As 3rd year students this whole situation has come as a shock to us. It brings a lot of uncertainties to our near future and career direction. Due to us going into lockdown, our fashion show, private view, and New Designers have all had to be cancelled, which means we are limited to the exposure we can get for our work. As for our course, this will have to be changed a lot as we are all now having to work from home.

Even though this situation is not ideal, we are going to have to adapt and get the most out of it as we can. I feel it gives us an opportunity to really push ourselves, and will show future employers how adaptable we are when working through these difficult times.

Looking at what we can do, I have decided social media is the biggest platform we have accessible to us to showcase our work. I have contacted many instagram accounts to repost my work to get exposure, as well as entering online competitions for opportunities. A group website is also an option so we can reach industry professionals, to easily showcase our work online. Artsthread are also allowing students to post their portfolios for free, which I will be doing.

Unfortunately the worst downside is the effects this may have on the industry itself once we start applying for jobs. Many people have lost jobs during this time, and the clothing industry could be hugely effected. Luckily for me, I already have a job I am happy in and due to it being a small business it gets some government help to keep going. I am hoping I can still go full time once I finish, but if not I do have some other plans incase.

I also plan to keep track of what is happening within the industry by monitoring instagram, business of fashion and checking on different companies that I could potentially apply for in the future.

Overall I am going to stay positive and work hard during this time, and I feel with my good organisational skills and motivation I will still be able to get the most out of my course, and have a successful 3rd year.

It has been announced by our University that we will be shutting, as well as by the government we will be going into a UK wide lockdown due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. This was very scary to hear, and on Wednesday we had to pack up all of our belongings and work from University to take home with us. Luckily I managed to get everything home, and prepare a working from home space where I could work successfully till the end of this FMP. I am unsure what will come of this, but I am determined to still get the most out of my course, even if I have to work from home.

It has been a very tough week for me trying to balance my home life and university work, as my little brother was air abulanced to hospital due to being in a severe karting accident. He ended up being in hospital for a week with an awful femur break resulting in a 6 hour operation and unable to walk for 6 months. I really struggled with this week, trying to balance looking after the house and two dogs alone, university work and worrying about my brothers well being. Although it was a very traumatic time I coped relatively well, balancing everything. I do feel this has taught me a lot about myself and how I deal with situations, as well as still pushing myself to work hard at university.

During the weeks back at university we have been in discussion a lot regarding the fashion show and new designers. As it is coming up quick we needed to get things sorted. We have each got different roles within the committee and mine is finance. However I do have ideas for the other areas, so I give them forward when discussing. We have organised the accommodation for New Designers, and I have been discussing the brochure with Cyan. Models are being organised by Millie and Jenna as well as the music, and promotion has been discussed.

I feel our committee meetings are going well and we have got the ball rolling on a lot of projects, and I feel as the weeks go on, I will ensure I am participating as much as I can in the discussions.

Ingrid from the Princes Trust gave a talk today about starting a business. The Princes Trust was started by Prince Charles with his mention money to help give people a start in life. The talk was a great source to learn how to start a business, and it gave us a lot of good information. My current employer started her business up using the Princes trust and this was mentioned during the talk which was great. We spoke about her a little bit and how well the business is doing. This was a good example as we could see how a small business can grow well, especially with a helping hand from a charity like the Princes Trust. Although I am not currently interested in starting up a business, its a good source for the future as I may decide in a few years after some industry experience, that my own brand is the way I want to go.

Looking back over the 1st semester I am very happy with what I have produced. I feel I have worked very hard to achieve as much as I could in the short amount of time we had. My prints, final garments and portfolio have come out very successfully and I am very pleased. I felt I was organised and stuck to my personal goals throughout. Going forward into semester 2 I will be keeping this work ethic up and continuing to work hard and stay organised. I am very excited to get going on FMP

Embarking on our PDP module, we have to be very organised because this module is all about planning our future and the fashion show/ exhibition/ new designers. I chose to be in charge of all finances for 3rd year as I feel my organisation skills and handling of money is trustworthy for this job. Being in charge of finances requires me to look after and organise all money that comes through us for 3rd year expenses. I have to ensure everyone pays on time, and ensure we are budgeting correctly for everyones needs. I feel this is a great job for me and I look forward to how it all goes in 2nd Semester.

As 3rd years we got asked to participate in the colloquium day. We had to discuss our dissertations with 2nd years and give them tips on how to tackle it. I feel this went great and gave me a lot of confidence when talking about my work. I also got some great tips from other 3rd years which I will take into consideration when finishing off my dissertation.

I was lucky enough to be picked to exhibit my work in the Hay Gallery for the Nicole Abbott award. I feel this was a great opportunity to practise setting up an exhibition and talk to industry professionals about my work. The Nicole Abbott Award is put on every year in memory of Nicole Abbot, who attended University Centre Colchester studying Fashion and Textiles, and worked for Paul Smith. It gives students a chance to be chosen to participate in work experience at Paul Smith. Unfortunately after meeting the industry professionals my work was not chosen for the award, however I am very happy with how it all went, and look forwards to participating in any awards and events similar to this.

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We were lucky enough to be visited again by Fashion Designer Ashley Raynor. She discussed with us the importance of a social media presence and what websites are best to use. Instagram and Facebook are great ones to use as they are very interactive and help boost your account well. They are good visual platforms to use and I feel for me they will work best. She also gave us some helpful places that we could stock and sell our work such as flying solo.