First piece of Journalism

Here it is....

Rihanna pictured smoking marijuana joint.

The latest twist in Rihanna’s relationship with ex-boyfriend, Chris Brown, appears to have sent her into a downward spiral of despair, after she tweets a picture of herself smoking a marijuana joint, with the caption, ‘breakfast in bed’.

 

Rihanna, who is preparing for her ‘777’ tour, looked to be back on track between herself and Chris when the rapper, earlier this month, announced his split from model, Karrueche.

 

[Text Box]However, the next day he released a video in which he lamented being in love with both women: ‘Is there such a thing as loving two people?

‘I don’t know if that’s possible, but for me I feel like that’.

 

Friends of the 24 year-old Pop-Star are in genuine fear she is on the brink of a full blown breakdown, saying: “She’s worked so hard to build their relationship over the past year.

 

“To see Chris and Karrueche again must have been utterly devastating, not to mention humiliating. We’re not sure how much more she can take before she has a total breakdown.”

 

At the start of the week, Chris and Rihanna appeared to have put the setbacks behind them when they were photographed kissing at a television launch. But two days later, Karrueche was seen leaving Chris’ apartment.

 

Another source of Rihanna added: “His game-playing is so confusing for Ri, she simply doesn’t understand why he needed to see Karrueche.”

 

What did you think!?

Sorry I've been hibernating...

... amongst theoretical books, trying to grasp the idea of mythology, writing endless amounts of news stories and hiding away from the hideous weather that we call Winter.

But I am back, and I would like to share with you some of the work that I have been producing for my Magazine Journalism course. They are only snippets of tasks that we had to complete in our seminars, so nothing too fancy, but I thought it would be a good idea.
Please don't hesitate to comment, I love others opinions, it's the only way I can improve for next time! :)

 

Winning...

The start of the Season for Solent netball got underway with a successful win against Winchester, winning 32-22. At some points during the game with a mixture of different combinations within the team, we did lose at least two quarters. However, with the starting line-up being the original team from last year, we had a great lead into the second half.
With different combinations throughout the game, I managed to come on as WA for the last quarter. I found it hard to determine where each of the players were going to run through the court, which made it hard for us to get the ball down the court. But when we did, it was very successul and looked very fluent. So a good game played by all.

Last night was the social night for the sports teams, with the netball girls going by the theme of 'ABC' (anything but clothes), so me and Abi walked 15 minutes through the town of Southampton wearing a bed sheet and a pillor case for dresses. Convienently, my bed sheet was very thick, so didn't get too cold! Others dressed in washing baskets and shower curtains, was a great sight!

Lectures 12-2 today, then off to the gym. Going to head into WestQuay to purchasde a pair of scales, so I can kick of this detox! Going to be a chilled day today as I got in at 2.30 this morning, absolutely knackered!!!

A lack of consistency

The last two weeks of staying up late trying to out-do my flat mates in 'who-can-stay-up-the-longest', has finally caught up with me. I managed to sleep for 11 hours the night before last and decided to go out last night, stupid idea! The lack of sleep is messing with my mind, especially when I shock it by sleeping for hours upon end, then to have no hours the next day, I need to introduce some consistency to my sleeping pattern sometime soon, otherwise I may not survive till Christmas!

First Uni netball match against Winchester today (not sure whether it's a college or University?!) But looking forward to it after our first training session of the Season on Sunday. Very complicated set plays were learnt, if I remember them today it will be a miracle! But will report after the match later on!

Apart from that, everything seems to be going well. Going to ask Mum to invest in some scales to weigh myself with, cannot stand not knowing where I am with my diet and weight!!! Another thing that I am lacking in consistency with, as when I was at home, every morning I would be on thse scales, seeing if last night's Walnut Whip had directed itself somewhere between my waist and thighs.

Will report back later, cheerio for now! :)

Emotional reunions!

I've realised since I've been here that the only times I feel homesick are those when other people start talking about going home for the weekend, or when I hear other people beginning to get homesick, it's like a chain reaction- when one starts another ten follow!

Yesterday Mum and Dad visited for the first time since I've been here. Munching our way through cakes, Calzone and even more carbs not only do I feel really guilty about eating so much, but I also realised how much I miss my home comforts! We had a really nice day though, walking the QE2 mile because Mum was intent on knowing where EVERYTHING is in proximity to me!

Today I'm going to venture to Portswood, the area which I have been assigned to for Solent Splash newspaper. So I want to gain contacts within this area, which will ultimately give me a base to start creating news stories fot the newspaper :)
Then it's off to the gym to start burning off the calories overload which I consumed yesterday, then off to thirs round of netball trials, hopefully they will come to a conclusion this time!! So a busy day for me :)

oversized nappies...

