Alexa, play “Take a Walk” by Passion Pit.
And I don’t just reference this tune because I amounted 8.1 miles yesterday.
Day two began with a lecture by Jason MacKenzie at Regent’s University about the current media landscape in the UK. While in black and white this media visit was labeled at a lecture, it certainly resulted in more of an in-depth discussion, and I don’t think we could have had a better kick-off to our professional visits.
Jason showed genuine interest and excitement and really tried to connect with us as students by directing questions back at us to see our thought process in action, and he truly cared about thorough explanations and answers to our questions.
While it was certainly useful information and intriguing to see a UK media professional’s view, one of the students in class brought up a valid point that many of us have certainly discussed some of the topics in classes prior to this trip, specifically echo chambers and narrowing our scope of news.
Nonetheless, I enjoyed Jason’s presentation, found it insightful and I am grateful to have made a connection like him as he found our class on LinkedIn and connected with us.
Following the visit, some students and I decided to walk to the London Eye, as a natural tourist would – what a breathtaking view.
After the Eye, we stumbled upon a free festival, Underbelly Festival South Bank. There were different stands with varying food, a variety of beers and other alcoholic beverages, live music and the overall atmosphere was very laid back and fun. More students joined the group I was with along with David, we ate some good food, drank some good drinks, shared some gross stories and shared a great night together.
Two media visits awaited us the next morning, but that certainly did not stop me from staying up until 1 a.m. back at the hotel. Lose some sleep, not memories kiddos.