Dear Radi,

First of all, how are you? Or wait you do not have to answer me that, as I know that you are probably a bit scared to go on your first trip abroad away from everything you love and know. But I also understand that you are anxious to go and explore this world with its many secrets and adventures that life will offer to you.
But you should not be afraid because although at some moments you would probably feel like giving up, there are so many things worth fighting for and moving forward.

You should appreciate what you have because not everyone has the same luck as you do, to go and study abroad and meet new people. Life is short and despite how trivial this may sound, it is true. Therefore it will all be worth it: the sleepless nights, the tension before handing in your course works, going out with friends and partying until dawn- all of that is part of a moment, a moment of your youth that if you do not keep and explore, you will lose something than you will never be able to get back.

I am sure that you have many goals and on the way up to success it will not be easy, but is it really suppose to be. The harder it is sometimes, the sweeter the win from what you have accomplished will be. I know that you are expecting to meet new people and hopefully make friends who will be there for you for the future years of your life, but remember, the world is full of people, all kinds of people. Some of them will try to probably make your life harder, other will not like you, third will respect you for who you are and your personality. My advice will be to you, always stay true to yourself, because no matter how difficult things may seem at one point, at the end of the day, your individuality will be the one thing that would make you stand out from the crowd.

Another dream that you have is to succeed in a country that is not your home. Many fears and challenges are embedded in this aim. Firstly, this is not your native language, secondly, each nation has their mentality making things a little more complicated. But as I am sure you will be able to go through that and prove to yourself and many others that you can keep up with everything and will not give up, no matter what.

Enjoy your life at the university, every single day because once it is over it will stay forever in the past. Only the memories of it will remain, therefore you should make the best out of it and when you are asked how was your day or week, to be able to say: ‘I got the most of it’.

Good luck, my dear and always keep your head up.

Love,

Radina

Radio advert:

I am extremely happy with what we were able to achieve with the radio advert and how well it worked. It was mainly Rob’s hard efforts put into it for the success of it. I think that the ad sounds professional and the techniques that we used for the making of it are good.

Global Care trailer:

This was the trickiest task we were assigned. Firstly because it had to be made as a trailer, not a film. Secondly, because we needed to come up with a really good concept behind it, so that it would make sense to everyone and since the purpose of it was to make the target audience (age 18-25) raise money, we worked hard on it.

I was pleased with the idea of making it look as a documentary film trailer, as I personally believe this is the best way to make a person fundraise.

My team and I did good work with it on AVID, but when it came to exporting it to Quick Media the sound and picture got distorted. Despite the fact we were not able to show the original piece of work we did on it, I am still pleased with it.

Music video:

The third assignment was to create a music video based on a poem. We were given four options to choose from and we finally decided to create one around the poem ‘Because I Could Not Stop For Death’ by Emily Dickinson. We came up with a good representation of our ideas and I am happy with this project.

Silent film:

The final piece of work was to produce a silent film. Unfortunately, we had the same bad luck as with the film trailer when exporting the film. Altogether I am pleased with this project as well.

This term was short and it passed by so quickly. Luckily I enjoyed every single moment of it. Despite some of the stressful moments we had to go through, at the end of the day you realise it was all worth it and is part of being a student. I am proud of the hard work each one of my colleagues put into this module and if I had to do it all over again, I would gladly agree.

It has been one year full of excitement and amazing moments since you left your home and went to university. I know that you have grown up a lot now and learnt so many new things.

You travelled around, found new friends, improved your English and your way of writing. I am proud of you and you should be proud of yourself too. You had some hard moments, but managing to continue and stand up and now finishing your first academic year, you should now that one of your goals has already half way been achieved- to succeed. There are some things you could have done better, I am sure, especially when it comes to course works, but the marks you got are good as well. Next year you will know how to make a better grade and get a bit more of high opinion from others about yourself and from you as well.

You have learned how to be more patient and to require more and better performing from yourself when it came to representing your skills for the different modules you had.

