Having almost reached the end of the first year of my degree at LCA, I can certainly say it has not been what I expected or anticipated it to be. Having moved away from home the year previously to complete my Foundation Diploma in Art and Design at the Vernon Street site of the college, I thought that I would be starting my degree with a greater knowledge of what to expect regarding how work is undertaken and the format in which it is submitted at the college. How wrong I was.
From the very outset of the course it became apparent just how intensive the course was going to be. Although I was under no illusions that the course was going to be easy (as after all the course is a competitive one to get on which I was fortunate enough to achieve as it was really my only desire to attend here - no where else), I was not expectant of such a work load. I am no stranger to working on multiple briefs or having heavy work loads, nor am I a student that would ever be satisfied to have not tried my absolute best, however this was a whole new level of work previously unbeknownst to me, exacerbated by my delusion that I was prepared for the course.
The new level of required work is something that I have struggled with throughout the year due to the pressure I put on myself to achieve the absolute best in all briefs, which has been difficult to achieve due to the sheer amount required simultaneously for different modules. I feel I struggle to mentally focus on multiple things at once, with a tendency to prioritise what I deem most important at the time - though this has ultimately resulted in me not evidencing my greatest abilities in all modules and therefore ridiculing myself which has led to demotivation at times. Being a perfectionist makes life very difficult at times due to the expectations I have of myself and what I think am able to achieve - more often than not I find my aims have been unrealistic.
Poor time management and the unrealistic expectations I have of my self have ultimately been my greatest downfall during the first year. Time goes so very fast and it only takes a few days of poor productivity to majorly impact scheduling and the ability to keep up with work once fallen behind with new work being set everyday.
In addition to the pressures I have experienced from the academic side of the course, I also struggled with the social aspect of the course also for the majority of the first year - having only recently settling within a group of friends. After experiencing life in a shared flat during my foundation, I knew it was not something I was able to go through again due to the way I live my life - being very clean and very tidy. This meant when booking my accommodation for university I decided to go into a studio flat, with my own room, kitchen and living area. Though I know this was the right thing to do, I believe it may have contributed to my feelings of social anxiety and isolation as making friends and meeting new people was harder for me to accomplish.
During both my foundation and first year of my degree, my experiences as a student have been somewhat typical, learning to budget and live without the constant in-person support of family. Also, I identify how the first few weeks of a course are concerned with the spreading of information, receiving perhaps hundreds of flyers, leaflets and posters concerned with student events and being given free promotional material - most of which ends up in the bin due to the sheer amount and dis-useful purpose.
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