So here we are, the last week of being an LJMU Femorabilia collection intern. I know we say this about every month/season/year but it has gone soooo quickly. Looking back to the first week, which feels like a lifetime ago, I really was not sure what to expect but I knew I was looking forward to the opportunity. The day I started I found out I would be graduating with a first class degree and a few weeks later graduated. I started a student and finish a graduate.
I am starting a Masters’ degree in September. Therefore, upon graduation, I felt apprehensive about how I could best optimise my time this summer. I am not yet in the position to be applying for a graduate role as I’ll be returning to my studies in September but often interning or other industry experience can be unpaid. There is a lot of discussion around the exclusiveness of unpaid internships particularly within the media industry and the eliteness this causes.
I currently am living with my parents, and nobody prepares you for returning home and the loss of freedom and independence when having to live by their rules (my house my rules – anyone else hearing that constantly?). Therefore, every penny I earn is going towards saving to move out and supporting myself through my MA. Working for free was not going to be an option so I was worried I would spend another summer selling my soul to my service industry job, which do not get me wrong is fine, but not my hopes of forever. To get to the point of this detour of my financial situation when the Femorabilia opportunity landed in my inbox I knew I needed to apply. Eight weeks in the university library, researching the archive I used for my dissertation (and loved), relevant to my degree I’ve just gained and getting paid for the pleasure. If you’re an LJMU student – definitely do look into the curriculum enhancement internships as it has been such a wonderful opportunity for me, my interests but also my needs.
So, what have I learnt?
Firstly, that perfection isn’t everything. Sometimes just getting the words onto the page are. Writing a blog post each week has really challenged me to just write, proof-read and then publish. I’m not going to love every piece I write, some are going to better and more articulate than others but getting my thoughts and research out there is the most important aspect. In week four, I struggled. I wanted to not publish anything and apologise for not having the words to say. I took a day off from writing and came back to it and just wrote. I don’t particularly like it, but I wrote it even when I wanted to literally throw my notebook of research and my laptop out of a window and never blog again. Writing once a week has really helped me to let go of my need to draft four or five times and aim for words, not utter perfection.
Secondly, I have gained new skills for my CV which is always important. I have learnt how to use new software (well new to me) including Photoshop and Bridge. I can now digitise images, edit them, colour check them and even add metadata. These images have been integral to the blog posts, resources and exhibition cases. I also took on the role of editing our weekly podcasts. I haven’t edited anything since my A Level in media studies and I will save you from the horrors of the extremely melodramatic music video I made (if you did media studies A level you’ll know). Now I can say I’m reasonably competent in editing podcasts, deleting any laughter and long pauses making the transitions seem seamless and adding in music and even sound effects. I’m really proud of how well the podcasts have turned out! You can listen to them all here.
Next, I have tackled a new working environment. I have only ever worked in food retail and the service industry. All content writing or social media work I have done has been on a volunteer-from-home basis. I have found commuting into Liverpool from Crewe each day, and working in the archives every day really beneficial for my wellbeing. I have thrived from the 9-5 routine and being surrounded by others who are working. I am used to working ten to twelve-hour shifts on my feet, running around a busy restaurant so being able to sit down is an added bonus.
Finally, I love that the work we have done over the last eight weeks is going to have a lasting impact on other students. We have created resources for students to use in the upcoming academic year from a reading list, to a power-point entitled ‘How They Lived Then’ which consists of YouTube clips of television shows Jackie recommended to clips on the aids epidemic of the eighties in EastEnders. We really hope this resource will give students a real context to the eras of the magazines, the issues that affected girls of the times and also what they enjoyed. Finally, we have created two exhibition cases. One on sewing in Jackie and one on summer features. Having something I’ve worked on displayed in the library is such a nerdy dream come true, as ask any of my friends, I really love the library. The posters are something myself and Katie are so proud of, as neither of us is particularly tech-savvy when it comes to design. As you may be able to tell, when we learnt how to put borders around photos we really ran with it, and cutting out the Jackie title on the summer poster is probably our proudest achievement (quick shout-out to my illustrator sister for promptly answering the phone to answer our Photoshop woes).
I’d like to finish this post with a run-through of my two favourite Jackie features I have found.
Take Your Pink.
Jackie, 23rd July 1977
I love this one, as I am the queen of pink fashion. I often feel like maybe I am slightly stereotyped for wearing bright pink outfits so this encouragement to wear pink in Jackie is something I’d definitely personally revel in.
It’s A Man’s World
Jackie, 4th December 1976
This Letter from Tracy highlighting just how far we still have to go in terms of the equality of the sexes. She’s right, it’s just not fair.
Edge-ucation
Jackie, 13th December 1975
I have been raised by women who can sew, and sewing is something that as a family we all enjoy. As a child, I was a young embroiderer and my mum would buy me dedicated embroidery and craft magazines. Seeing the emphasis on sewing and the value placed on the skill throughout the editions is something I have loved. I think I would have felt a lot less embarrassed to talk about my embroidery as a young person if we were all encouraged to do it in the popular media (obviously this was before the resurgence of Knitting and Make Do and Mend). Sewing is slowly being taken out of education and that makes me sad.
Finally, this advert for a piggy bank. I’m just going to leave it here…
So that’s it, my last blog post, for now anyway. I’m hoping to keep venturing into the archives throughout my MA and hopefully can continue to blog any feature research I may do. I have so much more I want to say!
A big thank you to Jo, Nickianne, Val, Emily, Anne, Sheila and my fellow intern Katie for helping me to make the very most of this opportunity allowing me to learn so much from it and also have so much fun.
As we say at the end of each podcast,
Bye for now Femorabiliacs!
Rosie Steele.
LJMU Special Collections & Archives 