My Time at a Film/Media School

By: Victoria

Before coming to MSU, I went to renowned film and media school back in my country. I won’t name it here, in an effort to protect my privacy, but the school has produced a ton of famous alumni and even a Cannes prize winner. Basically, if you lived in Singapore and wanted to work in the media industry – you’d want to go to this school.

I majored in Mass Communication and my school exposed me to all the various forms of media as much as possible. I did radio interviews, made and wrote magazines, newspapers, filmed television shows, short films, and I also tried my hand at acting. In my final year, I even got work with a real life client to come up with a marketing campaign. Not only was I exposed to the creative side of the industry, my school also made sure that we all had the academic side down pat too. I wrote a research paper (SPSS still scares me), studied media law and learnt about the business side of the media – yes, that includes cost-benefit analyses, budgeting and scheduling.

I am extremely grateful to my school for giving me such a well-rounded, and hands-on education. Looking back, they were definitely the best three years of my life (so far!), and I would never trade it for the world. Despite the many hardships I faced, I came out of it a much stronger and confident person. I went in with an idealized image of the media industry, and it definitely hit me hard when I realized it wasn’t exactly how I expected it to be. For instance, the long hours (getting up at 4a.m. in the morning to go to work, or coming home at 1a.m. from work) or the sacrifices made on my social life, was something I did not expect at age 17. But to me, the benefits totally outweigh the costs. I wholeheartedly believe in the saying that if you enjoy what you do, you don’t have to work a day in your life. 

After all, how many people can say that they have worked on a television show? 

Just a special select few.