Mastering Fashion and Lifestyle Journalism

I first saw Epsom on the 15th of September, it was a Sunday. I hate Sundays and this one was no exception. Saying goodbye to my friends and family in sunny South of France was a new step in my life. I was crying when I was welcomed by a chatty, friendly Greek girl (she is now my crazy but oh so Perfect friend here) at the student accomodations. She said she was in the same state when she arrived a few days ago but that she already loved it here. 'Great' I think. Until I meet an MA student from the previous year who tells us that we will have no social life this year, that it will only be work work work and it will not be easy. Oh no, the tears are back again.What I can honestly say today is that the tears never came back. Well, at least they were never a consequence of my being here.

After graduating from a B.A in language with an emphasis on business and management, I took a year off to decide what I wanted to do with my life. What I already knew was that I wanted to live in England. Location? ticked. I have always been an avid reader of fashion magazines, turning the floor of my room into a Vogue carpet. I started looking for MAs in Fashion Journalism, and the one at UCA was the first one I found and the only one I wanted to go to. The course description was my idea of Heaven, and 6 months on, it still is.
A few months after receiving my "we are pleased to make you an offer" letter from the UCA in Epsom, I am being introduced to our course teachers, journalists at I.D, The Guardian, NME, or latest of all, Katie Grand's latest fabulous creation, LOVE magazine. Not only do I take great pride in telling my friends "Why don't you read this article, it's great. Oh, and, by the way, my teacher wrote it" but it is also a huge privilege to work with people whose work you admire and who inspire you. I say "work with" because not once were we looked at or considered as Fashion Journalism students. No. We are considered as "Freelance Journalists" in the making.
We are very few studying for this MA which has brought us girls (yes, girls. Lots of girls at UCA!) very close, as close as going to Paris for a few days to go to Les Arts Décoratif's exhition on Sonia Rykiel or the David Lachapelle one but we also help each other write our articles, exchange our rather expensive fashion magazines while sitting at Starbucks at least once a week. The UCA has enable me to meet people from different countries and backgrounds but fuelled by the same love for fashion and this has enriched my knowledge in the best way possible.

Of course, at Master level the amount of work is sometimes overwhelming and you do have to spend some weekends working and writing but when you know that research includes reading Vogue, how can you complain? Even when reading Fashion History or writing essays on Fashion Theory I feel happy and blessed to be able to study something I am so passionate about. Sharing this passion with my Epsom friends and teachers who are genuinely interested in our work as much as our lives is beyond rewarding and I couldn't imagine my life anywhere else now.
I don't know where this MA will take me, London or Paris? Magazine or Blog? But when the going gets tough (and the lack of money forces me to eat Baked Beans. Oh the joys of British food) and the anxieties about my future flood my mind I am very quickly brought back to reality: I am oh so lucky to be here for the time being. Carpe Diem.

Here's the link to the Postgraduate Courses at the different UCAs in England:
http://www.ucreative.ac.uk/index.cfm?articleid=8950