Episode 1: Pilot

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It's the Pilot! Listen to Jack and Lee pretend to know what they're doing. Will they be a big hit, or consigned to the podcast scrapheap? Time will tell! Coming up this month:

Subject Spotlight: BA (Hons) Fashion Buying and Brand Management with Gabrielle Shiner-Hill 

Who Alumn-I? Featuring BA (Hons) Digital Television Production alumna, Daisy Morecroft

Student Stories featuring BSc (Hons) Creative Computing first year student, Olawale Okunrinboye. 

Connect with us on social media to give us your thoughts or feedback and for everything else, you can find it on our website.

Jack Brown  0:00  
Hello, and welcome to episode one of our Ravensbourne podcast, Ravecast. My name is Jack, and I'm Lee, and over the next 30 minutes, we're here to inform and engage you about all things Ravensbourne. Coming up on this very first episode... That experience in the (TV) gallery and being given different briefs. So it's almost like we were working in industry, before we even kind of got to work in the industry, if that makes sense. With the help of the university, I've been able to really focus on voting on different arrays of creativity that I didn't know. I could be good at. How, how easy is it to cast for a show like the sex clinic, do you have people queuing at your door going..."Yeah, I'll do that, I'll get my bits out on national television" or you have to really sell it. But firstly Lee, how are you? I am great. I haven't been in the building for like six months, it's my first time back, and I've missed it so so much. Just coming through the doors just feels great. It's weird. And we know we're all COVID negative, yep, because we have to have a test before we come in to the building. So it's all nice and safe and secure. Do you know it's my first one, your first test? My first COVID test, I've been very fortunate and touching wood that I've not had to have one before, so I was a bit nervous because I don't particulally like anything medical. But it was actually fine. Just putting like a bit of cotton wool through your nose. didn't like it didn't like it like that, like anything I've gone up, you know, COVID test or otherwise, it was very slick. So I have to say because I was a bit nervous coming in today, obviously, I didn't know what to expect with the test and sat in the car and half an hour later got the results and came in. And it's great because we know everybody's negative. Yeah. And it's great to have a testing site, actually at ravensbourne as well. So the students if they need to come in and use the facilities and get a test on site, they don't have to go anywhere else. I just have to wait outside for a little bit until they come in, which is cool. It's super exciting. And this is like so exciting that we're doing our first ever rains mooncup podcast rave cast as voted on social media by everybody that follows us. So thank you to everybody. That's that's got involved and named it you happy with the name? Well, yeah, considering all the alternatives that we had was, it was some shocking one. Yeah, mostly came up by us. But yeah, I like rave cos does exactly what it says on the tin is a podcast about ravens quarterback cost. And it took how many months for us to come up with that.

But it's really exciting, and you know, both me and you have have been wanting to do this for ages....and we're actually doing it which is so exciting. We're doing it in the building, it's lovely to see your face, we did a pilot of this over zoom. It's nothing like the real thing I can actually I can practically taste ya. Even though you're two metres away from me.

Lee McMahon  2:44  
Imagery for everyone listening,

Jack Brown  2:46  
it's nice to have some, some human interaction because it has been a bit of a weird time. And I guess we should just maybe introduce ourselves about what we kind of do here at Ravensbourne. Right? Because everybody's listening is gonna be like, Well, who, who are these people? Yeah,

Lee McMahon  2:59  
I guess so.

I'll go first. So I'm Lee, I've worked in higher education for about seven or eight years, mostly in kind of student recruitment. So the reason I wanted to start this podcast is to kind of help people go into university and bring advice and guidance and information to their, to their ear lobes and to make sure that they've, they've got somewhere they can go for advice and guidance that they can download and they can access in their own time and on their own terms and, and just really kind of modernise this, this kind of this whole journey through applying to university which can be really scary and really daunting for people. So hopefully, you know, over the coming episodes that we're going to be interviewing people, we're going to be talking about things. Hopefully, it's gonna help some people when and if it does, then I will be very happy person.

