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I attend the School of Journalism, which is based in Twickenham.
Every year of my degree, my university offers a summer bursary of up to £1000 to spend on journalism work experience or a journalism project.
The summer bursary is a unique opportunity as it gives students the opportunity to explore areas of journalism they are interested in.
In this blog post, I share how I spent my bursary exploring Milan to create a fashion and lifestyle project.
What did I do?
When I initially heard about the School of Journalism summer bursary, I had absolutely no idea how I could use the funding.
I am particularly interested in fashion and lifestyle journalism but have found it a difficult process to gain practical work experience working at a fashion magazine, due to the highly competitive nature of the industry.
The more research I did into the magazine industry, the more I discovered the importance of a strong portfolio to show employers my writing styles and to develop key skills.
I decided to create a fashion and lifestyle project centred around Milan, enabling me to create feature style articles based around the city, as well as its history.
I chose Milan as it is known as the ‘fashion capital’ of the world and is home to some of the biggest fashion designers in the world.
I felt that it was rather under-represented in the media, compared to the likes of Paris or New York, so I was excited to be given the opportunity to visit the city and to explore the culture and fashion.
How did I do it?
The next thing I knew I was booking my flights and hotel for my trip to Milan.
As I was only in Milan for two full days, I had to do a lot of prior research when planning my trip to make sure that I didn’t miss anything important.
Throughout my trip, I visited all of the main city sights to capture many great pictures for my website and attended five museums and exhibitions.
When visiting the museums, I made sure to make notes on the exhibitions so I could compare and critique them.
This part of my trip was extremely interesting as I was able to learn about the culture, history and fashion of the city.
One exhibition I visited was focused around the impact globalisation has had on Milan, and how the introduction of different cultures to the city has improved it.
I also created a shopping guide to Milan which contained big Italian designer brands, as well as some less well known boutiques and vintage stores which I visited.
Once I was back in the UK, I wrote up all my articles which was a fairly lengthy process as I had to do a lot of background research into each subject.
I created a website which I was able to upload my articles on to, which were completed with pictures and links to create a more immersive experience.
Once I finished my articles, I began pitching my ideas and articles to online fashion and travel magazines, which really helped to develop my confidence in pitching, as well as my overall pitching technique.
What did I learn?
I discovered when I was doing my research that there weren't many informative articles on Milan either, which enticed me to create the articles that I would have found really helpful to read before going on my trip.
When writing my articles, I found myself experimenting with different writing styles which was something I had not tried before.
I initially found this concept rather daunting, as it is very different to the typical news reporting I had practised in first year, but my writing and confidence developed throughout the project.
This project has refined my research and organisational skills, as the sheer amount of background work that went into the project meant that I had to be thorough and organised.
The writing skills and techniques I learnt at the School of Journalism in my first year helped me massively in approaching the project with confidence, even though I was writing about a subject I had no prior experience in.
Creating the website enhanced my computer and software skills, which is something that will be hugely important in the future.
Looking back, I found this project extremely useful as I now feel more able to write in different formats and styles.
My Milan Project hopefully highlights my passion for the lifestyle and fashion industry in a more tangible way, and it has definitely enhanced my portfolio which will stand me in good stead for the future.
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