I know that one of your main features is always wanting more, so in that sense I am sure that next year you will do even better.

Have fun my dear and we will talk again.

Best wishes,

Radina

I was extremely eager to go and see this production, as my ultimate passion is documentary films and it is what I want to do in the future as a journalist.

The film titled ‘’Mugabe and the White African’’, with a Bafta and an Oscar nomination explores the challenges of one family strongly refusing to leave the land they call home and taking measures to protect what is theirs by taking to court the President of Zimbabwe himself, Robert Mugabe.

Filming covertly with no funds to support them and having illegally to get their equipment in by boats at night, in order not to face imprisonment, Bailey explained the importance of shooting the film- describing what is happening in a country where there are almost no human rights applied from legally and how white people suffer from that.

Although we all live in the 21st century and we have some clue about what people from third world countries are subjected to, this film comes as a bit of a shock to the audience, seeing how discrimination can endanger somebody’s life.

As to what encouraged Bailey and her partner, Andrew Thompson, not to give up on the insanely dangerous road they were walking, she said that it was the resilience of this family and everything they had gone through, that gave them the courage to keep shooting.

Asked as to what were the main difficulties they had, she recalled that one of them was filming at the hospital, after Mike Campbell, referred in the film as the ‘’white African’’ and his son-in-law suffered severe injuries after being beaten up.

I was quite interested to know how they were allowed to film in the court, as it is widely known that here in England that is illegal, so I asked her. She responded that due to her persistence and constantly asking the authorities to give her permission, they finally let her film. But her success was essentially because of what she said to them, which was that the world needs to know what is happening and something has to be done about this situation.

One of the audience members questioned her whether the Zimbabweans threatening the Campbell’s knew about the cameras and she replied that they knew about them, but because they thought it is just something the family is filming for themselves, they did nothing to prevent them from shooting.

Being a film maker, Bailey prefers to tell stories of real life with real heroes, considering that they could be more compelling compared to Hollywood dramas. As to her expectations of this documentary, she hopes that the film will have an impact on many people, as well as the different governments that will make decisions for helping the people there.

I was pleased to see the film, as it was very well made and in a sense inspired me to follow my dreams in these particular sphere of journalism, despite the danger I will face, with the aim that there are stories that need to be told for the good of other’s.

Previously working as a PR director of Land Rover, managing director of a publishing company, director of an advertising agency and former motoring editor of the Independent, originally only journalism students were expected to attend the Coventry Conversation. But his tremendous influence in the car media industry gathered also people from the PR and advertising courses.

I was interested to hear about his practice and views on today’s journalism development and also his past experience stories that led him up to where he stands now.

Surprisingly, to me, right at the beginning of the conversation he offered his help if anyone needed it for their CVs and he said he will give some us a hand, if asked.

Being fascinated from an early age with cars, one of his dreams was to work for Car magazine. Eventually he was lucky enough, as he put it, that the editors from Britain’s second biggest car magazine risked with him and offered him a job.
He also spoke his mind when saying that the world has changed and cars from the 70s as well. Asked on who helped with the development of Car he said that Murdock funded it and offered his help, which resulted in much more sales.

Continuing the interesting talk, Green emphasized on something that botheres him- the change he sees in editors nowadays and how different they are from what once when he worked they were. As he put it, sadly saying, editors today spend a lot of time talking to their advisors and pay attention to how much money the magazine earns, instead of producing and making sure that it goes out to the market is a good product, which is the key to success.

Saying what are the pros and cons of taking upon his serious job, he outlined that an editor is the person that has to make his mind up, be creative, work with people well and undoubtedly make tough calls.

Referring to the students in the room, Green said that the media is not a place that lasts for too long, simply because it is a fast changing business. And even if we stay for too long in it, eventually we will have to adapt to it.

Continuing in the same manner, he added that one of the next innovations in the media world will be the IPod. It will change the world, meaning that the death of newspapers may come soon and because of the small screen definition the IPod has, articles will be shorted up to 200-300 words and more videos will be put.

