Weronika Drag

Account Executive, Media Shed Ltd

It is a nice feeling to look forward to going to work every day and my hard work paid off after I got promoted just two months in.  

Choosing Leeds Trinity – it all happened for a reason!

I actually chose Leeds Trinity because one of my best friends at the time who I had studied at sixth form with wanted to study here. She thought that Trinity was Leeds Beckett so when we both visited for an Open Day we were super surprised that it was in Horsforth! I always knew I wanted to go to University and when I found out that Trinity was heavily focused on media and journalism it confirmed my choice and I knew this had happened for a reason.

In my first year I had a placement where I took on the role of a journalist and interviewed store and bar owners about what the word 'Retro' meant to them. This experience was valuable in developing my communication, marketing and presentation skills as well as gaining knowledge on different subjects. 

I also undertook two Co-Creation projects with Lecturer Syra Shakir (Strategic Lead Race Equity). The first project was linked to the 1947 Indian Partition, initially focused on creating a documentary to educate school children. The project not only covered educational aspects of the Partition but also incorporated the experiences of the children and teachers with whom we conducted weekly sessions. 

The second one addressing the Awarding Gap and raising awareness about the issue of ethnic minority students receiving lower grades in university graduations. We created a short film featuring project participants and developed educational resources, which we presented to two London university groups.

What I enjoyed most about the course

I really valued the flexibility of the course. It was in a subject I enjoyed so, the workload never felt like hassle to me, I enjoyed what I was doing. It was great to have the ability to pick a topic that I wanted to write about for my dissertation, something I was passionate about. I ended up producing a blog, writing about coercive and abusive relationships and how they impacted women. I interviewed a lot of women, created an anonymous google form which was asking about their experiences and a timeline and put together all of this information to form a 6,000-word essay.

Leaving University with new skills 

I left University a more rounded and mature person. Life changed from partying regularly to preferring relaxed weekends at home. Fast forward three years and I've found out that I'm an exceptionally good cook.

I've also grown more confident on social media platforms too, which is invaluable in my additional role as a Content Creator.  In just six months after graduating, I grew my social media profile from 500 to 4,000 followers, accumulating 1.8 million likes. As a content creator, I share lifestyle, makeup, entertainment, and fashion videos, with my social media acting as my digital diary. I’ve had the exciting opportunity to collaborate with brands to promote their products and have received numerous collaboration messages.

Career highlights so far

I had to be a bit patient with my career after graduating, but after a few months I successfully applied for a role at a media advertising agency that was close to home, Media Shed Ltd. It is a nice feeling to look forward to going to work every day and my hard work paid off after I got promoted just two months in.  

I work on a variety of really cool projects and feel proud to have generated substantial sales and formed strong connections with advertisers and I've also taken reign of the social media handles on one of the projects I work on.

One day I dream of working in the media industry in London, so I’ll keep developing my skills and enjoying my role as an Account Executive.

My advice to other students

Never be afraid to start over again. In my second year I heavily focused on the English side of my course and was planning on furthering this in my third year until I realised I had stronger skills in media. I switched over to more media-based curriculum with some English incorporated this allowed me to thrive.

This goes for any stage of your studies - if you feel like the subject isn't for you, reach out to your mentors and see if they can help you or bounce ideas off them.  

Take advantage of the placements on offer. Even if they aren’t exactly what you want to do, they will help you so much in the future - a degree is good but experience with a degree is so much better.

Remember also to have fun. You're there to study yes, but these are also the best years of your life and they go so quickly! Make the most of them because before you blink you'll be working a 9-5.