Student Stories: Federica Willemsen, Summer Study Abroad

Federica took our Summer Study Abroad: Journalism course and gained new creative ideas and insights to the media world.

Meet Federica Willemsen, a student at Queensland University of Technology, Australia. Federica completed our 3 week Summer Study Abroad programme in Journalism at London College of Communication. After the programme ended we asked Federica for her thoughts on the programme.

At the end of the course, I have left London with several new creative ideas I didn’t have before. This course has given me additional confidence and knowledge about my future career.

What course did you study on and why?

I studied the Journalism 3 week summer course at London College of Communication. I chose this course as, enrolled in my last year of Journalism bachelor in Australia, I was interested in discovering new teaching views and approaches to the subject.

What did you enjoy most about your course?

My 3 weeks course has been a fantastic experience. I have had the chance to meet a wide range of journalism professionals and teachers who have helped me develop new skills. I have loved working on new projects and topics every day, while reviewing some core ideas and techniques of journalism and receiving the expertise and advice of media industry professionals.

How has this course benefitted your career and personal development?

At the end of the course, I have left London with several new creative ideas I didn’t have before. This course has given me additional confidence and knowledge about my future career. It has confirmed my passion for journalism and encouraged me to pursue this career path.

Why did you choose London?

Growing up in Europe, I have always been interested in completing my studies in London, known to be a creative and international hub. When I saw the UAL summer course opportunity on my university website, I thought it would be an amazing experience to finally discover London and have the chance to connect with reporters from there. Finally, UAL seemed to be the perfect school for me as it included all different artistic and creative programs.

What would you say to someone thinking about studying abroad at UAL?

If you are interested in an industry in the creative field, I would highly recommend you to study at UAL. This experience has been amazingly interesting and eye opening for me and I’m sure it would be for someone else too. Moreover, being in a class of international students is fascinating and can give you a lot of new perspectives and views on your studies and career.

Tell us about what you created while you were here?

During my summer course at UAL, I have created a journalistic blog, an interview video and a vox pop news article. Finally, the main class project of the course was to create a zine with everyone's feature pieces in it. This project has been the most exciting as it allowed me to research a topic linked to London, interview people and use my creative skills to layout my article and its pictures in the zine. At the end of the three weeks course, everyone in the class was very excited to see our common project printed out!

What 3 words best describe your experience?

• surprising as I didn’t expect it to be such an interesting and growing experience
• inspiring as it gave me many precious new creative ideas and insights to the media world
• challenging because our teachers would challenge us every day to work as journalists while helping and guiding us.