Aiesha, Film and Television BA
"Instead of conforming to what anyone else thinks, I decided to do what I want to do. And I love it!"
What is transitioning to university like?
"It was a lot of freedom! The transition to uni life was a big difference for me, especially the fact of living alone. You have to cook for yourself and do your own chores, but I loved trying out new foods without having to please my whole family.
I’ve definitely grown as a person over my first year and a half, I look after myself better, practice self-care and I feel that I’m in a healthier mood that I was at home.
Academically, I’ve developed so much through the feedback I get. I make sure to pay attention to every bit of feedback, and if I hear something twice then I know I need to work on that particular area."
I liked how the more you seek help, the more help you got. At school that’s not really possible unless you were struggling but here you can book one-to-one sessions with lecturers to talk about your assessments.
Why Film and Television?
"Initially I went to drama school but quickly decided I didn’t want to be an actress and decided to come to university. I actually applied to study sociology as I thought that would be useful in the workplace but at the last minute I changed my mind – I realised that I should choose something that was interesting to me personally, not just something that might be beneficial. So, instead of conforming to what anyone else thinks I decided to do what I want to do. And I love it!
I’m still trying to work out what I want to do, I’d love to do something fun like make my own films but also I’m interested in digital marketing. Ideally, I’d do both! I don’t want to have only one career my whole life, I like changing and mixing things up. Luckily, Film and Television is so broad that that it’ll give me access to a range of careers."
Tell us about your favourite modules
"It’s got to be Understanding Cultural Industries. Every single lesson I was learning something new. At the end of the module there was an assessment where I had to pitch an idea for my own series franchise and I loved it.
I developed the idea for a supernatural drama and chose to hypothetically pitch it to HBO. In a pitch you have to be able to communicate clearly what the show is about and why it’s going to stand out. You need to be able address key themes such as globalisation and ethics but also demonstrate that you understand the practicalities of costs. It was stressful putting everything together but it was worth it in the end as I got a first!
This project helped me to develop my research skills and learn that I need to accept that I may not be able to use everything I found. And editing, I had to delete a lot and just get straight to the point!
All my teachers are quite inspiring, they are all really motivating. Especially when I sat in a lecture and realised that one of our key texts was written by the lecturer, Roberta Pearson. That was crazy!"
What about student life outside your studies?
"Nottingham is great because there's so many nice sights to see, the Batman house, the caves and also the town centre is so close. There’s loads of parks and I love just riding my bike through Jubilee Campus it’s genuinely so pretty.
I think activity-focussed societies are great for introverts because some introverts don't want to socialise so much, they just want to do something they enjoy in their free time.
I’ve tried a couple of societies, the Art Society and African Caribbean Society. I found that I made most friends at the ACS as obviously at the Art Society everybody was very focussed on their art so it wasn’t as chatty. I enjoyed the ACS making an effort for their gatherings like game nights so that was more social. That’s the way societies are, some are more likely to be social and some focussed on an activity."
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Study Film and Television