£20 pounds lighter, ten of it not even spent and most probably in someone elses pocket, lucky sod. The other half, well I just can't remember! All in all it was the best night I've had since arriving here and personally, one of the drunkest I've had, ever.

The Solent netball team promised for the best night out and they certainly didn't dissapoint. With £4 jugs of cider, 5 Jager-Bombs for £10 and numerous other distasteful concuctions that they had invented I was sure to have a night that I just wouldn't remember.
Along with the girls, they rugby team ventured out onto the freezing streets of Soton, wearing nappies. It was their initiation night and the Freshers fashioned over-sized nappies which were obviously very unconfortable for them, chaffing central! Dummies were being sucked and bibs were soaking up whatever was being missed by their mouths, a very funny sight, especially when they were drinking out of petrol cans.

And after that, I just can't remember....

As for today, one lecture at 12 then I'm off to the gym to sweat out the mind numbing liquid that I intoxicated. Then later on, Student Lock-In at West Quay shopping centre with my flat mates. Up to 30% off in every shop? Yes Please!!

What I think of me....

I would say that I’m just an average eighteen year old girl who is looking to pursue a career in Magazine journalism, but maybe that is why many people describe me as ‘modest’.

However, this task has thrown up quite a few things that could back this description, which I haven’t thought about before. I don’t tend to follow any style, groups or even have a best friend that I have known for years and talk to every day, which many others do.

 

‘Modest’ describes someone who doesn’t boast about their previous accomplishments, but maybe that is because I still don’t have the same level of confidence as other people. This is something I would like to change.

I don’t see myself as someone who is determined to go straight down a one way path; I like to be adventurous in what I plan to do. Taking steps to the left, right and even backwards if I feel like I could have done better in something is the way I go about my life. Maybe that’s another adjective I could use to describe myself as, adventurous.

 

Magazine Journalism at Southampton university, I hope and I know, will offer me experiences that no one else will ever have the chance to take and this thought boosts my confidence by 1% every time I think about it. So by the end of the three gruelling, stressful and unbelievably amazing years I hope to see a different person in the mirror, as to what I see today.

 

I want to change from being ‘Grace Jalowiecka- the modest young girl who went to Southampton to study journalism, to ‘Grace Jalowiecka- the aspiring, young, journalistic talent’.

 

This is the first piece of work I wrote for my course :)

Technical glitch and Freshers Flu

It's not all fun and games at Uni, especially when you want to post on your blog when the internet connection is down in halls, greeeeaaaaaatttt. But I'm back now so all is good!

Today, sitting in lectures/seminars and all the other classes that I can't remember the names of, I realised how 'The Flu' can really travel places, into every nook and cranny of peoples clothing and how saliva droplets can settle on every millimeter of your skin. No wonder 99% of the Mag Journalism students are coughing in unison and after every breath the lecturer makes, so they don't feel guilty about coughing and spluttering over their voice. I would say I'm the ever immune 1% left out of this crowd, however I have already experienced this ever lingering bout of horribleness already. A bit of a chesty cough a few days after arriving, but it's gone now so fingers crossed I won't be infected with anything else that crawls the corridors of my new home. :)

Felt homesick yesterday after hearing my fellow and closest housemate Sammy left after she decided that her course of Sports Coaching and Development wasn't for her, which reminded me of the last time I was at home, with Mum, Dad and Solomon (my cat, and yes I know it's an hilarious and wacky name for a cat, but it wasn't my idea, it was my Mum's!) But luckily I still have 4 other housemates who cheered me up and put the smile back on my face!! (Thank you Sophie and Michael <3)

As for Uni, my course seems to unravel unexpected topics every day. Studying the News and how it develops, to analysing 'what makes a good journalist'? I'm enjoying it so far, but the timetable is hard with two hour breaks inbetween lectures, what am I supposed to do in that time!!?? It will soon find out once I receive my assignments ;)

Going to chill and catch up on TOWIE now, Cheers 'en!!!

Sunday Chores

What a busy and productive day!

Started at 10 at the gym for an hour (would have done more, but after the trials yesterday, I couldn't move). First time I had been there since I signed up on Friday, and it's so much cleaner/modern tat the one back at home, and only for £15.99 a month, so good!
Then I ventured onto ASDA to get some food, most of it vegetables because I can't stand eating pasta and tomato sauce anymore!
Thirdly, I got home and for the first time, used the uni washing machines/dryers, first time for everything! Pretty simple but forgot to put the fabric conditioner in, so my clothes aren't smelling as lovely as they would back at home if Mum did it for me!!

Onto tonight, Chase and Status and many more big DJ's playing at Oceana tonight, but can't be staying up too late otherwise I won't be looking too good tomorrow morning falling asleep in my lectures!

Time to get some food!