Jack Brown  3:49  
And don't forget those ear lobes. 

Lee McMahon  3:51  
Don't forget those ear lobes. And you Jack?

Jack Brown  3:52  
and me, well I work in I work in Marketing now. But I am a former students, so it's a bit weird that I was I was a student here all those years ago, 2013 I came here, doing the foundation course, which is an amazing course. Now I know we're doing this to sell Ravensbourne but genuinely from the heart. That is a brilliant course, and I did that and I thought oh well I'll be here for a year do that and then sort of toodle off into the industry and loved it and stayed and did the degree and I was doing the TV course which was brilliant and then left and did a bit of freelance work and sort of dabbled my toe in and I thought oh, I don't like this I want to come back I miss it too much. So I've been working like properly like as a paid member of staff for nearly three years now which is kind of bonkers. But I like you when I when I got into the marketing team, I thought this is this is absolutely needed. It's so nice to bring some kind of personal content out there because Ravensbourne is such a fantastic place. And I know we're going to bang on about this every single month that we do these but but it genuinely is fantastic from the heart. So it's really nice to kind of meet as you say some, some great students and great members of staff and really focus on the interesting thing come out of our small and creative and specialist university.

Lee McMahon  5:04  
Okay, Jack, we're moving on to our subject spotlight element of the podcast. And I'm delighted to be joined by my favourite person that has a pink fringe, Gabby Shiner-Hill, who is our course leader for fashion buying and brand management. Hello, Gabby, how are you?

Gabby Shiner-Hill  5:21  
I'm well Lee, thank you for having me today.

Lee McMahon  5:23  
Good. Thanks for coming on. So it's been a challenging year, probably so much more so as a teacher, and a lecturer. But what's it been like on the course? You know, what's worked well, in these kind of challenging times? And what are you most looking forward to getting back to?

Gabby Shiner-Hill  5:40  
I was reflecting on this. So it's been a real rollercoaster, I would say for staff and students alike. I think what we've kind of got out of the last year is we've been really interested to see what students have liked about the online teaching and staff I've liked as well. And recorded lectures have been a massive thing for us. And all of our students are fed back saying please keep recordings, please keep going with all of that. And that's been real positive for us. And also the calibre of industry guests that we've gotten in the last year, I think the industry has rallied around some of our students and graduates, and they've offered their time for free to come and talk to our students, mentor our students, and also guest lectures to our students. And we wouldn't have got some of those guests if we had had them to come into the building. So having that being remote has made a big difference for us and our scope and reach within the industry, I would say. I was also thinking about the fact that students have really pushed themselves digitally. So because they've had to communicate in lots of different ways with us and us likewise to them. So voice notes, audio recordings, they've really had to push their digital work, which has been really good. And then the final thing, which I think has been a positive is the beginning of our mentoring project, which is where we're meant we've got our alumni who are mentoring our current year three graduates. So we're just entering the matchmaking phase of that, which is really exciting. The main thing about things that I want to see the back of I guess, or things that I want, I'm looking forward to getting back to normal will be being back in the building with the students, sense of community with the other courses with the other staff members. And with all my students. That's what I really want and sort of like we all play off each other and we get energy off each other. So that's what I'm looking forward to getting out and about for our students to see exhibitions, the cultural spaces of London is going to be a massive thing. Study trips, we usually go to Sri Lanka, I had a trip to China planned, which obviously got sidelined, even going up to the north of England to see Burberry. That's the kind of stuff we want to get back our students back into the factories and back into sort of seeing a supply chain.

Lee McMahon  7:39  
I think that's really exciting. And to try and get back to that. There's some things that online can't replace, right that community vibe and I often refer to Ravensbourne is this creative ecosystem that everyone feeds off each other. And it's like a jungle full of creatives. And I can't wait to see that hub. And that that buzz back in the building, which is cool. You mentioned a few students that are kind of killing it at the moment. And so I wondered who, who you might be able to talk about this on your kind of ones to watch list. And if there's any particular students that are kind of ones for the future that you want to shout out?

