Lots of things have changed since I finished my degree at DCU. It was and still is a bit of a weird transiition. I was the DCU student who completely threw herself into campus life. Not only in a society capacity – but just in general. Heck! I lived on the campus for three years and had most of my nights out in the student bars there. I knew most of the faces around the place and Tuesday nights in the hub were like a family gathering. When I wasn’t in the bar, I was rehearsing somewhere within DCU’s walls, at the gym, in the chemist, at the shop or in someone elses apartment. There were even week-long periods of time when I didn’t have to leave the bubble at all. Everything I needed was there for me.

Now, I’m in a big old house in Blackrock, living with two brand new people and going to a different, much smaller college. I’m on the opposite side of the city. I’m paying gas, electric and eircom bills. I’m worried there won’t be hot water for the shower. I only found the nearest shop the other day (and I’ve been living there for 3 weeks). I take the bus or Dart in and out of town and it takes more than 15 minutes. Most importantly, I’m studying for my Masters in Broadcast Production for Radio and Television and loving every second of it.
At first I had my misgivings about doing a Masters. I was jealous of my friends who had gone out and gotten jobs. I longed to be earning a proper living (and not living off part time work!). But the minute I started this course in IADT, I knew it was the place for me. It was the next step.
In DCU, my class was 60 or so students (all of whom were fantastic people and most of which I would have loved to know more!). My class in IADT is much smaller with only 20 of us sharing a large table in a classroom. The lectures are intimate, focused and very career driven. The practical advice I’m receiving on a daily basis is priceless and our lecturers are legends in their fields! The best part about it is being constantly thrown in at the deep end. Ok, we’ve learned the theory, now we’re expected to do it. And we’ve only got an hour! CRAP.
We covered the basics of journalism and reporting and were suddenly sent out to find a story on the IADT campus. 100 words in one hour. This was made slightly more difficult by the fact that most of us hadn’t a clue where we were going! 20 of us went out – and sure enough there were 20 different stories when we came back! Most were very serious; mine was on National Condom Week haha. In addition to journalism, we’ve learned alot about on air interviews, programme genres, listened to and seen some of the great classics in TV and Radio and gotten to see “The Tudors” being filmed at Ardmore Studios.
I love my class. They’re all so driven towards what they want to do. Which, I suppose is why they’re all doing a Masters in the first place. Being so small, we’ve all had the chance to bond and we’re really getting to know each other now.
So, although I miss DCU loads, I love this new phase in my life. I will however keep a link to DCU open and revisit whenever I can. People defintely change as the years go by, but it has been my experience that friendships adapt with those changes (thank god!).