I also have so much planned for the next up and coming few weeks that I am beginning to wish there were more hours in a day and more days in a week.
A few days after I graduated back in July I made the exciting decision I wanted to go back to university and get a higher level degree in some form of Journalism and ideally Sports Journalism. I knew I didn't want to leave the horses again and move away from home so I decided that I would look what the University of Lincoln had to offer. Thankfully they had a Masters degree Sports Journalism course and so I set about the difficult task of applying to get on to it.
I don't know why but I found applying for university this time round much more complex. At least for my undergraduate degree I had 5 options of where I could study and UCAS did most of the hard work for me. This was left up to me and it was worrying thinking how on earth I would pay for the masters course - with there being no student finance options. I had to write a 450 word personal statement basically saying why I deserved a place on the course, what qualities I would bring and why I had a passion for journalism.A couple of weeks ago I submitted my application and all I could do was hope for the best. It was an agonising wait but sure enough that email arrived to tell me I had been accepted simply based on my references! I was over the moon to say the least.
My NCTJ accredited course at De Montfort University wasn't sports based at all. I could have chosen a sports journalism module to take in the third year but after discussing with the module leader what would be covered during the year I decided it wasn't the module for me. If I was going to do to sports I needed a course that didn't focus on the popular sports, like football, rugby and cricket. Equestrian journalism is such a niche market and I accept that, but I knew I needed a course that would allow me to explore equestrian journalism. So, in my final year at DMU I chose to study magazine journalism instead and absolutely loved it.
So, as you can imagine, being given the opportunity to study a sports journalism course is rather exciting. We are allowed to explore which sports we wish and unlike my undergraduate degree focuses a lot on broadcasting and radio; something I have not studied before.
Yesterday I traveled to Lincoln to enroll and am really looking forward to starting next week properly. I cannot wait to see what opportunities this course brings me - especially after the course leaders saying how many fantastic contacts they have. I am sure I will enjoy it. Look out for further updates as I now take you on my journey through a masters degree. I am adamant it will mean lots more hard work and time, but if it means I get the job I want because of it then I feel it is well worth the time, effort and money.
What makes it even more better is that I can stay at home whilst studying this time, meaning I don't have to leave the horses behind during the week. This is something I found difficult during the three years of my undergraduate degree and am thankful I have the support to be able to stay near to home this time.
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I also have a new farrier and am absolutely thrilled with the work he has already done. He goes out of his way to please his customers, offer them advice and explain what he is doing and why. I told him I thought Ceaser's feet were too long and I wanted him to go without toe clips from now as it looked neater for when I am competing. Going without toe clips can help a horses conformation in more ways than one; not only does it make the feet look straighter if they aren't already, but it also doesn't show up conformation issues should there be any. I'm lucky Ceaser has good conformation but like the overall picture of clip-less shows better for when competing. Anyway, he obliged and agreed and has done a fantastic job on Ceaser's feet. I was sad to see my old farrier go but we are still in touch. Unfortunately he lives quite far from our yard and couldn't justify coming over this far anymore when he was so busy closer to home. However, we are all thrilled with the new one and happy with the results so far. I also cannot believe how quickly HOYS is approaching. I still haven't booked my hotel for the few days I am there reporting. On the Friday the whole of the yard is going for a yard trip so that will be lovely. I think though that I need to get saving as can see it being very expensive with all those tempting stalls to shop on.....
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