Gabby Shiner-Hill  8:12  
Definitely. So there's a couple of projects we have 42 students that are graduating level six this year. So there's a lot to choose from. The first one is Caitlin Dentons project Qatari. So she is doing a street wear to screen wear  concept where she's actually digitally creating the clothes. So the products will never be made. It's sort of answering the digital fashion question at the moment where there's growth in the industry. And actually, one of her real focuses is around sustainability. And one of the key points that she wanted to make sure if she wasn't necessarily making a new product that would just go out into the world and then end up in landfill. So this digital creation of products so that people can wear these garments. Not just on zoom, but digitally on your avatar is one of her concepts. super interesting, very current and we're seeing a lot of growth in the industry around digital fashions as well. And then one of my other students Shay her project Aqua Terra is actually sort of challenging the fashions definition of the word nude. So nude whites. the fashion industry might say that nude is this colour but Aqua Terra was saying nude is all colours. She's really coming into her stride, I think Tam three is gonna be able to push the project forward. So actually, the creation of this project will be really interesting to see when she graduates in June. One of the other points I kind of wanted to mention about all of those students is I'm really impressed with all of level six is focused on sort of like the wider cultural context this year, they've really brought issues that they feel are important to society and woven them into their final major projects, which is brilliant to see.

Jack Brown  9:42  
It's such an important thing, isn't it, you know, preparing the students getting them ready for jobs. And you mentioned now you know, it's such a such an underlying theme throughout all of our courses being so aligned, you know, so closely to industry, but I think with fashion that's even more apparent really, so obviously brilliant here. current students doing really well. What about the What about those who have gone on, you know, previous students that have gone on to do really exciting things in the industry. Tell us about some of your most prolific alumni.

Gabby Shiner-Hill  10:11  
Well, FBBM has some real entrepreneurs that have come out of our course, which has been great to see. So the first project is project panda by abahani, one of our first first graduates out of FBBM. So she secured £10,000 seed funding and has developed her brand. It's a kidswear sustainable brand that wants to highlight the environmental issues. And she believes that children should be aware of those environmental issues when they're, as they're growing up and should have a sense of responsibility around those. So Benny's doing really well she's come back to us this year, she's asked for interns. So it's really great to see that we can actually help support her project going forward. She's guest lectured for our students as well and also provided mentoring and support for them. So she's doing fantastically well. Amy Smell has actually developed her own brand odd muse, which sort of sprang into existence in September 2020, and has gone from strength to strength. So odd muse, is is one to watch, definitely a women's wear clothing brand who is making great strides. And then really it's seeing that our students are sort of working their way up the ranks at the likes of Harvey Nichols, Liberty and Mr Porter. And also recognising the fact that there's so many changes in the fashion industry right now. So we've had students at Topman, we've had students, at companies that have gone into administration, but I'm in contact with them, and I've seen them and I've noticed that they're all just, you know, moving into different areas, sliding into new roles, or starting their own projects as well. So I do feel that they've, they're really navigating these choppy waters of the industry really well.

Lee McMahon  11:43  
Oh, that's great. And it's funny that you mentioned project Panda, because I was actually on their website last night, because my partner's expecting. We're buying some products from project panda, because I remember it from the degree show a couple of years ago, and I just remember that the concept and the and the vibe of it being really, really cool. So I was actually on that website. It's so funny to hear that shout out to Zoe, cos she's carrying my baby.

Gabby Shiner-Hill  12:10  
I've got two, I'm so sorry.

Lee McMahon  12:12  
I can't wait be equally petrified for my entire life. So I can, I can hear the passion and the and the the respect and the love you have for your students, kind of an all the alumni. And I guess I'd kind of just want to know why you love working at Ravensbourne so much. And is it them? You know, what do you think makes us different from other creative universities?

