Evaluation:

Final Evaluation

Overall evaluation of my 2 years studying

HND Specialist make-up course at West Thames College Summary

After leaving school and being given the opportunity to study whatever I desired, became one decision I found incredibly hard. When I came across the HND that West Thames was offering and noticed it was not only what I wanted to study (make-up), but it also gave me all angles and avenues around this topic, including hair and SFX. I was also drawn in by the lecturers still working in industry and that have a strong work ethic to their names. It was a course I was hopeful to be accepted into. When I was notified of my acceptance I was thrilled.

As an individual I wasn't aware of how this course would alter and modify me for the better and push my weaknesses/channel my strengths.

It’s a course I would love to keep on doing! I feel you can always learn, you learn all the time, in life in education and in just the simply ways of living. This course was one of many major steps I hope to take that develop me in my industry and me as a person.

Once I started this course it definitely shocked me. In the first weeks of attending this course, there was much concern and worry whether I could achieve the requirements and the volume of work. Not only that but the struggles of having to force myself to be up very early (5:30am) on most college working days and be productive and organised for the long day events ahead.

One of the biggest struggles for me personally was definitely the travelling to and from lectures/workshops. Being only 18 when I started this course, I had only been driving for a year and as a choice due to money/convenience I decided to drive to University every day. I think it was very fair to say my body and my lack of sleep suffered a lot, becoming very emotion due to tiredness and also concerned for driving at unhuman hours.

Costings and budgeting was another struggle that I had to adjust to when starting this course. Costs of kits were a massive amount of money for someone not earning, someone like me. Personally I had to really watch my outgoings of my Student Loan and constantly calculate whether or not I was going to be able to afford everything required plus fuel and car costs/daily costs.

However I massively fell in love with what I was learning and with my determinations and organisations I managed to balance the above plus workload/productive work. By the end of term 1 I was fully in a routine and very on top of most things- which was definitely something I had to work at.

To sum up Year 1 for me it was a big eye-opener. It was a nice build up to how my working life could be and a gentle ease into the work ethic within industry. It gave me a taster of all that was to come and gave drive to move on from the work and push myself for that 100% artistry effort. The best parts for me were the knowledge and skills I gained in Period Make-up/Hair/Contextual Studies. Period was a topic I was aware of but had only touched on in terms of famous role models. The in-depth information and practical learning was more than I could have wished for. That hands down goes to the volume of dedication from lecturers Sam, Denise and Fiona. Term one gave me that strong foundation to drive my work into second year.

There was one a few negatives for year 1 for me and the most important one for me personally was the lack of time! I enjoyed the course so much I almost wanted it to be more days of the week- a bit geeky but true! Things like finger waves and theatre make-up I felt I could have still learnt and have been taught so much more. Something I will keep drumming into for sure.

Second year for me was a lot tougher than year one. The workload doubled, the expectations grew and the levels of work being produced got stronger by the day.

Key thing for me in second year was the increase and the focus of Opportunities. Not only did we get great knowledge and understanding of what was out there for us to challenge ourselves with but also being given the opportunity to do so. I was very lucky to achieve an award from West Thames and have the chance to work in the West End with my lecturer Tanya on Phantom of the Opera, something which opened my eyes the theatre world again. Enrichment weeks/trips became stronger and career openings were given in greater details for us to store for the future. I was much appreciative of this especially the opportunity to go to NYC in March. A second strength within this topic was our insights into creating industry contacts and the abilities to build up our friendships.

A few negatives to second year for me on a personal level was the lack of information supplied about our topics compared to the first year, I felt that topics such as SFX and body-painting struggled a bit. This I understand was due to time-scale. I think as an improvement to the course, it should be 3 days a week consistently throughout the year and the third day can allow for extra studies into these topics. However the lessons I was taught have made me eager to learn even more individually!

Another negative to me on an agreed mention by my classmates was the lack of Skin Anatomy Studies. Something as a make-up artist/hairstylist is so important to know. The business topic was wasted time for most people, and I felt that it should be replaced by skin anatomy/types of skin. This is something I will be pursuing independently also.

To sum up the Second Year I would say it drove me and pushed me to lengths I wouldn't have ever thought I could extend too. It gave me passion to be me and be me as an artist, to absorb as well as teach and to hold a strong understanding of topics I felt I wouldn't have even touched on due to not being interested in.

The only one major setback to the course was the lack of resources available to use. Not only was unfair on teachers reducing their abilities to let us try and learn practically instead of visually but mainly for the students. I feel it’s something that should be increased and if required the course fees should be made higher to be able to fund that of what is needed to fulfil these necessities.

The final show was a moment of the course that was definitely the highlight of the two years. Something of which draw testing times as well as high achievements. My final piece was something that not only drove me into channels that I wouldn't normally look at, it also pushed me into practical elements I wouldn't have even touched on. I worked with my strengths and pushed my weaknesses to improve with the help of teachers and friends.

I want to thank the people of the HND course, the teachers, sub-teachers and the course format. Without it I would not be at this point in my life and wouldn't have found me as a person and grown to accept and love who I am as an individual. Most importantly if I have learnt one thing for this experience is West Thames wants you, no matter who you are and finally gives you the drive to feel happiest in your skin!