Student Ambassador Yagmur Eke from Turkey her experiences of her time in Ireland so far. She tells us all about how she’s finding her course, the opportunities it will provide and the friends she’s made along the way…
For my second blog, I want to give further details about the course that I am studying. Film and television production is a course where you can learn about both film history and how to produce films. It is a highly practical course, so there are only three exams in the first year. By doing projects for each module, we get points, and those points decide whether we pass or fail. This evaluating system is called continuous assessment, or CA for short.
Filming for our project (photo: Yagmur)
Working on a project every week is quite exhausting, but it’s definitely worth it. Learning how to shoot a film from the very beginning to the end is fascinating. In the first semester, in a small group, we made our own short film. All the work was done by us including writing the script and editing. It was quite an emotional moment when we finished the film and watched it.
Of course, the whole course is not just about films. There is a module called television production. In that module, we learn how to shoot live TV programmes. Experiencing the whole process by taking different roles each week gives us a huge opportunity to choose the sector we want to work in. I feel like I’ve learned a lot and I’m not even finished my first year! I know there are plenty of new things that I need to learn during these four years, and I am so excited to see what’s to come. Studying film and television production at Dundalk Institute of Technology is the perfect place for those who want to work in the film or television sector in the future.
Camera equipment (photo: Yagmur)
There are not many students in my course. Thus, as students, we know each other. Also, lecturers are familiar with us, which is amazing for a college student. We have as many international students as Irish students in the class. I have friends from basically all over the world: the Czech Republic, Indonesia, Poland, Latin America, and Brazil. I feel so lucky to be living in the same student accommodation as some of my friends. We like to hang out, go to bars or just stay inside and chat. Even doing daily chores with friends is enjoyable!
Studying in Ireland with lots of friends from different countries is a whole new experience. I am still trying to get used to it, but I think I have the perfect college life. I could not ask for a better country, course, or group of friends. It gets overwhelming just like everything in life, however, everything seems satisfying when I know that I am doing what I have always wanted.
Yagmur is doing a BA in Film and Television Production at Dundalk Institute of Technology.