Gabby Shiner-Hill  12:36  
So well, specifically for fashion buying and brand management, I think we've got a really good community, I really like that about our course. We're relatively small with like 50 students in a year group. So we get to know them all really well. And then weaving wider and outside of the course, our collaboration with other courses, we're really lucky that we work with the design students, and we're hoping to also be working with the promotion students going forward as well, I find that just the concept of collaboration, team work, and group working is just embedded throughout our course. And then throughout Ravensbourne, which means that if you do need something, you can just pop and talk to someone, whether you be a student or a member of staff. That's what we can do, we can sort of each talk to each other as as much as we need each other. And then really, I think the connection with industry Ravensbourne has a very good reputation in the industry. And it's not difficult for us to reach out to a lot of companies and say please, will you come and talk to our graduates, please, we support Oh, come and talk to our students, please we support our students. And that makes it... it means that we can actually just embed industry really easily into the course because Ravensbourne kind of like steps forward with that reputation. So I'm really pleased to be able to work here and be able to do that for my students.

Jack Brown  13:48  
Aw, it's so it's so lovely to have you on. Thank you so much for being part of our, you know, first inaugural podcast, I've got to just ask you before you go, obviously, we're really hoping that this podcast reached out to lots of students, you know, making a decision. It's really tough out there at the moment. And obviously, we want our prospective students to make the right choice, which we hope will be Ravensbourne. What would you say somebody listening to this podcast right now, considering coming to study at Ravensbourne? On the fashion buying and brand management course?

Gabby Shiner-Hill  14:17  
Well I would say do your research. So do your research on the wider fashion industry understand that the fashion industry is not just three job roles you've heard of which is sort of like design, buying and marketing, that the scope within the industry is is so wide. And we can see that there are elements of the industry which is struggling and elements of the high street which haven't been performing, but they've been not been performing for a very long time. Whereas where we're seeing growth is within, obviously, content creation, online visual merchandising, digital styling on all of these areas we're sort of playing into so I feel like do your research. We want our students to be we want for FBBM we want them to be curious. We want them to be informed motivated and really passionate about the industry. And really, I would say is if you're, if you're going to apply fashion buying and brand management, we want to hear what issues you think are important. And you think that should be top of the fashion industry's agenda. Because essentially, we're training you to go into that industry. And you should be sort of motivated and be able to advocate for that change in the industry. And if we know what everyone's thinking and the direction everyone's going in, we can make sure that we're aligning the course in the right direction.

Lee McMahon  15:26  
Thank you so much Gabby, I can sit and listen to you for hours. Thank you so much for joining us. If you want to find out more about Gabby's course, you can find it on our website, ravensbourne.ac.uk, and we'll also make sure to put the bio, the link in the bio.

Jack Brown  15:39  
Now, I am super excited about this next feature. Ravensbourne is known in the industry for producing some of the most talented graduating students in the whole of the UK, and actually the world to. I'm talking David Bowie, Stella McCartney, all of whom are sadly not appearing on today's programme. However, Lee, we do still have a whole host of students who graduate from Ravensbourne, and go on to work in some really exciting roles within the creative industry. And I think it's time you get to know some of our wonderful alumni a little bit better as we play 'Who Alumn-I?'. who came up with that name. Yeah, it wasn't it wasn't me. So we're joined. We're obviously in the Ravensbourne building today. And we're staring at a lovely 42 inch plasma television with our chosen guest today, our wonderful alumni. And Lee, you can see Daisy, Daisy is here.

Lee McMahon  16:34  
Hello, Daisy.

Jack Brown  16:35  
I've been really cautious days you haven't I because I'm very cautious. Don't want you to interact too much prior to this because I want to, I want to see how many guesses it's going to take Lee. So first of all, how are you?

Daisy Morecroft  16:47  
I'm well, very busy, but can't complain.

Jack Brown  16:49  
Fantastic. And I can see that you're wearing your daisy jumper.

Daisy Morecroft  16:54  
Got to represent, just in case I forgot.