Questioned about what is the difference between journalism and PR, he commented that journalists have the freedom to be themselves and write openly, while working for a PR company means that you will have to be somebody else’s mouth piece.

Green finished the conversation by giving a valuable advice to all students in the room. Makes no difference of the job we will one day pursue, he recommended that we should all be enthusiastic about what we are/will be doing and show that we are different from the others in order to get a certain post.

I enjoyed very much this talk as it was useful to hear an experienced journalist and an editor who has been in the media sphere for 25 years. The audience left the room satisfied with the tips they got and the stories they heard from Gavin Green.

The highly enjoyed Coventry Conversation contributed to the Nigerian students in Coventry University, welcomed special guests from Guaranty Trust Bank and Orion Pax who outlined how incredibly privileged the students are in comparison to their compatriots.

Sharing not only their personal experiences, the two guests made their main point by emphasizing on how lucky the audience in the room is to live in a country where entrepreneurship and self-employment are given a big opportunity.
Mr. Wale Oyedeji, managing Director of Guaranty Trust Bank, added that as well as living in a generation where people only have to grow up with technologies instead of adapt to them as he did, the variety of options available nowadays to be captain of our own destiny are numerous.

Asking for students to demand more of themselves and make the best of the golden opportunities they are offered, he said motivation is the key to success and an important goal in one’s mind should be to build something that last forever. At the end of his speech he advised the Nigerian students that while success teaches people how to move forward and go ahead, failure on the other hand, teaches to never go backwards.

Dr. Eugene Mgbemere, CEO and Founder of Orion Pax Ltd, continued in the same manner, encouraging students to purchase their goals. Started the organisation Global Skills Partnership that has given many ethnic minorities chance to learn, progress, train and personally develop, he strongly recommended to the students in the room to let their community know them, accept them and do exactly these things that will make the society recognize you as part of it.

Nevertheless, despite the unemployment, high level of crime, kidnapping and rioting that has taken place over the last decades, the two guests agreed on how special Nigeria is, by describing it as a land of opportunities line no other. Reminding of where the audience came from, Mr Oyedeji ended the conversation by stating Nigeria is habitat of peace, unity and future prosperity that would always remain as their collective responsibility.
The two guest speakers were applauded and thanked for their time and the speeches gave.

I enjoy involving myself in different disciplines when I am outside the university. There are many things I love to do but the one that stands out the most is writing articles, contributing to the Buzz or CU Today.

The one extracurricular activity I am engaged with is being, since the Easter holiday, one of the editors of the Buzz and previously being a contributor to it. It has been one of my biggest dreams to write for the university’s Media and Communication Department newspaper and develop my techniques of writing with every single day.

As a future journalists to me it is very important to keep learning, because as Jana Bennett, director of Vision has said in one of the Coventry Conversations, whether there is perfection in journalism, she answered: ‘’There is no perfection in journalism, but journalism is about striving for perfection’’.

As a foreign student to me is a must to be fluent in English and knowing how to engage people with the articles I write. Therefore the Buzz and CU Today are the perfect platform to express myself(in a certain way), improve my language skills and get more useful and gain professional experience. It is just one step up the way of experience that I will build upon with time, but it is good to start from somewhere.

During the Easter holiday Coventry University welcomed television presenter, Peter York on 8 April, who discussed his charmed life as style editor of one of the world’s top magazines and now PR guru.

He is known as a commentator on ‘’lifestyle’’ and spoke of what he saw as the horror of sport clothing of London high life. Giving his opinion on terms such as ecstatic pollution, cultural appropriation, urban jungles etc, and referring to the origin of advertising, dating from the 1960s, he made a point of how fashionistas differed from other people and the way they suffered from it.

On the recent exhibition, called ‘Fashion v Sport’, at the Herbert Art Gallery and in the book that goes with it, it is examined the difference of people’s ideals of mixing clothes and the way ordinary people dress. York continued by saying what were the negatives to the people willing to spend an enormous amount of money for a certain label, outlining how these people do not pay attention to the meaning of symbolism that goes with it.

