Tom Evans – 3rd February 2012
In the first week at SCA 2.0 we went through an exercise called the Change Curve which explains the changes one feels when experiencing something unfamiliar , from euphoria and the initial honeymoon period of a new beginning, to first doubt, loss of confidence, confidence regained and so on. I remember we used the example of Fernando Torres’ arrival at Chelsea upon which to chart this graph.
Our time at SCA 2.0 is often referred to as a journey and one that the Dean views as important; I’m sure careful thought has gone into its planning.
I find myself at a low ebb in the journey, the work is going great, but in the meantime my life is on hold and this effects morale. I find myself as a mature student and one who has completed more than his fair share of courses wondering if I would have a job now (and fundamentally the life accompanying it ) if it was not for the financial downturn in 2008 when I graduated from the MA in Falmouth into the worst of the recession. Advertising took a hammering and has changed a lot in the interim. It makes practical sense to update skills. Times are hard, most people must get the blues from time to time in a world where every read of the morning Metro announces further doom and gloom yet perseverance is the only option in a climate that is far from ideal.
I am grateful for this opportunity to grow (I think it is one of the best ones I have had) and enjoy the thought provoking environment and working on challenging briefs with great people. But right now I do not enjoy my daily commute to and from my parental home in Bucks, and often staying in on Saturday nights to hear my fathers verdict on whether the evenings offside rulings in FA cup ties were reasonable or not. I sometimes feel like Owen Wilson’s character in Failure To Launch and can only hope the sacrifice will pay off in the future.
You couldn’t get a more conventional environment than my home-town and I observe the difference in the way people treat you when for example you go to the barbers and they soon have it out of you that you are not ‘in work’. I console myself that many people are in the same boat and on the tube I often overhear conversations about people losing their jobs and moving home with their parents.
I in fact took some pleasure this morning to hear that the former Royal Bank of Scotland chief lost his knighthood, but this is scant consolation for the mess he’s caused. Sometimes I’d like to throw rotten tomatoes at him in the stocks quite frankly but no one individual can be held accountable.
It is somewhat tragic to think about the economic turmoil, and I would rather not but the situation is omnipresent. If one catches up with old friends for a pint, inevitably conversation drifts to the effect of the recession on our respective lives.
Where am I heading with this?
I cannot stress enough that I’m in a good place, but more generally speaking in these times, it’s necessary be pragmatic.
‘Student’ is a dirty word in the professional context and comes with all sorts of negative connotations even for those at the normal age for study, and when I hear the inevitable and disdainful; “So you’re a ‘student’?” I am reminded of the passage in Being and Nothingness where Sartre describes a waiter who begins to question if he is really a waiter or only a waiter because people perceive him as such as a consequence of context.:
Whenever I find myself taking things too seriously I like to remember we are just talking monkeys floating through the universe on a giant organic spaceship.
We had a session with Buddist Ben on day one who taught us the value of stepping back and seeing things in context and I want to end with this video from Bruce Lee.
Be Water My friends
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