Jack Brown  16:56  
You're looking gorgeous. And we're going to find out all you know what you've been up to once we've played the game, but I think we should get straight into it. So Daisy, this is how it's gonna work. Okay. Lee's gonna ask he's got 10 maximum of 10 questions to answer and they yes or no questions, so you can only answer with yes or no. And within 10 questions, he's got to try and find out what course you studied here at Ravensbourne and when you graduated, good luck, right? So there's no pressure, there's only 10 questions, it is a lot harder than it sounds. And Lee I'm gonna throw it I'm gonna go straight to you. And let's get on with it. So what's your your first question?

Lee McMahon  17:38  
This is gonna be really difficult to get in 10 questions, because two things. Question one. This might narrow down. Did you study the same degree as Jack? Which was digital television production?

Daisy Morecroft  17:52  
Yes.

Jack Brown  17:53  
Right so, we're one in and he's he figured it out already? Yes. Okay. That's, that's okay. Daisy, because, okay, he's got the course. But he's still got to figure out when you graduated.

Lee McMahon  18:05  
Because I knew you would go for someone on your course.

Jack Brown  18:10  
Always.

Lee McMahon  18:12  
Because you're probably still in contact with them. Easy to get hold of for this podcast. I knew it. All right. Yeah. Yeah. Question two Daisy. Did you graduate the same year of Jack, which was Jack

Jack Brown  18:26  
 2017. No. And you know, make it interesting. Lee, don't go. Don't go counting through the years. Don't say well, was it 2014?

Daisy Morecroft  18:37  
I have to remind myself actually, yeah, I've got it written down. I'm prepared.

Lee McMahon  18:42  
Question three. Were you at university at the same time as Jack?

Daisy Morecroft  18:49  
Yes.

Lee McMahon  18:50  
Question four. Did you start university before jack?

Daisy Morecroft  18:56  
No.

Jack Brown  18:58  
I've been here forever Lee. I'm, you know.

Lee McMahon  19:01  
So Daisy would have started after 2015. 

Jack Brown  19:05  
He's really, really trying to work out.

Lee McMahon  19:08  
I think I'm making this more complicated than it needs to be. Question five. Did you graduate in 2019? No. Question number six. Did you graduate in 2017?

Jack Brown  19:21  
No, that's when I graduated. You've wasted a question, you started off so well. Now you've wasted a question. See, you've got seven, you've got two more.

Lee McMahon  19:30  
Question eight, did you graduate in 2018?

Daisy Morecroft  19:34  
Yes.

Jack Brown  19:35  
She did. Yeah. Do you know what Lee?  For the first attempt at this, you know, disregarding the pilot that we made to try and get this all signed off. Um, you did very well. You did that in eight guesses you know, first one and you got the course?

Lee McMahon  19:50  
I got lucky with the first question, you did. It could have been anyone if I if if they Daisy didn't say yes to that first question, I'd have probably been stumpped.

Jack Brown  19:57  
Daisy. Listen, It's so lovely to see you. What what have you been up to? You graduated in 2018. Unbelievably, that is three years ago now, which makes me feel really old. And I haven't seen you properly since you graduated. I've really missed ya, what have you been up to? What are you doing right now?

Daisy Morecroft  20:13  
So right now I'm working as a freelance casting researcher. At the moment, I'm working on a BBC One show I can't, for legal purposes, tell you what show that is. Since leaving Ravensbourne I have had a lot of wonderful experiences in the television industry, and some of our highlights, I've worked on programmes on all kinds of genres. So from entertainment, reality, documentary, education, I'm just trying to get my finger in all those pies if know what I mean

Jack Brown  20:41  
Daisy, I follow you on Instagram. We haven't seen each other for a couple of years. But I know you literally go from one job to another, you've done so well, you've been so successful. What's been your, you know, excluding your current role, What's been your favourite job? You know, since you've since you've left us,

Daisy Morecroft  20:56  
I would say my favourite has got to be one of the most fun and wacky shows out there, which is E4's the sex clinic for multiple reasons.

