Screen and Film School Brighton: Freshers Diary 2021

Screen and Film School Brighton first year student Jasmine Gregory shares her 2021 Freshers experience- from first day nerves, to making new friends, and of course meeting our famous in-house therapy dog Harvey.

I never thought I’d have the misfortune of reliving my first day as a Year 7. Decked in a hand-me-down blazer and a way too big rucksack, worrying about getting the right bus. But that’s pretty much what it felt like at the start of my Fresher’s week at the Film School. Minus the rucksack and blazers (though, this is Brighton…)

There were so many things I was worried about, yet as soon as I reached the entrance of the Duke of York’s Picturehouse for the first Induction Day, I realised that everyone seemed to be the exact same as me. Once I very quickly discovered my peers were all just as nervous, those nerves settled and all that was left was excitement. I’m about to start my first year at the Film School of my dreams – what more could I want, a free Screen and Film School tote bag? Never mind, I’ve already got three.

In what I thought to be true ‘Film School’ fashion, our Induction Day was held in what is the oldest running cinema in the UK which was cool. Plus, the seats were super comfortable! The Induction Day was a great opportunity to get to know some of the staff and learn a bit more about the course I’m taking. It was especially lovely to be surrounded by so many people, as opposed staring at a bunch of little boxes on a screen. I think it’s safe to say everyone is fed up with Zoom by now – it was reassuring to hear the staff were just as pleased to see everyone in person

The few days between the Induction Day and the official Freshers week gave me the opportunity to explore Brighton as a city, which mainly consisted of me walking around randomly, trying to familiarise myself with the area. I was lucky enough to organise living with some other Screen and Film School students, so it has been lovely discovering the city with them as well as getting used to student life! The Fresher’s Fair was brilliant, particularly given it was held at the new studios which I was yet to see. It was worth the hype, it’s very impressive. I felt quite smug knowing I was going to be spending a lot of my time here for the next three years.

The Fresher’s Fair was another chance to talk to some of the Screen and Film School staff as well getting to know more of my filmmaking peers. It’s been so interesting meeting so many different people and hearing about their likes and dislikes when it comes to filmmaking. I very much felt at home. I even got to meet Harvey the therapy dog, which was a big highlight for me!

There were many Freshers’ events, and I made the mental decision early on to try and attend as many as possible (famous last words!) I really enjoyed the Pub Quiz, nothing like some healthy competition to get us all more comfortable with each other. I will admit there were many questions that really stumped me on some of the rounds, but it was such a brilliant atmosphere. Those delicious vegan nachos didn’t hurt either.

From Club Nights at Revenge to BIMM gigs at the Green Door Store I really was spoilt for choice when it came to Freshers events and I’m so glad I was able to make lots of friends at them.

After I somewhat recovered from the nights out and only narrowly avoided getting too bad of a Fresher’s Flu, I started my first lot of classes at the beginning of this week which was equal parts nerve-wracking and exciting. I found myself desperately reciting my favourite film so as not to be flustered when it came to icebreakers, but in fact, I couldn’t have been more comfortable in all my classes. My lecturers have been nothing short of welcoming and engaging and I’m really looking forward to getting stuck into my course.

The past couple of weeks have been full of new experiences and I’m so excited for more at Screen and Film School Brighton. I’ve never even written a blog before so this is another first that I can tick off!