Ashif Alucin
Welcome to my blog
UAL Level 3 Creative Media
UCAS:
Today I was told to look up universities and research UCAS. I was also given a buzzword that I connected with my account that I made some time ago. Luckily it allowed me to connect the buzzword, which meant that I did not have to make a new account to link my UCAS with my college.
I started to fill out the details needed for my UCAS account:
After i filled out some basic information i already knew i decided to start researching some universities using the UCAS search tool and writing up what course i want to do.
After i found some universities that i liked and added them into my choices because of what they offer:
This screenshot may look confusing because of the course i am looking at. A month ago after really thinking i decided that if i am to go to a university i would want to study Psychology over Film production. This choice is still confusing for me and i did not discuss it with anyone yet. Therefore i sent my tutor an email explaining my thought process and situation. My tutor sent me a quick email back letting me aware that there is something called joint degrees and that is something she did. If you look at my second course choice, you can see i found a very nice course because of this.
Before the sending the email me and peers did also sit in to listen to a lady that has a lot more knowledge about the UCAS system explaining how UCAS works. She had informed as of word count and what the admissions team would be looking at more in depth and she also offered her personal help when needed. I found out her office is in my college building.
UAL Qualification:
I had noticed that the qualification that i gain after completing my current course is not familiar to a lot of universities outside of London. Therefore, i decided to email some universities i was interested in to find out of they accept this qualification because of all the universities i looked at there was not one that talked about the UAL Qualification. I wanted a confirmation on if the universities would accept this considering i want to study psychology.
I had pinned all the responses of universities that i was both interested in their acceptance of the UAL qualification.
This did lead me to filter out some choices such as Solent and Southampton. I removed Solent because i believed this university was fairly easy to get accepted into, this lead me to believe that Solent would be a good insurance choice, however i found a course in Northampton that allows duel honours of Moving Media production and Psychology! This looked very attractive to me, which made Northampton replace Solent. Southampton simply did not accept the UAL Qualification.
My main choices were Reading and Buckingham. Reading had NHS facilities, and had a good reputation when it came to psychology, which almost made puppy eyed towards that university. Buckingham has a course that only requires two years to gain a bachelors for Psychology. This made me interested in a place at Buckingham for fair and more childish reasons. The childish reasons would be that i wouldn't feel like i held myself back a year from switching from A levels to a Creative Media Course. The fair reasons would link to the timing as well, because i assume a two year course would lead me to become a more productive and organised person since the 2 years would be more packed with learning.
Personal Statement:
I was struggling on starting my personal statement. My first attempt was at class around November - I ended up with a cryptic introduction (I had deleted the word document). I did not touch my personal statement until the 12th of December when i shared this draft with a university lecturer that was providing a workshop that helps with personal statements. He agreed with my doubts with my personal statement and told me to come back after i wrote a more traditional introduction at least.
Once i got home i decided to free write what ever came to my mind to give myself more space, and i did think i can format it later on. It was a draft:
Personal statement 1st real draft (just simply write what comes to your mind.)
They say "curiosity killed the cat", but without it I would not exist. I opened with such a basic old idiom to explain why I want to study the human mind because I firmly believe curiosity is the main root that was installed in mind as a child. Therefore, quoting a well-known idiom you hear as a child seemed the most appropriate. Curiosity is what I see to be the staple of my identity and a huge reason why I want to study psychology. I only let my curiosity flow this chaotically when I can see a future of myself obsessed for what I decided to dedicate my time on – almost fulfilled with it. I put my focus on curiosity to show it is the alcohol of the cocktail that is my mind: It is what drives and floats up my primary emotions and feelings, it is what starts continuous debates in my mind. I recognise that I am at the most curious state of mind when it comes to psychology. I aspire to become a doctor of the mind.
My genuine interest in psychology is not at all the sole reason why I want to study psychology, I like to visualise myself in the future as a clinical psychologist. I let the idea of becoming a clinical psychologist float up after I left high school since it was a transitional period that I viewed as important. I wanted become a fuller person, so I did think about my future. I realised I receive most happiness when I help people, even when it drains me I know regarding the long term I will only strengthen. The study of psychology will allow me to contribute on finding new ways to help people in need and I hope I will get the opportunity to apply it in my clinical studies once I reach a more appropriate time in my life.
Even from the Creative Film Production course I am currently studying, I always have been automatically attracted and connected to the psychology aspect of my research for units of this course. I am always thinking about the audience and their reactions and what potentially they take away when making a short film. To accomplish this, I take a lot of methodical approaches when comparing statistics and analysing why x audience thinks that way and what would their natural reaction would be if add x to the scene I am filming.
