*Radio Interview* Students talk to FM105 about College Experience

Three students with different backgrounds have all found common ground with SERC's Level 2 Media course.

Mollie Richardson, originally from Germany who had been home-schooled from the age of 10 before enrolling at SERC, Jonathan Leonard, who has just completed his second year at SERC and Anna-Marie Greenan, an adult returner, popped in for a chat about their experience on the Level 2 Media course with Colm McAlinden, SERC Associate Lecturer in Creative Media and Radio Co-ordinator/Station Manager at FM105 Down Community Radio.

Mollie, Jonathan and Anna-Marie had the chance to train at FM105 Down Community Radio which is located at SERC’s Downpatrick Campus. The station is equipped with industry-standard live broadcasting facilities and provides opportunities for students to create and innovate under supervision from experienced media professionals.

Mollie who joined SERC after being home schooled, described the experience as, “A big change - going from studying alone to learning with a group and lecturer” but settled immediately due to SERC’s warm and welcoming nature. Thanks to this course, Mollie has grown in confidence, pushed herself out of her comfort zone and made new friends.

Mollie has applied for the Level 3 Media course and hopes to pursue a career in journalism in the future.

Jonathan, progressed from computing to media to follow his passion for film. Through this course he discovered a talent for radio presenting. As a result, Jonathan and Mollie were given their own radio segment hosting “The Noughties at Nine” which airs every Wednesday from 9am to 10am on FM105.

Jonathan plans to continue his studies on the new Level 3 in Media to gain more experience in this sector.

Finally, Anna-Marie returned to education after 12 years to study Media at SERC. Anna-Marie chose the course to gain more knowledge and skills in graphic design.  The course offers access to the latest adobe photoshop and video packages. She described returning to education as, “frightful at first to be back in a learning environment” but like Mollie, soon discovered the she fit in amongst her classmates and enjoyed the topics and support received from lecturers.

Anna-Marie plans to open her own business in 2020 and will apply her new skills from this course to brand and market her business to potential customers.

Colm McAlinden said, “Mollie, Anna-Marie and Jonathan are exemplary students who have worked extremely hard all year and should be extremely proud of all of their achievements. The media courses at SERC open a lot of doors  within the industry for our students because of the vast range of topics covered including radio, television, film production, graphics production and photography.”

Listen to the full interview here

Applications are now open for courses commencing in September 2019. For more information about the level 2 media course click here