Tutorial 1 Week 2

Hi my name's Brooke!

I'm currently studying a Bachelor of Communications at Griffith Uni, waiting to graduate so that I can begin working and doing what I want to do.

In the next five years I see myself working overseas as a journalist, starting out in the UK and continuing on to wherever life may take me.

I am an easy-going person, I always strive to be the best person I can be and am always working towards my dreams. I have ambition, passion and love for what I do, and above all, try to be "real" in every situation that presents itself to me. I live life to the fullest and make the most out of every opportunity that comes within my reach.

As said previously, I am in the second year of my degree and have set up this weblog as part of my 'New Communications Technologies' course. Each week will be updates as to my thoughts and opinions on lecture and tutorial topics, and how studying is affecting my career choice!

So let's begin by talking about my thoughts on the course so far. I have to say that I was slightly hesitant when enrolling in this first year subject. Not that I had heard horror stories, but I was sceptical as to how relevant the course would be to me. Needless to say, after the second week, I am enjoying the lectures, and find the topics somewhat interesting.

In our lecture today, we studied how communication concepts have changed during the 20th Century. Now I must admit, most of my notes were scrawled in dodgy shorthand, from me frantically trying to get everything down, before remembering the lecture notes are posted on the net anyway.. Therefore, half of what I have written in those two hours is practically illegible, but some of it I did manage to retain!

For me, studying communications is just a stepping stone to what has been a life-long ambition for me. I have always dreamed of being flown to far off exotic places, reporting on the latest events. (As I am sure, that is also the dream of 80% of the people in my class..)

I believe that learning about the history of the communications industry helps students to grasp how far we have come with the age of technology. Take for instance the computer: I was in another tutorial today and my tutor said that he was one of the first people to legally use type instead of print when working at a newspaper. As I looked around the room at the sea of blank faces before me, I understood what it is that Stephen is trying to get across to us in lectures, ie, that we have to know where we have come from in the age of media, to be able to theorise about where we are going. The students around me seemed to be unable to imagine a newsroom without computers, a newsroom without technology, a newsroom where reporters had to use a pen and paper for everything they did!

Over the summer break i had the pleasure of working at the Bulletin for two weeks. It was quite an experience. The main thing I learned there is that at university, what we learn out of a textbook is valuable in its own way, but you really can't beat work experience, and getting out there and learning from those who have the experience, and know what they are doing. You can watch them at work, do what I did: sit and marvel at how easy they make everything look.

More about today's lecture in a later post, when I go home a decipher what my notes say, so I am not rambling on about nothing in my blog!

Well that's it for today, I believe that Adam and I will be the only ones lucky or stupid enough to read this, so HI ADAM! HOPE I HAVEN'T BORED YOU YET!

more soon.

~ b