Last Monday, after a week of frantically collecting one dollar coffee vouchers like a caffeine crazed maniac, reality dawned. Everybody got an extra day in February, but I also got to start university. It was time to come to terms with the concept that this strange maze of a place is to be my new home – for the next three years at least.

In a somewhat more mature version of the state imposed “goal setting” I suffered through in my high school years, (I always claimed my goal would be to remember to bring my PE uniform to class, which was merely wishful thinking) we were asked to reflect on the things we’d like to achieve/be better at/be able to do.

1. Find something within the media industry that you are passionate about and can do as a career. This point ties into this week’s set reading, particularly Cal Newport’s hypothesis. He highlights that 45% of Americans are unsatisfied with their jobs – a statistic that has a lot of significance for me. After spending the twilight of my teenage years slugging away at everyone’s favourite McCorporation, I dreamed of finding my into one of those fabled real jobs. I wanted to follow my passion – visual art- and initially pursued a course related to fine arts. However, at the last moment I realised I struggled to picture myself sitting in a studio and painting 10 hours a day. Like Newport suggests, even the thought of this made my passion feel less like a passion and more like drudgery.

2. Learn practical skills related to film making. I have always been interested in the moving image as a way of expressing ideas and a narrative. Many times, however, I have felt I’ve been too limited technically and practically to realise my vision, and have been discouraged. I hope that this course will allow me to gain the skills to produce short films I can be proud of.

3. Be better at writing for a public audience. Here you go. I’ve already taken the first step.

4. Graduate with a positive outlook to the future and my place within the future. This relates to my first goal, but is more focused on remaining positive. Admittedly, I am too often a depressing realist. I want to position myself in a place where I can feel good about my skills and experience so I can create a career path that I can feel good about.

5. Learn how to pitch an idea to someone. I get excited about an idea. I think about it almost obsessively. I get excited. It sounds fantastic in my head, but when I try to explain it someone they are consistently unimpressed. Such a large part of the media industry is teamwork, and sharing ideas, and I want to be a confident, functioning part of that.

I’ll end with another one of Cal Newport’s suggestions: “What matters is what you do once you get going.” So Media 2016, I better get going.