This is a guest blog post from MA English & Literary Media student, Nikita. 

Nikita

Previously, I taught English in the Caribbean, when I moved to the UK I studied for my undergraduate degree, BA Social Work, at Bournemouth University from which I graduated in 2018. I started my career in social work, and during that time I had my daughter. Whilst I was on maternity leave I started writing again, posting on my blog, and as my daughter has grown I’ve been telling her stories and even making them up for her. She’s three now and has started telling me her own stories, it’s a full-circle moment!

I had a desire to get back to writing, dreaming of creating a children’s story that is published. So, I found that Bournemouth offered MA English & Literary Media and was immediately drawn to the content of the course. It’s different from traditional literary studies, there are so many options to be creative, from learning about publishing to telling stories in the digital age – I knew this was the course for me. I get to express my individualism and the career prospects aren’t just ‘writer’ I’m learning skills that could take me into publishing or journalism.

What I’ve loved about the course and experience so far, is that everyone on the course is from such diverse backgrounds. I had a fear when the course started that my career and education is in Social Sciences, and here I am trying to write a Humanities course. But actually, the support has been overwhelming.

The Sir Michael Cobham Library, Talbot Campus

The Library team helped me so much in the first semester. I took the opportunity to produce an essay and have academics give me feedback on my current learning level – take every chance to improve at the beginning because the help is there! Throughout the last 7 months, I’ve astonished myself. The confidence I’ve gained has been through my own hard work with the support of academic and library staff.

The content and experience have exceeded my expectations, I knew this was the right MA course for me, but the content of the lectures has been excellent. I’ve learned so much about Britain, made so many friends, and the content of the sessions has been so interesting. Culture & Controversy has been a notable unit, hearing from many guest lecturers.

If someone told me that 4 months into my Master’s I’d be applying for a PhD I wouldn’t have believed it, The support from my academics has been monumental in helping me apply for my PhD at another university.

My advice to anyone considering this path would be to take every opportunity, immerse yourself in the community of staff and students, and look at all of the available funding. As a single mum I found that there was more funding available, as well as support with travel costs – do your research! You’ll get to enjoy a diverse cohort too, which contributes so much to the learning experience.

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