I first came to the Loughborough Campus in 2014, ready to explore on an open day. Loughborough was one of my options, but I wasn’t one hundred percent certain if it was my first choice just yet. After that first day on Campus, I knew that Loughborough would be the University for me.

The feel of the campus, and the inspiring and intuitive taster lectures I took part in made it seem a perfect fit, and I even got to meet VC Bob during my first time on Campus.

The course at Loughborough was completely and entirely unique, where it was almost entirely theoretical teaching and no practical elements of media taught. Different to many other universities in the approach to teaching, you are fortunate enough to be taught by world-leading Professors, who’s dedication and passion for the subjects that you are coming across for the first time shines through. There is though, plenty of ways you can get into practical media whilst at Loughborough too.

I spent plenty of time at the media centre in the Student Union, where I was involved in Match Report (Almost a TV show documenting the success of the student’s sports teams), and Label (A student run magazine in partnership with the Students Union). Both of these experiences for myself were invaluable, as they taught me how to build on the theoretical knowledge I had picked up in my course and put them into practical action.

I graduated in 2018, and decided to stay in the bubble for another year, and studied for a Masters in Digital Media and Society, cementing my knowledge of different forms of media, politics, and social science, whilst enhancing my understanding of the topics also.

Upon leaving Loughborough, I was consistently on the lookout for a job in sport media, an avenue that I have always wanted to go down. I was fortunate enough to secure myself an internship at Cardiff City Football Club around six weeks after leaving University, which quickly became a paid role. The first role in the professional industry was eye opening, but I went into the role as prepared as I could have been, due to my studies and volunteering at Loughborough.

After almost two years in South Wales, I made the move to London, where I am now positioned as Media Officer at Leyton Orient Football Club. A sleeping giant of the English game, Orient have now secured promotion back League One, and we have hit record numbers on our social media, our programme sales, visual media plays and website hits. It’s been a great journey so far for myself, and one which I am proud to say started at Loughborough University.