USW Content Creators

Life as a Performance and Media Student

Performance and Media student, Millissa, takes us through what life is like as a university student. From filming interviews with celebrities to balancing a part-time job with her studies and social life.

USW Content Creators Student Life
Three students are stood, smiling, in front of a green screen with a clapboard in front of them.

Hi, my name is Millissa. I am a second year Performance and Media student at USW, and this is a typical day in my life.

This year, my lectures are in the afternoon so when I wake up in the morning, I tend to take this time to myself sorting out general home tasks such as cleaning the kitchen, cleaning my room and doing my laundry.

I live in student accommodation which is only a short five-minute walk from the Cardiff Campus.  As I live so close to the university, I walk there for each lecture. Some of my flatmates are on the same course as me so we arrange to walk over together.

As my course covers both Performance and Media, the topics I study are very varied from creating live productions to producing films on Insta360 cameras.

My favourite module I have studied so far within my course was the Professional Practice: Collaborate module where we created video podcasts for the Iris Prize Film Festival, the largest LGBTQ+ Film festival in the UK. Within this, I had the honour of filming an interview with the double Olympic champion Dame Kelly Holmes.

One of my favorite aspects within the university is Media Loans. I use this service to take out industry standard kit for filming such as, Sony FX6 4K cameras, Rode Wireless Go 2s and varoious styles of lighting kit aswell as having access to a virtual production room. Having this kit at my disposal has got me ready for real world industry breifs and the expected delivery standard of professional projects.

Student, Millissa, has taken a selfie with a camera behind her. There are tree's in the background.
A red microphone and other recording equipment in a studio.
A camera screen focusing on a person's face who is sat in front of the camera.
An image taken of a video being edited on Adobe Premier Pro.
A camera screen focused in on a young woman holding a microphone to her mouth.

Due to the intensity of my course, we are given time each day to complete tasks like filming and editing so we only have one lecture per day. I take this time to complete the tasks given to me but when I have a free moment, I like to take myself out on walks around Cardiff. Some of my favourite places to walk are through Cardiff Bay, around the BBC studios and out towards Penarth, and Bute Park through the wooded areas.

I also enjoy drawing pieces for my bulletin board as it gives me time to relax and think about my day whilst doing something I love.

This year, I am living with my friends that I made during my first year which has been for me an amazing experience. As we don’t all study the same course it’s hard to manage time together sometimes due to deadlines, so we make sure that we do something non-university related together at least once a week. Recently we went to the Odeon at Cardiff Bay and watched Wicked: part one on its release day. As it is getting closer to Christmas, we also went to Cardiff Winter Wonderland where we won a new flatmate (the big teddy bear!).

A young woman hugging a large teddy bear won at a fair.

Also, during my days off I work at my part time job. I am a retail assistant at a small independent Welsh shop in the city centre where we sell a multitude of Welsh items and Jelly cats. Having a part time job this year taught me a lot about time management, more confidence and independence. These skills which i have developed through work have also greatly improved my skills for my course.

At the end of my day I come back to my flat with my friends, I would make myself some dinner, have a shower and put on a film and catch up with some uni work before going to sleep.

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