is essential. I'm also planning on joining the Music Society, as I need an outlet for my guitar playing while at university! As for what else I'm going to join - who knows!

Oh, and the oven seems to be a little bit kinder to me now. Maybe MasterChef isn't such a bad idea after all...*

 So that's it for this week. Now just wait til the projects get going! I'll barely have time to breathe.

*Nah. Still a bad idea.

My Birthday and Other Thoughts

It was my birthday on Saturday. I'm now 20 years old, which means that I will have to start behaving like a proper adult. Easier said than done! Seriously though, people keep asking me whether I feel any older. I think it's a pretty silly question. How can I possibly feel any older than I did three days ago? I will admit, however, that when I actually stopped and gave it some serious consideration I felt a bit dizzy and had to sit down in the nearest chair! Ah well, I'll get used to it.

Anyway, I had a much better birthday than last year. Mainly because it was a weekend and everyone was at home this time. Last year both my parents were working and my sisters were at school, so it was a little on the dull side until my best friend rescued me and we met up in town. This time I had a nice day at home with a few presents and a chocolate brownie cake that my sister made for me. I absolutely love brownies so it was the logical solution!

Today I met up with a few of my friends in town. It was really good to catch up with them again, as it had been way too long since I'd last seen some of them. It was also nice to be able to contribute something to the conversations about university! Although I must admit some of the scientific terms went way over my head - two of my friends are science students and one is a medical student! I seem to know quite a high number of science students - second only to those training to be teachers! I wouldn't care to study it myself, as it seems pretty intense, not to mention the fact that I wasn't much good at the science subjects at school. But I admire their ability to do it, and they seem to love it too, in spite of how difficult it is.

Speaking of degrees... getting close now! Two weeks from now I will be living in my new apartment on campus, doing god knows what. My registration information came in the post last week, including my timetable for orientation. It doesn't start until the Wednesday, so I'll be spending the first two days trying to make some friends. A daunting prospect! I have to register for my course online this week and my email and portal services will be activated 24 hours after that. I'll be able to view my timetable for the semester then too, which I'm really excited about. Knowing my luck, though, there will be a few nine o'clock starts in there! I'm going to have the following modules during the first semester: Introduction to Social Studies, Photography and Design 1, Sound Production 1, Multimedia Studies, Authoring and Introduction to Communication Theory. It'll be hard work, of course, but fun stuff nonetheless.

Can't believe it's only two weeks away! Aaahhh!

P.S. - My culinary skills are improving! Last week I conquered a long-standing fear of cooking chicken for myself. It had to be done, since I just love chicken. I have always been terrified of giving myself food poisoning, as we all know how disastrous the consequences of eating undercooked chicken can be. But I'm pleased to say it turned out perfectly. I'll never be a gourmet chef, but it's a nice accomplishment!

More Waiting

Not long left now! Just a week and a half to go... I'm feeling really quite nervous now to be honest. But also very excited at the same time. It's a rollercoaster of emotions. I'm trying desperately hard not to let my negativity and self-doubt get the better of me, but I suspect that by the time the all-important date finally arrives, I will have driven myself crackers!

Last weekend, as I mentioned I was going to do, I went to my friend Kellyann's 21st birthday party. It had been a few months since I last saw her so it was great to catch up again. It was also pretty alarming to be attending her 21st, since it only feels like about a year since I was at her 18th! Scary stuff. We're all getting old now! I went to and from the party with my aforementioned best friend Mona and her family. It was nice to get out of the house on a Saturday night, which is a rare thing for me. That makes me sound incredibly boring but trust me, if you lived where I live, you'd understand why!

Anyway, here's a pic of the three of us together... the triangle, as we call it. It's nice to have an updated one - it's been a while!

They are seriously the best friends anyone could ask for. We all met in first year of secondary school, which now feels like a lifetime ago. It's nice to know that wherever any of us may go in life, we'll always have each other. Some friendships are for keeps.

In the meantime, I am still hooked on the Olympics. They are really helping to keep my mind occupied while the waiting continues. I honestly don't know what I'd be doing if they weren't on! I'm so glad that Roger Federer got silver, even though he lost to Andy Murray, who I am not a fan of at all. Still, you can't argue with the fact that it was a well-deserved victory for Murray. I suppose it was bound to happen sooner or later... he obviously wanted revenge for that Wimbledon final! I'm also loving the athletics, particularly the sprints. How amazing is Usain Bolt? What a character! I have a huge interest in the sprints because I used to run myself and took part in a few competitions. I'll have to take it up again, because I loved it.

Five medals guaranteed for Ireland too - brilliant! Our boxers are doing really well, and tomorrow is Katie Taylor's big fight in which she has the chance to take gold. I can't wait! She is such an inspiration and a credit to the country and to the world of sport. Come on Katie! We're all behind you!