Yes, I study media – no, I don’t just watch films all day

As a media student, we are the butt of many jokes. Media students grow tired with the constant comments on how their subject isn’t worth studying. Here are some things that really get on our nerves and what I am extremely tired of hearing.

‘That’s not a real degree.’

Well, yes it is. It may not be your traditional law, science or history, but it’s an incredibly interesting subject, with masses of research. Media crosses disciplines, including cultural studies, economics, politics, sociology, psychology and business studies. And just because you don’t take an interest in a subject, doesn’t mean you should write it off as not being “real”.

‘It must be so easy having low contact hours.’

It is nice not to have a mass of lectures, seminars and workshops, but there is a lot of independent study time. During this time, you can work on creative projects and essays which do take a fair amount of time. Plus, the stereotype of student laziness is not just restricted to one course, we’re all lazy: we’re students.

We work hard on our essays, like everyone else

‘So you just like, watch TV and films?’

This is a common one. Not all media students study film and TV, and even when they do, it’s not just sitting with your feet up. Assessments require in-depth analysis, covering framing and composition, narrative, lighting, sound, mise-en-scene, editing, special effects, and more. It destroys the way you watch things as you get so used to analysing texts. You should have seen the look on my mum’s face when I commented on the use of pathetic fallacy in Chicken Run.

Tutorial after tutorial… *sigh*

‘Adobe’s fairly easy, right?’

You’ve got to be kidding. There are a plethora of Adobe programs that have too many buttons to count. There are about 10 different ways to do the same action, and even the pros find new techniques that they had no clue existed. You think you’ve finally got to grips with photoshop, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg, not to mention the more complex programs you may be using as you progress through your degree.

‘You can’t really study social media.’

Seeing as social media is embedded in the culture of every day, you definitely can. You’d be surprised that something that seems so trivial to most of us such as Snapchat is the topic of many articles and studies, written by notable scholars.

‘Coursework is so much easier than exams’

It is unfair that all of your revision and hard work can depend on one exam, but it doesn’t mean that coursework is easy or stress-free. You should see the scenes in the Silverstone media labs during assessment periods. Students create nests in front of computers with wild eyes, a six pack of Redbull, and Spotify’s Motivation Mix playlist blasting from their headphones. There are intense editing sessions and god forbid you lose your memory stick or your hard drive crashes.

Racing to the one free computer

‘So you want to be a director?’

Not all of us do surprisingly. Where did all this Media only  = Film idea come from? There are many reasons to study the subject, and different paths you can take with the school of media, film and music, as well as taking joint courses and electives. Sussex offers Media Practice, Media and Communications, Media and Cultural studies, and Computing for Digital Media.

‘What are you actually going to do with that degree?’

There are many career paths and job prospects after studying media, with Sussex media students going on to be web designers, assistant producers and digital media consultants, and have worked at ITV, The Guardian, Discovery Channel, and Saatchi & Saatchi, to name a few. Our prospects are good, don’t you worry.

At the end of the day, we’ve all chosen courses because we have a passion for and take an interest in our subject, and it’s probably a better use of your time to enjoy your own course than bash someone else’s.