Why I choice to study a creative course rather than an academic one? During the transitional period I was talking about I did reconnect with my older half-brother and he was of great influence of me. If you measured how influential he was compared to my parents I would say my parents influence would like near to non-existent. This brother encouraged me to embrace my creativity like how he did and I do not regret it. This course was quite an introspective experience and showed me that I will learn most if I study psychology. Both Psychology and Film I see as very dynamic since in both you can be continuously learning. Both is a mystery, which is why I found both to be attractive, I wanted to solve an endless pattern.
During my studies I was not complacent. Therefore, I did look for volunteering opportunities and the first one I applied for when I was 17 was a Befriending service. This is when young adults submit themselves as listeners and friends to people of younger age that have been in a violent household or people of younger age. When I was researching personal statements, and looking at some examples one opening lead with saying we are all inadvertent psychologists to an extent and this I do agree with because this is how I viewed my position if I got accepted into the befriending service. I wanted to strengthen myself with this experience, but sadly I was too young to be accepted. A few months later I found another opportunity with help in the Jimmy Asher Foundation. Their organisation helped a lot of young people in need and I did contribute by trying to use the skills I learnt from my creative course to film an interview with the CEO and bring more exposure to Jimmy Asher Foundation. South West TV did have a look with what I filmed.
Currently in my free time I like to binge watch some of Jordan's Peterson lectures, since I like his insights and the way he articulates them. I have also been watching Yale Psychology lectures since, they record them. To understand more of the history and the foundations of psychology I do also like to reading some Freud and Carl Jung. I have a friend that has recommended "Interpretations of dreams" of Freud and it is very interesting to read how intimate he is when it comes to unconscious topics compared to more straight forward topics. I believe it is due to the mystery when it comes to the unconscious. I can understand why Freud became the founder of psychoanalysis.
Here you can clearly see that i free wrote without much care. You can see some mistakes with grammar and spelling, you can see that i decided to get more lazy with my writing after each paragraph, you can see that i was verbose.
I went to the workshop and made some edits after getting beneficial feedback, which is usually the feedback we all hear, but it is the feedback that has to be repeated to help young students to remember what the admission teams want to see.
My tutor also did have a look at my personal statement after and helped guide me on showing how to make my language more concise.
Second draft:
Personal statement 2nd draft (make edits)
From a young age, I often heard the idiom, "curiosity killed the cat", which resonated with me as I was curious. I want to study the human mind because I firmly believe that curiosity is the main root that was installed in my mind as a child. Curiosity is what I see to be the staple of my identity and a huge reason why I want to study psychology. I put my focus on curiosity to show it is the alcohol of the cocktail that is my mind: It is what drives and floats up my primary emotions and feelings; it is what starts continuous debates in my mind. I recognise that I am at the most curious state of mind when it comes to psychology. I aspire to become a doctor of the mind.
My genuine interest in psychology is not the sole reason why I want to study it. Becoming a clinical psychologist has always been a goal of mine. Therefore, after, viewing the short time after high school as a transitional period I thought about potential careers in depth with myself. I understood that I receive most satisfaction when I help people, which is why, even if I were to find it challenging, I know in the long term I will only gain more experience and knowledge. The study of psychology will allow me to contribute to finding new ways to help people in need and I hope I will get the opportunity to apply it in my own clinical studies in the future.
Even from the Creative Media Production course I am currently studying, I have always been attracted and connected to the psychology aspects of my research. I am always thinking about the audience, their reactions and what they can take away after watching my films. To accomplish this, I take a lot of methodical approaches when comparing statistics and analysing why an audience thinks that way and what their natural reaction would be if I add a certain effect to the scene I am editing. Both Psychology and Film I see as very dynamic since in both you can be continuously learning. Both have an air of mystery, which is why I find both attractive and I enjoy the challenge of solving an endless pattern.
During my studies I have not been complacent. I found volunteering opportunities, one of which was a befriending service, where young adults offer themselves as listeners and friends to people of a younger age who may been in a violent household or people of an older age who may be lonely or isolated from family. I recently read that we are all inadvertent psychologists and I do agree with because this is how I viewed my position if I got accepted into the befriending service. I wanted to strengthen myself with this experience, but sadly I was too young to be accepted. A few months later I found another opportunity to help at the Jimmy Asher Foundation. Their organisation helps a lot of young people in need and I was able to use the skills I learnt from my creative course to film an interview with the CEO and bring more exposure to the organisation.
