andovich2

[andovich2]

Week 13 - Future Strategies

Knowledge

What a semester! Full of highs and lows, I look back on this semester as a learning experience, particularly in regards to how Holmesglen’s teaching style works, I know now that I can’t be missing class as often if I wish to have a high standard of work, if I am able to improve my attendance next semester on top taking pride in my work I know that I will do very well.

Attitudes and Behaviours

I did not expect to like my classmates so much, everybody is unique and coming from a science course at Monash University it is so nice to have likeminded people who I am in the same classes with and who I can call my actual friends and not just school acquaintances. I guess I came into this course with a close minded perspective. Thinking I could miss classes and just skim along but I know now that is not possible. In addition, it is easier to learn and come to class knowing I’m not going to be sitting in awkward silence with somebody next to me who’s name I don’t know. Being open and making new connections is how we find ourselves the opportunities for advancement in our careers and social life so I must imbed this way of thinking in how I approach my studies in the future.

Skills

My skills in terms of writing, design, and hands on media skills have improved massively this semester. I am writing articles and the newsletter for Extra Time Media, I produce podcasts, and these skills are translating into my work as well, going from someone who had no idea how to use Canva to enjoying the process of putting together a visually appealing professional presentation has been something I did not expect at all.

Knowing the importance of presentation through style and tone and knowing how much I have improved in just one semester in these aspects of my studies and extracurricular activities makes me extremely excited for the coming semesters to show off my skills.

To summarise moving on from this semester, a quote from an unknown source. "Let go of what was; embrace what's yet to come" (Quotesanity Team, 2025).

[andovich2]

Week 11 - Managing Assessments

With four assessments being due next week, I am a little worried. Circling back to my week five entry about being the self designated group leader, again I am finding myself having to delegate and explain topics to my partners. This is fine and I am happy to do so as Turner (2019) notes that leadership roles are vital to the success of any project, yet in my Academic and Professional Communications group, the boys are so far off topic and non receptive to my advice or suggestions that I am very nervous to actually get up and present with them.

In contrast, my group for The Media Industry has been a breath of fresh air and so amazing to work with, the girls have all taken an equal role and I don’t have to explain each and every part of the assignment, I can go off and do my part as I please and we maintain constant communication and seem to have a firm direction planned and low and behold this has made me very excited to actually present or assignment on May 29.

Overall I have a firm understanding of my assignments and I know my parts will be good, I am just unsure, frustratingly about how to help others raise the standard of their work in addition.

[andovich2]

Week 9 – Understanding and Utilising Feedback

All feedback on my assignments so far have noted that I could benefit from coming to class.

This one aspect of my learning is just holding me back, all my assignments come back saying the work is good but I would benefit from attending class, this is something I absolutely have to improve, I have been attending more 9 am start classes recently and I plan to continue to do so for the rest of the semester. In the absence of class attendance however, going through my other assignments I have made sure to look through the weekly class PowerPoint for key information I may have missed however these slides do little in comparison to a lecture expanding on the topic and explaining it in detail.

I was not in attendance for week 9’s review of our portfolio progress however so I will be missing this artefact, in place I have some feedback from Steve regarding my Sports In Australia assignments.

I have found that discussing assignments with classmates such as Cooper, Behm and Ethan, who I know hold themselves to a very high standard has been most beneficial when just touching on unclear points of assessments to really get a firm grip on what is being asked of us.

[andovich2]

Week 7 – Self Management: Motivation and Resilience

I am finding currently that the longer the semester goes on and the more work is due, I recede into bad habits of prioritising my hobbies over getting work done on time and even going to class at all.

Halikari et al. (2021) studied procrastination tendencies and note that these avoidance techniques are actually hurting my wellbeing and I need to improve my psychological flexibility, this is why I attended a counselling session and have begun to plan my days with a google calendar and a physical diary, Livinia my counsellor told me it is not wrong to read books or go to the gym before studying but that I need to use the relief that those activities bring me as a motivator to study.

Yet these skills are obviously easier said than done. Missing classes is leading to an overall uncertainty regarding assignments and that makes me nervous about even starting them in the first place, the pressure building up and so on just leads me to put them off completely until a day before or even the day after they are due. Which again makes me disappointed in myself as I love to put forward competent well researched work that my lecturers enjoy reading and marking. The first step in changing this, I believe is making a big effort on getting to more classes.

[andovich2]

Week 5 - Teamwork

Costley (2021) discusses how collaboration is key to learning and improvement in performance within the context of group projects. Applying this study to our group for assignment two I note multiple problems with our approach to groupwork and how we should have handled it instead. Our biggest problem was a lack of consistency throughout our work, our parts did not all trend towards one overarching theme.

Our approach had been to go off and do our own work whilst maintaining constant communication via our Instagram group chat.

Yet considering Costley (2021) we should have had an emphasis on collaboration so our work was connected and could flow properly to unify the good research and content we had put forward. We missed out on this opportunity due to inconsistent class attendance, and we should have focused on creating at least one time slot where we could meet and discuss the direction of our report.

Our second problem was a lack of a firm group leader, which I find throughout my time in university I have reluctantly had to be. Being this member of the group is extremely challenging for me; I want to be liked by my peers and I don’t want to be seen as a micromanaging group member who is asking too much of his classmates. However, in situations where your partners don’t know what an academic reference is, or how to reference properly, or that a reference list needs to be alphabetised you must take charge.

It seems that going forward in the semester I will have to recognise the competency of my group members and considering that analysis, take a forward approach to delegating tasks and encouraging my group partners to finish work on time and take pride in putting forward a high quality piece of work.

Additionally, I need to look inward and realise that in fact, they won’t hate you for helping them, and even if they do happen to get frustrated, number one a good piece of work matters more to me than someone else’s opinion and number two they will likely forget about it as soon as the assignment is submitted anyway.

[andovich2]

Week 2 - Starting Out

Week 2 – Starting out

Plato stated in regards to learning that “the beginning is the most important part of the work” (Socratic Method, 2025). And I could not agree more, walking into a new degree (having not attended orientation) anticipating icebreakers, small talk and new faces I had a certain notion in my head of what this new step in my life could bring.

Week one and two for all classes served as an introductory period, settling into the routine of a new university course for myself. And at this point I found my biggest struggle for the semester, missing classes. Following my lack of attendance in my previous studies I had hoped to maintain a respectable level of attendance, yet by the end of the week I had already missed more than half.

Being placed into groups for assignment two this struggle reared its ugly head, I had missed the initial class where we planned the project, and without the help of Simone to guide our group even a bit the roots were deeply planted already for our work to be disjointed and misaligned.

However, my overall goal for this semester was, and is to produce quality work and maintain a level of respect from my lecturers and peers as a student who provides quality work regardless of attendance and other factors.