MY FIRST IMPRESSION ABOUT THE GHANA INSTITUTE OF JOURNALISM (GIJ)

It was a joyous moment for me when I received my admission letter from the Ghana Institute of Journalism to pursue a Degree in Communications studies. It was the only tertiary institution I had dreamt of as a teen and now here I am, in GIJ.

Prior to my admission, I have had some funny preconceptions about this institute and now that I am part of the student community I do have some impressions about GIJ.

For an institution like the Ghana Institute of Journalism, I begin to wonder how small the student populace is. But even now, with over six hundred first years, the institute says this has been the highest number of admissions in the history of GIJ.

Following admission was lectures and I must say that the first week of it was disorganized. After copying the time table which was pasted on the notice board, first year students, for that matter Level 100s, have had to move around like a sheepfold without a shepherd, just trying to locate the right lecture rooms assigned us. I never thought lecture rooms could be as small as normal classrooms back at high school until I stepped into GIJ. The lecture rooms are smaller than those in other universities and amazingly could not contain all Level 100s.

After observations, I’ve come to realize that lecturers at the institute are committed, but I am a little worried about the abuse of time allocated to lectures. Students have to wait sometimes for twenty minutes or more before a lecturer comes to class.

Prior to my application for admission, I had also held the notion that GIJ was a big place only to find out that it is not so. The campus is not very large and I think it does save our legs from long treks inside the institute.

“Keteke “ is another club in the institute which I am pleased to have encountered. I like to write and thanks to “Keteke”, I would always have the opportunity to share my write-ups.

Students on campus are friendly and easy-going. It is quite stunning for me, to see a vast number of them make friends even on the first day of lectures. For me, I think I am yet to make one that would be committed.

The library, another facility on campus is one place I cherish and so far I can say that I am comfortable with it, not withstanding its small size.

I love to be in GIJ and irrespective of what takes place here, my main focus is to study as “students equal studies”.