This post is a topic I’ve wanted to write for a while, in fact, it’s one I’ve had drafted in my notes for while but I guess part of me has wanted to put everything associated university into a box, close the lid, tape it up and shove it far out of reach. However, the other part of me, the less selfish side (in this scenario) thought that not only would this post (hopefully) be helpful to others, especially given that this post was kindly requested via Instagram but it would also allow me to reflect and break down some of the things I wish I’d thought about before starting my final year, as well as some of the lessons I took away from it.
Now before we get down to the nitty-gritty of this post, if you’re a new reader or an avid reader (God love you if you are) and your mind has either surpassed you, or you simply didn't know that I even did a degree, I did in fact study Fashion for 4 years at university (with a placement year).
So this post is written from the perception of a fashion student quite obviously, however, I hope this post is still somehow helpful to both those fellow fashion people but also to those who aren’t.
In some way, you’re either reading this because you are either about to start in your final year at university or if you are (not like me) organised and thinking ahead in preparation- if that’s the case kudos to you! You may just be reading because you’re a kind soul if so thank you!
Whichever category you may fall into the fact remains the same, the university year is approaching once again, sorry to induce anxiety to those students heading back but the undeniable and unavoidable fact is, it’s coming, how time flies. (Sorry but how is it already September??)
It’s safe to say you probably have a few worries, queries or questions about what to expect if you are about to begin your last and final year at university including how to even go about preparing yourself for it and quite importantly you might be looking for an opinion from a final year themselves, (it me).
My final year was quite kind to me, in all honesty, it flew by. Before I knew it the year was wrapping up in a matter of what felt like seconds. It had its highs and it had it very low, lows. Looking back I truly felt like I completed it in a bit of a daydream, a sort of rushed blur.
"In all honesty, [my final year] flew by. Before I knew it the year was wrapping up in a matter of what felt like seconds. It had its highs and it had it very low, lows. Looking back I truly felt like I completed it in a bit of a daydream, a sort of rushed blur.
So what did my final year entail you may ask?
In final year we were asked- in a way to pick a path we wanted to follow, either create a collection, make a magazine, create a business plan or do an event for example. Me? I decided to specialise in the digital/communication side to the industry and create my own online zine.
It’s something I’d mulled over creating for a while. I’ve always adored reading magazines, looking at photography, creating visuals, editing and styling so I decided to combine all those things into one, allowing myself to explore and develop my skills in my final year.
Having a sort of niche on my blog being fashion and lifestyle, occasionally music. My zine felt to me like an extension, a place to create the things I don't usually get to create or share including doing my own photography and videography, something I have always loved to do. It gave me a new brand identity to play with and explore with. I made the decision to go for an online zine, just personally for my own preference, I've always been quite the computer person, I enjoy looking at things digitally. Don't get me wrong I adore a magazine, I love collecting magazines but creating the online zine gave me the opportunity to create videos, make it a visually exciting place. Not to mention the money.
Now one thing I will say dependant upon the course you are studying it is always wise to save money for your final year, I know that others on my course would sing that from the rooftops. If you are a fashion student and deciding to make a collection, let me just say that shit is expensive. However whether your course is art's based or not requiring money to bind and put together your dissertation, or perhaps put on an event, exhibition, buy notepads, sketchbooks and materials, in general, it all equates to that big M, you will need money. I know this post is going out a little later than intended but if you are on the ball and reading this in advance to the future make that dollar over the summer before you return that way you can be fully prepared when that money comes knocking.
"Make [your work] something you’re passionate about, enough to make your tutors and your classmates feel excited about it too. Your idea can be as crazy or as low key as you desire but make sure that you are committed to living and breathing it 24/7, you have to be willing to think about it, speak about it and whole heartily believe in it until you can’t anymore".