Trials day

I had Solent netball trials today! Successful alongside 4 other girls an through to the final round of trials on Wednesday! Only annoying thing- I have lectures on a Wednesday, so I may not be able to make the BRitish colleges games, which is really disappointing because netball is a really big part of my life! But we will see how things turn out I guess.
Spending the night in with the boys watching American football and currently having a VERY healthy dinner, yummy!!

BNO

Crazy night last night. Managed to get round most of the list! Incredible queues, fantastic memories. Oceana you will ever disappoint!

Surviving the first week of Uni!

So for many of us, it's coming up to the first/second week of being away from home and getting used to 'student life', but I can honestly say that I've had a great time so far!

Starting with our first guest speaker (who is also going to be teaching on our course for a few weeks) Jessica David, the beauty editor of Glamour magazine and also a freelance writer for other high end magazines. Jessica gave us an insight into her experience of doing English and Journalism at University, then moving onto work experience, where that led her to gaining a place at her first job! She had invaluable techniques to gaining the most out of the course, such as:

• Use social media- start blogging, twitter, facebook, anything that will start getting you noticed and gaining networks to gain the work experience that you will need.
• Choose essays and practical work wisely and really look into depth at the story/ route that you want to cover.
• Write in your own free time, either in a blog, a college/university magazine, as this will broaden your writing experience and help to influence your writing style over a period of time.

Jessica also had top tips for work experience and how to gain the best places:

• Start  applying around now (the start of your course) as many institutions have waiting lists of up to a year.
• Keep your cover page an email short (less is more) and straight to the point, editors don't like to read covers that go on forever and try to impress with their knowledge of the magazine (although this is always good to have)
• Always apply for internships during the summer, as editors like to see you for an extended period of time in the work place, the longer the better.

Jessica was a great inspiration to start working now, as the work really does start here. It's made me realise that this course is going to be hard, but if I do the work and push myself then it will defnitely pay off!

Secondly Farrah Storr- Editor of Women's Health Magazine UK visited us and just like Jessica has had a wirlwind of a career even though they are still quite young! It really shows that a career in Journalism is such a life changing job. Also like Jessica, Farrah spoke about gaining the experience in the work place and as the editor of the magazine she has had many work experience people joining her and she said that the ones who stand out, are the ones who WANT to work hard and stick around from 9 in the morning till 8 at night, commitment really does shine and she said that she always build relationships with her employees at this time because in the day, there really isn't any time to communicate on a personal level.

With plenty more valuable and amazing guest speakers inbetween, Thursday was the day everyone was excited about!

Stooshe, the English 3 piece girl band, who have had hit songs in the charts such as 'blackheart' and 'love me' came in for an hour long press conference just for the journalism students. WIth hands flying up in the air and people wantin to ask them questions, I finally had my chance right at the end. I asked them how they would sum the band up in three words, with the response "cool, raw and versatile", which really does sum them up. After 3 acoustic versions of their songs, and 2 new ones from their upcoming album, it was time for them to get back on their tour bus after being up till 5 this morning recording for the album!!!

So all in all, my first week at Southampton Solent Uni has been pretty awe-inspiring and magical. It had opened up so many oppurtunities and directions which journalism can take you! Let the next 3 years commence!

Interviewing stooshe

Here for first year magazine journalists interview and this is only my first week studying the course, so much more to come. Will update with full interview soon!

Freshers Fair

Freshers Fair began today and I have come home with more stuff than I bought with me to Uni, but the best things in life are always free, ha! Free Domino's pizza is the way forward!
But would defnitely recommend it to any upcoming Freshers :)

Apart from that, it's been a quiet day in the DMA residence, everybody doing their own thing, so I'm going to start on my 300 word blog that I have to hand in on Friday (about my introductory week at Uni). Celebrity guests coming in tomorrow for a press conference, not sure who they are yet though, so should be...interesting!?

So going to chill in my onsie and drink green tea whilst I do that, then going to catch up on some TV and skype Mum!

Hello there...

Hey guys!

I'm Grace, and I thought I'd start up a blog to enhance not just my social networks, but also to build a portfolio of creativity that will hopefully come from doing this!

I started Southampton Solent Uni last Thursday and I'm doing a BA Hons degree in Magazine Journalism and Feature writing, which entails all aspects of the magazine industry and how to grow as an all round journalist. Through out the course I'm going to be looking for work experience from all types of magazines and different genres, as I think this will boost my confidence when I finish my degree and start to look for a job in the big, vast world!! (So if anyone has any experience or knows anyone that I could get into contact with to help me with my quest, that would gratefully appreciated!)

But first impressions of Southampton are that it's a really nice and friendly place! I've met friendly and welcoming people, not just in my halls but around the town as well. The shopping experience here is amazing, nothing like I've ever been to before, WestQuay is EPIC! So I'll be posting reviews of different products that I will be buying, (both fashion and beauty).

Anyway, enough for now, will post sometime soon!