THE second week back at University has thrown down more challenges and has literally left my head in a spin. As I sit here typing this out, I know I need to shape up and get things sorted out, otherwise I’m throwing my degree into the rubbish bin and that would be a massive shame.
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| PREPARATION: Frank Wrathall's Toyota is rolled out into the paddock |
Today saw the entire journalism group head down to the home of British motorsport, Silverstone. The trip formed part of the main group project we have to do on motor racing in general, with today’s focus mainly on the finale of the British Touring Car Championship which takes place at Silverstone this weekend. Preparing for the trip in the build-up and a lot of my colleagues couldn’t see the point of going. I was remaining cautious about how it would go, but deep down, I was really excited. I had never been to Silverstone, so this was a great opportunity and a fantastic chance to experience the motor racing scene from the pits, paddock and media centre. By the day’s end, it felt like I was the only one who felt short-changed and fractionally disappointed and everyone else was in high spirits. So, why did this happen?
There are a number of reasons for this. Some I will go into detail now and others I won’t. The group I’m working in were hampered today by not having a tape to collect any video footage. This was a frustrating experience and we missed out massively because of this. What happened to the tape, I don’t honestly know. Maybe we didn’t get one? Perhaps it had been carelessly misplaced or maybe someone fancied using two tapes without checking. Either way, it was a massive blow and means that unless some of the group make a return trip, the video part of the assignment is frankly, screwed up. The main basis of the day was to take part in a media day challenge; which was to write a 300-word preview on the touring car finale this weekend. The prize was tickets to the conclusion of the season on Sunday. Unfortunately, our group didn’t win, which was a shame, but everyone was very phlegmatic in defeat.
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| GLORY: My group (Rochelle, Farida & Tamika); three new podium contenders! |
Everyone knows that I am a competitive soul, always have been and always will be. Of course I would have liked to have won, but we had a go and it didn’t work out. I have learned to be ‘Magnanimous in victory, gracious in defeat.’ I congratulated the four winners; Amanda, Tom, Shamina and Rebecca on their deserved success and actually, the article is a very good choice and a clear winner. The article that our group wrote was on the day, not strong enough. You can read the excellent work of my fellow University colleagues on the official Silverstone website now at; http://www.silverstone.co.uk/news/latest-news/BTCC-news/Silverstone-revs-up-for-a-dramatic-finale/
I didn’t gain any new contacts, which was disappointing and didn’t make as many visits as I would have liked around the area too. We did though; interview one of the leading title contenders for this weekend’s event, Jason Plato. Plato likes to speak his mind, but he was very helpful to us and was a pleasure to interview. I asked him whether he would take more pride and satisfaction in a third title if it happened on Sunday. His answer was thorough but very clear and understanding and I was pleased to have asked him such a well-thought question. We also spoke to the BTCC series director, Alan Gow, who wasn’t giving away too much on how he thought Sunday would go, but was still a very useful interview. The drivers and teams were all very friendly to us and that was nice. So, it wasn’t all bad today. However, I was expecting a bit more and when you don’t get it, you can’t help but feel a bit disappointed with the final experience and it’s best to be honest rather than grit through your teeth.
I must admit, I haven’t prepared myself properly for the New Year and I think it is starting to take its toll on me. I’m disappointed with myself to have fallen into old traps from last year and I can’t quite figure out why this is the case. I probably assumed that it would be a slightly more relaxed start to year three of my degree and instead, it’s ‘Bang Bang, WHALLOP!’ from the outset. Why did I not see this coming? I set out high standards for myself and unfortunately, I’m not meeting up to these at the moment. In fact, I’m not even close and need to turn things around. Wednesday was a prime example. I couldn’t help giggling over some of the hilarious jokes about the crashing of the BlackBerry server on Twitter, but after that, I lost concentration, motivation and all sense of direction in what I was doing. Why did I do that? My head wasn’t in the right place and I’m not talking literally here. I am my harshest critic as I feel that it is the best I need to do, so I can achieve the best. Maybe last year’s stinging criticism from my lecturers has hit me harder than I have let on. I can’t change what happened last year; I must move on!
I think an impending family anniversary hasn’t helped matters this week. I don’t want to go into details, as it is a very personal matter and talking about it only makes things more emotional. The issue affected me very closely at the time and I think it always will. I was close to this person and looked up to them in a big way. This time of year is always a difficult time for yours truly.
Hopefully next week, I will return to my old self – as I have let myself down this week. The old me must return too, the focused and more relaxed me. In March, I turned over a new leaf. Nobody’s perfect, so let’s just hope this week was a blip on the agenda.
Someone put me on charge, as I’m running on empty, it might help haha!
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