Polscy studenci z UK pokazują, w jakich warunkach mieszkają - moj artykul na Vice Polska

Photo by: desh. - Marta w swoim pokoju

Slowem wstepu - dalej nie mam internetu a cudowne komputery w bibliotece uniwersyteckiej odmawiaja wspolpracy jesli chodzi o pisownie polskich znakow. Dlatego ten post bedzie wygladal jakby byl pisany przez idote, ktorego nie obchodzi roznica pomiedzy tym czy robi komus laske czy laske - bez znakow polskich nawet to nie wyglada dobrze, ale mam nadzieje, ze szare komorki podpowiedza wam sens tego zdania.
Od kilku miesiecy staralam sie o roznorodne publikacje - docenilam czas wolny pomiedzy praca i zajeciami i postanowilamn wziac sie za swoje artystyczmne portfolio. W pracy dziennikarza i pisarza jest to dosc waznym pubnktem jesli nie ma sie doswiadczenia w pracy - pozniej publikacje zdaja sie przychodzic do ceibie same, a jedyne co musisz zrobic to chciec i ciezko pracowac. Los sie do mnie usmiechnal w postaci wielu odpowiedzi od portali z poezja czy proza, ale najwiekszy usmiech na mojej twarzy wywolala odpowiedz od Vice Polska. Pewnego cudownego dnia w pracy, kiedy rozwarzalam wyskoczenie przez okno lub powieszenie sie na bzdryngolcu od maszyny do kawy przez glupote klientow dostalam maila. Po kilku tygodniach od wyslania zgloszenia na staz w Vice dostalam odpowiedz, w ktorej edytor zaproponowal mi napisanie artykulu na temat tego jak mieszkaja Polscy studenci w UK. Skakalam z radosci, kazdy kto mnie zna wie, ze moim marzeniem jest praca dla Vice (oraz magazynow modowych) i dostanie takiej szansy jest jak zlapanie pana Boga za nogi. Doslownie.
W skrocie - jaralam sie jak durna. No i po podrozach do Guildford i rozmow z ludzmi w Farnham powstal oto ten artykul, ktory zostal opublikowany na Vice 02go czerwca. Duma mnie rozpiera pomimo tego, ze bardzo duzo ludzi na facebook'u postanowilo napisac jak okropnie niezaradnych studentow do artykulu wybralam plus dopisanie, ze jest to stek bzdur.
Moi drodzy, pozwolcie, ze troszke sie odniose do tego, co niektorym czytelnikom sie nie podobalo i do tego wyjasnie po raz kolejny jak studia i zycie w UK wyglada.
Nie jest latwo - to tak na poczatku, ale nikt nie powiedzial nigdy, ze studia maja byc proste, mile i przyjemne. Wiekszosc z nas pracuje na part time w wymiarze do 30 godzin tygodniowo - wiecej przy dobrych studiach jest niemozliwoscia ze wzgledu na naklad pracy na kilka modulow. Nie ma juz czegos takiego jak maintenance grant dla studentow zagranicznych - to cudo i ratunek zostalo zniesione lata temu. Aktualnie przysl;uguje jedynie brytyjczykom oraz osobom z obywatelstwem brytyjskim. Koniec historii. W Surrey wiekszosc miejsc pracy oferuje studentom 6 funtow za godzine, oczywiscie da sie znalezc cos lepiej lub gorzej platnego, ale jest to kwestia szczescia lub pecha.
Racja jest, ze splaty kredytu studenckiego sie nie czuje, ale na pierwszym roku nie myslimy nawet o tym co bedzie za dwa lata, wiec komentarzy na ten temat nie rozumiem. Kazda osoba potrafiaca czytac ze zrozumieniem widzi, ze nikt z nas nie boi sie przyszlego splacania, bo nie mamy czego.
Pieniadze od rodzicow czasem na prawde potrafia uratowac tylek nie jednemu z nas. Na uczelni artystycznej mamy duzo wydatkow na rzeczy, ktore nie przydadza sie na przyklad studentom biologii a kosztuja cholendarne pieniadze - same szkicowniki czy specjalne olowki to jednak wydatek a przy codziennym rysowaniu to kasa w to wsiaka okropnie. Studenci prawa nie maja tak duzo czasu wolnego i trzeba jednak skuypic sie na nauce na pierwszym roku i jesli moga pomoc finansowa przez choc jeden rok od rodzicow otrzymac to nie widze w tym nic zlego lub niezaradnego.
Nie jest to tez utopijne pokazanie studiow w Anglii - tak wykladowcy to sami ludzie z pasja, ktorzy przelewaja swoje pasje na nas, nie jestesmy do niczego zmuszani, bo sami wybralismy takie studia, a nie inne, do tego placimy za to i owszem jestesmy w wiekszosci biednymi studentami z pozyczka na karku. Spojrzmy prawdzie w oczy - wiekszosc studentow na calym swiecie jest biedna, a pozyczki i jej splaty my nie bedziemy odczuwac w najmniejszym stopniu, czesc z nas nawet pewnie nie bedzie musiala jej splacac.
Studia w Anglii sa inwestycja, ale jest to inwestycja w przyszlosc. Daja one dyplom rozpoznawalny na swiecie w przypadku wielu uczelni - takich jak UCA, Surrey, Oxford czy Coventry (z ludzmi z tych wlasnie uczelni rozmawialam). Studiowanie ciagnie kase a dodatkowa praca zabiera czasem checi do zycia, ale wszyscy wiemy dlaczego to robimy.
Koncowym slowem dalej bez znakow polskich - kochani, research powinnien byc waszym kumplem, a najlepiej najlepszym przyjacielem. Dzieki niemu nie piszemy glupot w internecie. A juz serio mialam nadzieje, ze jestem idiotka, ktora nie wie jak dostac dodatkowa kase od rzadu brytyjskiego. Niestety mialam racje - jest to jak Bazyliszek - nieistniejaca legendarna postac.