Dressed in silk suit and with bouffant hair, he put the audience to shame berating the wearing of trainers and sweatshirts. Many in the audience, hid their trainers as he was talking. Controversial, informed and always entertaining, York lived up to his billing as a top raconteur.

Later he engaged the audience at the Herbert Gallery with more tales of horrific lifestyle clothing.
The talk was a part of the exhibition in connection with the Victoria and Albert museum and the talks by top photographers and fashion icons was arranged by Paul Smith.

The advert is about a person presenting Clarks’ shoes with a disability. The main aim when making this ad was not to focus on the certain disability the woman on the left has, but it is about a woman who despite her physical condition enjoys life and portrays how comfortable the shoes she is trying are.

Because she is blind, she cannot see the model of the shoes or their colour, to her they are just something that she wears when walking on the street and all she can do is feel by touch how they look and how comfortable they are.

There have been many adverts made about people with disabilities,most of them emphasizing by using close up shots, the disability the person is destined to live with for the rest of their lives. But the main concept behind making this type of ads and putting on screen something good, is that the ad should not focus so much on whether the people are deaf, blind or without a limp. It is about people who are strong and keep living their lives despite all the difficulties and enjoy what they have.

At first glance the audience cannot really see if the woman has a disability and what exactly it is. In that sense the ad has achieved its purpose and did not try to show a blind woman trying on shoes, for the sake of the company’s product.

The so called ‘forgotten’ war was the subject of a four-hour conference, where reporters and professors discussed whether journalists are embedding the truth about Afghanistan.

During the conference it was touched upon on few main topics regarding whether there is an access to the whole truth about Afghanistan and can journalism reports be trusted.

The first one to speak in front of the audience was Vaughan Smith, once a soldier and now a free lance video journalist, who stated that one of the biggest issues he and his co-workers are facing, is the accessibility of getting the truth from only one side of the story. A reason for that is because what they are getting through the embedding is everything else but seeing the victims, which as he put it, is the fundamental problem journalists have. He showed to the small audience two pictures: one of a woman with a baby on her hands who were suffering from poverty and another one of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombing. What he wanted to prove with that was the way media represents both incidents and how much more attention is being paid to the second photo compared to the first one.

The conversation was taken upon by Stuart Ramsey, chief correspondent for Sky News, who continued in the same matter, saying that what is reported is what is seen from the side reporters see it. But it is not just about one angle of the story, as all journalists know that, there is also another angle that need to be shown. He added that during the embedding period, which could last for months, journalists on some occasions become close to the people they are working with. Makes no difference whether they are embedded within the talibans or British soldiers, sometimes even the best reporters choose to broadcast inaccuracies, in favour of the people they had lived with. Having these cases in mind, Ramsey was questioned as to whether the viewers/readers can or should believe the reports they receive. He replied that a journalist will try to report what they see as best as they can.

After his talk, it was turn for Tim Luchurst, Professor of Journalism at Kent University and once a reporter himself to get on the ‘stage’. He spoke about the difficulty of getting access to the whole truth, pointing out that a reason for that is, journalists are not asking hard questions

Next was Jonathan Marcus, BBC’s diplomatic correspondent, who agreed with what his colleagues have already talked about. He, on his side, stated that one of the reasons for not completely embedding the truth, is because of the government that decides how much information to give out to the media.

I kept listening to this intriguing conference as it became even more and more interesting. After all media representers spoke out their mind it was Brigadier Mark van der Lande turn to comment on the topic of the conversation. He pointed out why embedding is good as to the public’s interest, as well as to presenting what soldiers are doing. Which was that soldiers’ stories must be told as well, because it is important to them and it is not about manipulating the truth in any way. He ended his short speech by saying that it is also about journalists to see the facts and make their own judgements.

I personally think that embedding the truth in Afghanistan must continue and there is so much more that needs to be shown. I was happy to attend the conference and I learned a lot about reporting, from what the guests had said and from the short bits documentaries they showed us.