Around this time last year I wrote a post called “In The Future…” where I strung together my thoughts at the time of what I could see myself doing once my undergraduate degree was over. Reading through that post now I almost miss the lack of pressure I felt during that time because I didn’t have to make any decisions. Now, I do.
I am in the process of writing my dissertation which is both interesting and stressful. I want to do a good job of course because not only am I aiming high in my mark, it is also on a topic that is important to me – accessibility for the deaf and hard of hearing community at live music events. I think I will talk more about this in another post because it deserves its own.
Most of my thoughts are currently consumed by what the contents is going to be in that work so whenever anyone asks me about my future plans, about what I am going to do after I have finished it, my mind goes blank. The reality is though that I do need to start making some decisions but it is difficult for two main reasons: my workload and other people’s constant opinions.
As I said in my previous post, I am interested in taking my education further by doing a master’s degree. This could be a great idea considering the state that the music and events industry is in right now thanks to the covid-19 pandemic. Plus I have come to realise from studying at Coventry University that I do actually enjoy education if I am doing something that interests me. When it comes to which master’s degree, this is less obvious to me. I have two routes I could go down, either a taught media master’s which could help me progress in a potential broadcasting career or I could do a research master’s where I could take my dissertation research topic further. They are two very different routes but I am hoping to have a better idea once I have submitted my final piece of undergraduate work.
I work part-time for The Ticket Factory based in box offices at the arenas in Birmingham. I really enjoy my job and working in live events can be very interesting, it is one of the reasons why I was inspired to do my dissertation topic. I know I could potentially have a future there and for this reason I feel pretty secure right now. It has made having to make a decision less urgent and although I have been applying for other part-time work both in the music industry and the events industry, I am in no rush to leave where I currently am. However, it doesn’t hurt shopping around I suppose.
In some ways, I am no closer to determining what is next since the post I wrote a year ago but even though that is a little nerve-wracking, I have accepted it. I have learnt how to deal with outside pressures on the matter better and I know that after I have submitted my dissertation, I will have the time to fully focus on my future.