Oczywiscie zapraszam do lektury - https://www.vice.com/pl/article/polscy-studenci-z-uk-pokazuja-w-jakich-warunkach-mieszkaja

Why only "white" is perceived as beautiful - portrayal of race in media.

Considering the portrayal of beauty in the contemporary media we can easily spot one major problem. If someone is beautiful, the person, according to media, must be white. In this blogpost, I will critically discuss the images of black women in media considering adverts, which are nowadays a huge part of our everyday life and media content as well. 

Representation of race in media consists of pretty much the same stereotypes as those in the gender portrayal.  This is visible considering, for example, various commercials, which show that white women are somehow superior to black, but both of them are perceived as sex-objects, or they spend their whole life in the kitchen. 

Although multiple examples can be given I'll focus on one advert, which is a pure definition of a racist portrayal in the contemporary media. PSP billboard, which caused a lot of controversy in America. Thanks to the public, it wasn't widely published. On the black billboard, we can see a white woman in the center of it aggressively looking at the black woman, who is almost invisible on the billboard. The white woman grabs black woman’s face (or rather tries to squeeze it?).

According to the Oxford Dictionary racism is "the belief that all members of each race possess characteristics, abilities, or qualities specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races.". The accuracy of this definition considering this ad is huge. The white woman is superior, she represents something better, innovative and desired.

Bell Hooks argues that in the broad media spectrum people perceive as feminine only women who are white, so in order to achieve the idealized standard of beauty one can go to great lengths... 

According to Abhik Roy (2005) commercials glorifying fair complexion upheld the elitist aesthetic that only woman with light skin can be classified as part of the upper-class as the skin reflects her aristocratic fragility. So just like in this ad – white means better.

Fiske claims that white part of the population regards other ethnicities, especially black people, not only as worse race, but also as a threatening one to the perfect, white world order.

Some people claim that there is no such thing as the "white privilege", but when we consider produced images of a race all over the media we can see how the portrayal of different ethnicities varies and somehow still, always the white person is the supreme one. 

Looking at that PSP billboard one can easily notice the misrepresentation of race, how one ethnicity is shown to be superior to other. As we almost can’t see the black women it seems that she’s not important.  