Jack Brown  21:07  
I'm sure you tried to sign me up to that at one point, and I was having none of it.

Daisy Morecroft  21:12  
I've tried, I've tried to sign anyone and their dog up to that show. But that's what makes my job so wonderful. I could be working on something about sex one day, and then working on something about divorce or building that the next so it really is zero to 100 real quick. 

Jack Brown  21:29  
and Daisy, I'm assuming you're you know, looking at your zoom background, you're still you're still working from home. So what's and I know you've recently moved on, you're living in Manchester now, which sucks. Fantastic. Love Manchester shout out to all of our, our northern fans. So what's that? What's that been like, you know, continuing to work adapting still working in the television industry. But working from home, what's that been like?

Daisy Morecroft  21:53  
I won't lie. It's not been easy. But I know that like a lot of people are still in this situation. And I think the beauty of television is being able to kind of move from office to office location to studio and I haven't been able to enjoy that, um, which has been really difficult. But you know, having zoom meetings and having those Friday night drinks that you just try and make it as normal as possible. I guess, but it's definitely been a tricky one. But I cannot complain. I've been as you said, I've kind of gone from job to job. So I've been very, very lucky. 

Jack Brown  22:25  
The only thing I was going to just pick up on was, you know, how, how easy is it to cast for a show like the sex clinic? Do you have people queuing at your door going... yeah, I'll do that. I'll get my bits out on national television? Or do you have to really sell it?

Daisy Morecroft  22:40  
You know what it really depends, like, with the sex clinic, our demographic was 18 to 29-30 our rule was you know, if you were in your 30s, you had to look like you were under 30. Probably shouldn't say that.

Jack Brown  22:53  
And I don't want to know, which part needs to look under 30? That's for sure.

Daisy Morecroft  22:57  
Erm yeah, I think it really depends, I think, you know, obviously I worked on the first series that was called the sex, something. And then it turned into that basically, it's had lots of different variations. And I think like, obviously, when you first start out on a programme, you don't really know how to target these people, but then you really get the kind of tricks of the trade, so to speak, you know, the areas to go to, you know, the kind of different social media outlets to post on. But sometimes it is just pure luck, and quantity over quality sometimes. But again, it just kind of depends. So

Jack Brown  23:33  
Yeah, absolutely makes the TV show, you know, when you when you get that character, you know, is what makes it isn't it? So, for sure. And obviously, Daisy, you know, I mentioned earlier, you've been from job to job, and you've done really well, and been really successful. And a lot of that is because of you and you know, you said your confidence grows, and you're just that type of person that just, I just always knew you're gonna do so well. But how does, how does having a degree from Ravensbourne also help that you achieve that and kind of push your ambitions to reality?

Daisy Morecroft  24:05  
That's a really good question, um, my time at Ravensbourne was so varied and I think the beauty of the course like digital TV production was being able to go from you know, lights, camera action, the the, the kind of operation side, and to then going into production having that experience in the in the gallery and being given different briefs. So it was almost like we were working in industry before we even kind of got to work in the industry, if that makes sense. And we were always encouraged to kind of go out and find our own work as well but had fantastic support. So I think that's obviously a big part of why a lot of people who graduated I think from Ravensbourne and from the TV course specifically have done really well in the industry because we're given those tools from literally the day that we start the course, erm, and I think another thing as well is Ravensbourne is so well known within the industry. I've had you know jobs when I've gone you know, what did you study?

and I go, I studied TV, where did you go? Ravensbourne fantastic! Like they ultimately kind of like light up because they know that you've had a really good kind of training for the job before we've even started. So it definitely sets you at a good pace and for the industry,

Lee McMahon  25:18  
so they've got that confidence in you that you can talk the talk and walk the walk, even as a graduate, I guess

Daisy Morecroft  25:24  
Something like that. Yeah, walking the plank at times.