Another thing to think about the earlier the better is what topic you hope to cover, be it in a dissertation, project or collection of work. Spend some time thinking about what you want to do and when the time comes to it sell it to your tutors. Talking from personal experience we were given time to speak to our tutors about what we were hoping to achieve by the end of it. We also did continuous critique sessions where we were asked to talk about our work in front of the class so make it something you’re passionate about, enough to make your tutors and your classmates feel excited about it too. Your idea can be as crazy or as low key as you desire but make sure that you are committed to living and breathing it 24/7, you have to be willing to think about it, speak about it and whole heartily believe in it until you can’t anymore- yes you can be completely sick of it in the final months but make sure you can still sell, sell, sell. You have to rely upon yourself as much as possible, you have to have the motivation and drive to really think about the direction you're taking and maintain that motivation throughout.
It’s different for every course and every specialism but if it’s anything like mine you have to make your tutors believe your idea will work, convince them and please them but whatever you do don’t let your tutors dictate your work to you or tell you the direction they hope you’ll take your work in, you have to think of them being there to simply guide and advice you. It’s your project take the reins and go with it if your tutors aren’t convinced work with them until they are once that’s done you’re free to let your mind run wild.
And when I say let your mind run wild, I mean throw yourself into it with everything you have, don’t half-arse anything you do. If there’s one thing I regret the most from my experience it was not throwing myself into everything, following every endeavour, chasing every possibility or result just to see what could have happened if I’d have done this or that.
One thing you can hold onto whilst your at university is that you’re a student (I mean you can pretend even after university if you aren’t ready to admit you aren’t anymore I'm not one to judge) every excuse for everything, within reason could be to an outsider a project, not that you need to answer that question if anyone asks what it is you're doing or why you are doing it but let it be an excuse to get in touch with the people you’d like to work with or do something that sounds bizarre on paper. Use it as an excuse to go somewhere and find out if you can host an event, use a location to promote your work using the excuse ‘it’s for your project’. What I’m really saying is take advantage of your student status.
"If there’s one thing I regret the most from my experience it was not throwing myself into everything, following every endeavour, chasing every possibility or result just to see what could have happened if I’d have done this or that".
Which leads me on to a piece of advice that I'd give to everyone trying to break into any industry a piece of advice which quite frankly has always been a complete given is network, network, network.
I can’t stress the importance to do so especially during your time at university. You may find some of the people are right under your nose in your own class. Everybody is on a journey to where they want to go all different directions, it’s possible they could know the kind of people you need to get to know or they are those people themselves. Whilst I was at university I met a lot of models as well as people that could be models (which is more likely on a fashion course) along with photographers, videographers and even some industry experts that knew life outside of university and could give advice or some kind of direction to your questions. Don’t dismiss opportunities to talk to people, you don’t have to make friends with them but simply be friendly to them, make contacts and connections as much as physically possible and don’t hold back the chance to simply speak to people, you’ll come to realise just how valuable they are. No matter your degree class, contacts after university are invaluable don’t try to just get by on your own talent.
Coming back to your classmates, this one is more of a personal gripe but something I think personally is truly invaluable to an individual on a day they might be struggling with the direction of their work or perhaps may just need somebody to rant to about their project. I can guarantee you everybody needs someone from time to time.
Whilst I was at university I was the only one doing something a bit different to everyone else so I spent a lot of the time starring into a computer screen, editing, writing you name it. Admittedly at times, it was lonely, I'd take 5-minute breaks if only to just break for a conversation, at times it kept me sane just having that conversation to put me back on track with my work, it doesn't have to be a pep talk but speaking out loud to another can be refreshing at getting yourself back into gear with your work again. On the other hand, just taking an interest in other peoples work can mean a lot to an individual. I wish I'd have told people how much I loved others projects more, I wish others had voiced it to me more too because when they did it really pushes your confidence in the right direction, a lot like when someone stops you in the street and tells you how much they like your outfit, it evokes that same feeling.