Currently in my free time I like to vigorously watch some of Jordan Peterson’s lectures, since I like his insights and the way he articulates them. I have also been watching Yale Psychology lectures to understand more of the history and the foundations of the subject. I do also like to read some Freud and Jung. I have a friend that has recommended "Interpretations of Dreams" by Freud and it is very interesting to read how intimate he is when it comes to unconscious topics compared to more straightforward topics. I believe this is due to the mystery of the unconscious mind and I find the work he completed in psychoanalysis to be fascinating and an area I intend to continue exploring.
My third edit is when i spent more time on the paragraphs were i decided to get lazy with my writing. Because of how bad the writing was, it deterred me to edit for a while. I assumed i created obstacles for myself that shouldn't be there.
Final Draft:
From a young age, I often heard the idiom, "curiosity killed the cat", which resonated with me as I was a curious child. I want to study the human mind because I firmly believe that curiosity is the main root that was instilled in my mind as a child. Curiosity is what I see to be the staple of my identity and a significant reason why I want to study psychology. I put my focus on curiosity to show it is the alcohol of the cocktail that is my mind: It is what drives and highlight my primary emotions and feelings; it is what starts continuous debates in my mind. I recognise that I am at the most curious state of mind when it comes to psychology. I aspire to become a doctor of the mind.
My genuine interest in psychology is not the sole reason why I want to study it. Becoming a clinical psychologist has always been a goal of mine. The study of psychology will allow me to contribute to finding new ways to help people diagnosed with a mental illness. My younger brother is autistic and I have spent considerable time working with him to help him communicate and be able to engage with the world. This has inspired me to learn more about the broader area of psychology and to ultimately pursue a career in this field.
Even from the Creative Media Production course I am currently studying, I have always been attracted and connected to the psychology aspects of my research. I constantly think about the audience - their initial reactions and what they might cogitate on having viewed one of my films. To accomplish this, I take a lot of methodical approaches when comparing statistics and analysing why an audience thinks in an unequivocal way, and what their natural reaction would be to specific stimuli I carefully set in the scenes of my films. Both psychology and film, I see as very dynamic since in both you can be continually learning. Both have an air of mystery, which is why I find both attractive, and I enjoy the challenge of attempting to solve an endless pattern.
During my studies I have not been complacent. I found volunteering opportunities, one of which was a befriending service for young adults. I wanted to strengthen myself with this experience, but sadly was too young to be accepted. A few months later I found another opportunity to help at the Jimmy Asher Foundation. Their organisation helps a lot of young people in need and I was able to use the skills I learnt from my creative course to film an interview with the CEO and bring more exposure to the organisation. I am currently researching volunteering opportunities for when my course finishes as this type of work is something I find very interesting.
Currently in my free time I have been watching Jordan Peterson’s lectures due to wanting to emulate the way he articulates his beliefs and insights, even during the times I do not agree with him. I have also been watching Yale Psychology lectures to understand more of the history and the foundations of the subject. I aspire to draw my own personal conclusions on topics I am most curious about and I like to read from authors of psychology - Freud, Jung, Bleuler and the philosophers they studied. I am currently most fascinated by the unconscious mind, which makes reading "Interpretation of Dreams" by Freud and "Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious" by Jung of particular interest. These books confirm how personal and intimate the unconscious is - I have never read anything that compares to both the intimacy and honesty of these books.
I am genuinely excited about the prospect of studying this fascinating subject at a higher level and am looking forward to all the opportunities that university life will afford me.
I ended up being satisfied enough to allow my third draft to be my final edit. I feared using Jordan Peterson's name because he is a controversial figure right now, but he did have influences on the books i decided to look into to study psychology. It would make me feel dishonest if i did not use his name in my personal statement.
Again my tutor did help with her fresh perspectives and on guiding me on what i should choose to write about and the importance on concise language.
Final Choices:
CV:
Evaluation:
My plans did not change too much, but my interest in psychology has significantly grew, as well as the need for ways to exercise my creativity. I had indulged on disciplining myself with reading books that i will find interesting and be beneficial for me to read and in terms of creativity i have been trying to learn a musical instrument. This did make me wonder is film making the creative escape i am looking for or is there something else there i would prefer. Nevertheless, i will continue to make short films in the future to find the answer to my question.
I had sent an email in the near beginning of my course to my tutor explaining how conflicted and confused i was at that time:
The general feel is the same, but now i am more decided on Psychology, and know for sure that i won't purely be studying a media course. I have also learnt if i am going to do film making in the side i first would need to develop myself into a more structured person with a clear routine that i can discipline myself to follow.