Jenna’s Favourite Assignments From Third Year

When I was in high school, I thought that the only assignments university students completed were essays and academic papers. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve written a lot of essays throughout my three years of university, but I’ve also completed a lot of fun assignments that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed. I find that my program, Creative Industries, allows for students to use their creativity often. Here are my favourite assignments that I completed during my third year of Creative Industries.

Our university is next-door neighbours with Yonge-Dundas Square (external link, opens in new window) , which is a public square in the heart of downtown Toronto. The space is often the location of a variety of events for the public and has hosted yoga classes, concerts and promotional events. For the mandatory Creative Industries class CRI 600: The Creative Process, I completed a group project that was a video pitch for an event that would take place in Yonge-Dundas Square. Before the project was due, we had the opportunity to speak to members of the marketing and communications team of Yonge-Dundas Square to discuss past events and what they want for the future. My group and I pitched a combination of a food festival, artisan marketplace and talent show called Celebrate the 6ix. Our goal was to celebrate the local talents of Toronto. We ended up getting 100% on the project! I hope to maybe one day see our event at Yonge-Dundas Square, since our pitches were sent to the Yonge-Dundas Square team.

For the class NNS 419: Journalism in Comedy, we got to write a satirical article about anything in the current news cycle. As a dedicated fan of Saturday Night Live, I was very excited for this project. To complete the assignment, we had to pick a news article and then satirize it. I chose an article about the Freedom Convoy demonstrations that happened in Ottawa (the city where I’m from!) in early 2022. I poked some fun at my hometown and I had a good time writing the article. I took this class for my Creative Industries Journalism module. 

My other module in the Creative Industries program is The Music Industry. One of the mandatory classes for this module is RTA 927: Business of Music I. Our large final group project for the semester was to create a do-it-yourself (DIY) marketing plan for a small artist. We chose to make a marketing plan for a student at our university who also makes her own music. The marketing plan had to include digital and traditional marketing plans, a budget, schedule and more. I had a great group, which made working on this project fairly fun and easy.

This was another project for the class CRI 600. It was an individual project where we had to tell our own creative stories. The vagueness of this assignment intimidated me a bit, but in the end I really enjoyed the process. I love being able to use my creativity whenever I can. I wrote about how I combine my professional goals and creativity while blogging. We also got to design a spread for our story and I was able to put my Canva skills to good use. In addition to writing our own story, we also had to watch Ted Talks about creativity and write about how they apply to our own lives.

I saved my favourite assignment for last! In the class CRI 420: Book Publishing and Marketing, our big assignment was to write, edit, publish and market our own ebook using the program Kindle Creates. I was SO excited for this assignment. I am probably the biggest bookworm ever, and I want to work in the book-publishing industry one day, so this project was low-key a dream come true for me. It was a big project, so it was completed in groups. For our ebook As the Days Blend Into One, my group and I wrote an anthology of short stories and poems about being a young adult in the pandemic. In the end, our ebook was actually available on Amazon for people to purchase. I think this may be the best assignment I’ve ever completed and I can easily see myself using these skills in the future.

Among all the essays, papers and exams, I have completed some fun projects during my third year! I love getting to use what I’ve learned and apply it to projects, especially when they’re relevant to my interests and future goals.