My example shows not only how black people are portrayed in the contemporary media, but also it shows how the images like that are being consumed in our times. People start to see how ads, movies, cartoons or tv-series are racist and they start to speak up. Thanks to others defending the equality we will soon be able to live in the world without controversies around ethnic groups. There’s just one race in world and it’s the human race.

If you are interested in TOP 10 most racist ads of the modern era - CLICK HERE. 

Bibliography:

1) Dyer R. 1997: White. London and New York, Routledge

2) Fiske J. 1994: Media matters: everyday culture and political change. Minneapolis, MN and London: University of Minnesota Press, in UK distributed by UCL Press

3) Hooks B. 1992: Black looks race and representation. Boston, MA, South End Press

4) Roy A. 2005: The 'male gaze' in Indian Television Commercials: A Rhetorical Analysis. Lanham, Boulder, New York, Toronto, Oxford,  University Press of America.





















































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10 things I've learned at uni

Hold on, hold on - before you'll close this post, I just want to let you know that this has nothing to do with my uni knowledge or the so-called "real knowledge", but it's all about the life knowledge.

1. People won't even think to judge you.

Going to Uni was pretty stressing. As an international student, I was scared that making new friends will be hard as f...., and others will judge the shit out of me. You know what? I can honestly admit that I met amazing people, who are not judgy at all and I feel that those friendships will bear the test of time. Maybe it's just because I'm studying at art uni, but we are so different and still everyone is amazing,, we just get along well. I can't imagine uni without my flatmates, which make the uni experience even better. 

2. I start to know that time management is the key to being successful. 

I'm not the best example when it comes to time management, yet... But I realized how many things you can do in an hour! Everything is possible if you start to plan and you actually do things as planned. It makes life so much easier and you'll have plenty of time left to just hang out with your friends. Apart from that, your grades will be better as well as you can spend more time polishing your piece rather than writing it the night before submitting. 

3. Male-female friendships are the best. 

And they do actually exist. When I would have to list my friends in the uni I would immediately think about two girls and five guys. Actually, I spend more time chilling with my "male besties" rather that girl-friends. If I had to pick, I'd probably not even think twice :)

4. Sleepovers are fun either if you're ten or twenty.

And by that, I mean that age doesn't matter at all! If you want to do something, just do it! If you like someone, don't think about their age! That's just a number, which shouldn't define you.

5. Spending time alone is cool.

Seriously, I started to appreciate the time which I can spend just with myself. It's nice to have an hour or two just for yourself. It doesn't really matter what you want to do with that time. Parts of the whole day you should spend just doing whatever you like. Do you want to take a nap? Do it! Maybe there's a book you wanted to read or a movie you'd like to watch? Play a game, study, make a fancy dinner for yourself. Do whatever you want, spend that time thinking just about yourself and don't feel bad about it!

6. You can say NO to things.

You don't have to do same things as others. It doesn't work like that, you have plenty of options so don't be afraid to say "no" to things. If you don't want to do something there's no point in trying to make yourself do it. Just slowly try to learn to say no. You know best what is good for you. 

7. Working full time is actually pretty fun

You meet new people, you learn new things and you earn money - sounds great and it is great. By the way by working full time as a student I mean working maximum three days per week to have time to take care of your coursework!

8. No one cares about your accent

That doesn't mean that people won't notice it or ask where you are from, but trust me - no one gives a shit about your accent if you can easily communicate with them. 

9. Talk with as many people as you can!

Not only will your English improve faster, but you'll make lots of friends! Just go out and talk with people! There's nothing better than that, and if you'll be living in halls - that's the right time to do it! 

10. Although you may feel so - you are never alone.

I know that it's hard at first, but after a month or maybe even a week you'll get used to living abroad or in another city. You'll meet people who'll become your second family and you have to know that no matter what they'll be there for you. Of course, you'll have fights! You'll quarrel about the smallest things in the whole world, but that's how it works! Not everyone has to agree with everything you say so just... chill, take a deep breath and remember that everything is going to be fine (if not MARVELOUS). 

University can sometimes seem hard, but what in life doesn't? If something is easy - it's not worth it!