"Don’t dismiss opportunities to talk to people, you don’t have to make friends with them but simply be friendly to them, make contacts and connections as much as physically possible and don’t hold back the chance to simply speak to people, you’ll come to realise just how valuable they are".
Now you've probably reached this far and you're thinking woah that's a lot to consider but honestly believe me when I say 'it's not the be and end-all', yes really. You remember when you were at school and your parents used to preach to you about school being the best years of your life and they'd say enjoy it and they'd make it out to be this HUGE deal which in turn made it feel like an enormous pressure so much so it made you write about all your responsibilities and how daunting school life was in your diary numerous times a week...just me, okay.
Well, university is a lot like that it feels like a huge deal, I mean don’t get me wrong it is. Whether you look at from money, experience or career factor but looking back university now feels like another one of those stepping stones in life. Yes, it determines the type of job you get and the type of class degree but trust me when I say it feels bigger than what it actually is. I know you’re probably thinking is this girl alright? Whilst you sit and stress yourself into 3rd year, but let me tell you things that may seem mega important at the time aren’t so much of a big deal looking back. Spending half an hour deciding whether sticking that photo in there or including that work with this work honestly isn’t worth stressing about, of course, it won’t stop you stressing over it being a perfectionist myself I still do it over tiny details now. I used to get stressed about my sketchbook a lot but it helps to know you aren’t going to give a damn about it in 6 months time.
However, totally conflicting to what I have just said one thing you should remember is that whatever you create, produce or put together in your final year it stays with you either in your portfolio or even just as a memoir (if you decide you hate it) at least until you find a job or you do other work to replace it. All the work I have thus far was made during my time at university, my most valuable work was from my final year. You'll find it to be a talking and most definitely selling point in interviews, your cv and your portfolio. You may even be asked in interviews what your project was about or what you enjoyed most about it, you have to be prepared to speak about it and again, sell, sell, sell. If you didn't enjoy it, why? Did it make you think differently about the direction you took, did it lead you to create bigger and better work? Can you tell I've been doing interviews??
"Enjoy every second of your time at university because it will fly by. Cherish the late nights in the library, the stressful, never-ending, is there even an end in sight all-nighters."
One thing I'm especially thankful for, from my course especially was that it was very broad, I’d go as far as to say my final year was very freeing and non-restrictive in that I could do whatever my heart desired as long as it fell under the fashion umbrella in some way, of course.
Looking back I was lucky to have that, I was lucky to spend a year in control, creating and spending time over things I loved to do. So one thing I will say is enjoy every second of your time at university because it will fly by. Cherish the late nights in the library, the stressful, never-ending, is there even an end in sight all-nighters. Looking back there was almost a sense of adrenaline that came with the rush to get work submitted, the red-tinted eyes glaring at a screen, watering from both laughing at the amount of work still left to do before the break of dawn and laughing quite simply because you’d cry otherwise. Though it didn’t feel like it at the time, even now I almost miss those moments of madness, the frantic rush and anxiety that surrounded it all, the late-night laughs I had with friends in the computer room the night before a deadline, though saying that I wouldn’t wish for it again in a hurry.
Thinking it into existence however, the stress and the deadlines will certainly set you up for working life and especially if you decide to work freelance. Surprisingly deadlines actually helped me to think about the time I spend doing certain things, the time I allocated for jobs and spacing out my workload. Though it didn’t stop me staying up all night before my final deadline whilst I was university to get all the work completed- to my standard, sometimes those things just have to be done.
Eventually, you'll find that hopefully those things were worth it, and you'll find yourself thankful for putting the hours in and working your arse off to get you to where you may be in the future.
Take your final year a step at a time, work to the best of your ability push yourself to your own threshold and enjoy it and if you don't just think it's just a year, less than in fact before you know it'll you'll have to stand on your own two feet and you'll be wishing you hadn't wished the time away.
If things feel heavy keep on pushing, the load will get lighter I promise you.
What's your opinion?