Jack Brown  25:27  
Daisy what you know what just kind of wrapping up a little bit. You know, what, what do you say somebody listening to this podcast, thinking of coming to Ravensbourne, thinking of studying digital television production? What What would you say to them?

Daisy Morecroft  25:40  
I would say go for it. Like I didn't lose anything from from applying or coming to the open days, it was all it was really eye opening. For me, I don't think I really understood what the course would be until I really did it. And I was immersed in it. And I was surrounded by all of my lovely kind of well, friends now, still keeping in touch with them. And if one is doing so well in industry, so I would say and do your research. That's obviously a big part of it. But really just, you know, Ravensbourne is such a safe space. If you do have any questions or any kind of queries about a course, everyone was so helpful. So I would say go for it. You will you will you won't regret it. I don't regret it at all.

Jack Brown  26:21  
Aw Daisy, and who do you miss the most? 

Daisy Morecroft  26:24  
Do I have to say Jack Brown? Or....

Jack Brown  26:25  
 you have to contractually say Jack Brown. Yeah. 

Daisy Morecroft  26:28  
Jack Brown, of course!

Jack Brown  26:34  
Thank you so much for being with us Daisy. I'm so glad to see you doing so well. I always knew that was the case. And thanks for being on who our very first edition of who alumn-i? and it was Daisy!

Lee McMahon  26:46  
you set the benchmark now Daisy,

Daisy Morecroft  26:48  
just to put it out there whilst I'm here. Please do follow Daisy Caster on Instagram. If you have any questions about the TV course, you know, just drop me a DM slide in there, and I'll do my best to help you out.

Jack Brown  27:00  
Who knows you could be appearing on the next series of E4's the sex clinic. Well, there we have it. So great to hear from Daisy, we'll have more who alumn-i in the next episode.

Lee McMahon  27:10  
So, last but by no means least, it's time to get social as we meet the very best of Ravensbourne. Today, we're delighted to be joined by creative computing student, Ollwale. Or Ola to talk about one of our brand new courses, creative computing, and the experiences he's having on it. Hello, Olawale. How are you? 

Olawale Okunrinboye  27:27  
Hello, hi I am fine. It's great to be here. 

Lee McMahon  27:30  
Great, so you're in the creative computing course, which is our new computing department. Can you tell us a little bit about what it's been like being a creative computing student studying in a global pandemic?

Olawale Okunrinboye  27:44  
Yeah, well, for me, I had to make the best out of the whatever situation I was in. So it's really been an eye opener for me, because I didn't know I would be given the chance to study creative computing or something that would like because I do come from a creative background, but to see that I will, I'm just as skilled in gaining as much knowledge in all the topics we've been, we've been taught. So it's really been a good experience. For me, I'm really enjoying the experience and even though we did have a lockdown, we still had access to an incredible knowledge of trying new things and seeing how computers work, which was, which is good for me, because I didn't I didn't know nothing about computers where it was just like magic before.

Lee McMahon  28:32  
So you say you're coming from a creative background, then more so then a computing background. So you're having to kind of learn the competing elements. 

Olawale Okunrinboye  28:40  
Yeah, I was more of a kind of a writer, script writer and I thought that was the only creative thing I could do. But with the experience and the help of the university, I've been able to really focus and divert in all different arrays of creativity that I didn't know, I could be good at. So that was, it's been a wonderful experience so far. And the lockdown wasn't gonna stop me to be honest. I had.

Jack Brown  29:06  
That's good. That's really good to hear Ola and  look. It's lovely to have you on the first episode of our podcast today. Now, I found you on LinkedIn, we follow each other on LinkedIn. So yeah, great, great to properly meet you. And I know, the thing with that is, you know, I've seen how active you are on LinkedIn. Erm, and you're very brilliant at kind of updating your profile and kind of sharing the experiences you're having on the course and stuff that you're making and creating and, and for me, who doesn't know much about the courses. You know, it looks futuristic. I mean, it looks fantastic. So why do you love your course so much and what are the types of things that you get to do day in and day out?

