Reflections

I am now back home in Hungary which feels great – though being 35 Celsius degrees here, I almost miss the British weather. The past weeks were very busy for me, but now I finally have time to contemplate some university-related issues that have happened recently and that are still ahead of me.

Most importantly, I received my exam results not long ago and I was really relieved to find out that both of them were successful. Even though I was impatient to get my results, when I first did (I firstly got the Media one back) I was not only happy to find out that I had good results but I was also happy because I could check the feedback of the exam, too. This was the first time that I could see the feedback of an exam which made me wonder whether I could have checked it with previous exams, too? But when later I received the result of my Film exam, there was no feedback, only the mark, as usual. So I guess it means that getting a feedback beside the mark depends on the department/module I am taking. (By feedback I don’t mean the essay-type feedback where you get a detailed summary from the lecturer. This feedback is to categorize the qualities of your exam into set terms.) At any rate, I’m really glad I received my results because only now can I start enjoying summer without being concerned about my studies!

… Well, except for one thing. During the summer, I’m supposed to come up with a decent Dissertation plan. I decided to go with a Media dissertation; we had a lecture about it in May which was really useful because now I have a sense about the whole process. However, by the time we get back in September, we will have to have a specific dissertation topic which then can be made into a proper research question. The thing is, I have loads of ideas, but I still can’t decide which is the one that I wouldn’t get bored with when I have to read some huge piles of books. There is something that I do know, though: it is that I would like to use a Content Analysis as a research method for my dissertation. This means that I will be researching media content rather than the audiences.

Relatedly to my dissertation, I had chosen my next year option modules. It didn’t go smoothly, but after some exchange of emails and corrections, I finally received my confirmation. I will be taking ‘Music as Communication’, ‘Seriality: Film, Television and other Media’, ‘Women in Cinema’ as well as ‘Media, Celebrity and Fan Culture’. How cool are these modules? Actually, I had a hard time choosing these in particular because there were a few others that I really liked. But having to choose only four out of many other interesting and exciting modules – this is the good kind of dilemma, right? As for the assessments, the good news is that none of my chosen modules have exams, rather essays and other types of coursework assessments. I didn’t know it back when I was writing my last exam in May, so I missed the opportunity of putting down my pen triumphantly, thinking: ‘yay, my last ever exam!’ Oh, well.

All in all, my university issues are settled for now. I can focus on summer, dear summer, which will contain work and fun, too. (But fun first: I’ll be heading to Transylvania in a few days!)

Until September; bye Leicester!