Olawale Okunrinboye  29:49  
First of all, like you said, is futuristic. So if anything that has to do with the future is entertaining and intriguing for me and also the area of the university, is Greenwich. Really I live around Greenwich around the river as well. So it's very inspirational, the buildings, everything is just full of creativity, you have to be futuristic. So that is one of the things that has also inspired me the fact that I'm in the area as well. And the unit is in the creative hub, I think Greenwich, the buildings, everything is very technological, so advanced. And the things we've been doing in regards to the course is 3D modelling. So if you check my LinkedIn, there's a lot of creating stuff. You know, like the buildings, like the things I see around me, you know, we've done augmented reality, which I really enjoy. And just making things out of your imagination, just, it's just the power of the imagination. So and which I've delivered been blessed with. So augmented reality, machine learning, programming, python, you know, JavaScript. Yeah, just a whole lot of stuff that we've been....visual reality. You know, it's been an animation working on unity, the game engine, unity animation, and is, it's been really lovely learning these things, you know, and I can't wait to get back into the university, then I'll be able to really get access to that as much knowledge as possible.

Lee McMahon  31:28  
I was just gonna say, in a very short space of time, it sounds like you've studied so much stuff like Python, and all these programming languages, you've been exposed to loads of different disciplines in terms of VR and AR. And I guess, how is that? How has that been possible? Like? How did the the teachers kind of impart that knowledge on to you? 

Olawale Okunrinboye  31:49  
Well, the teachers we've had has been great. We've had Filippo, we have JB as well, which has been doing very well. So yeah, because my class were very interactive. And the teachers with that energy, the teachers have been able to teach us what we want to know, because we kind of research and find out what is interesting and what is capable of, you know, making us feed our family or making us be inspirational to people so and the teachers have been on board to teach us about stuff like prototyping and you know, how apps works. And they've been hands on for my course and we've been, it's almost like we're a family and we get along well. It's been exceptional, to be honest, though, and the teachers have been fantastic have come on board to give us an array of knowledgeable, interesting stuff.

Jack Brown  32:44  
And it's, you know, it's lovely to hear that you say it's like a family because i think i think lots of our students will say the same thing, actually. And you know, because we're, we're blessed in the fact that we're not a massive university, we are quite small in size and comparison to other creative institutions out there. So, you know, you're not the first to say there is this real, really nice kind of community feel. So I think that that's great that you feel that as well. Finally, Ola so we just really like to ask you, you know, we really hope that this podcast inspires the next generation of students, knowing what you know now, you're nearly you know, nearly at the end of your first year, what would you say to someone considering coming to study at ravensbourne, University London,

Olawale Okunrinboye  33:25  
I will say it's a lovely area, you will be inspired. I mean, I've been inspired by the area, even though I do live in London, I've kind of moved closer. And you'll be inspired by everything around you. You know, the student, the communities, the life, the energy, and is a good space, you know, they've been really good with the teaching and getting, being accessible to students and listening towards students and stay sane, because even right now, it's been tough for everybody, you know, every institution with the lockdown and everything, but they've still managed to listen to what students are saying, and you'll be inspired long as you love being creative. You know, if you love being creative, then I'm sure you make the best out of every experience. Yeah,

Lee McMahon  34:07  
I guess just thank you so much for joining us. It's lovely to have you on and hopefully we'll be able to chat again soon. Keep an eye out on our social media channels @ravensbourneuk for our next hot topic

Jack Brown  34:18  
That's it Lee, we did it! 

Lee McMahon  34:19  
We did it. 

Jack Brown  34:20  
Thank you so much to everyone who has downloaded and listened to our podcast. We'll be back next month with more shenanigans. If that's even a word. For more information about us or any of our courses, please do visit our website, ravensbourn.ac.uk. Thanks for listening!

Lee McMahon  34:34  
Bye

Transcribed by https://otter.ai