And just like that… the clock strikes midnight and we’re living in 2023! Happy New Year Honey! 

As I’m sitting here (slightly sleep deprived and slightly hungover) I’ve been doing some reflecting. 

We’ve been at SCA for about 15 weeks now, and to be honest, I can’t remember what life felt like before this. 

It’s been an emotional journey so far. 

My day to day life has changed A LOT. 

I’ve learned A LOT. 

And to be honest… I’ve also cried A LOT. 

So as I’m waving goodbye to 2022, I thought I’d round up 22 things I’ve learned at SCA so far. 

1. Be Yourself! 

Know your worth, know your values, know who you want to be and how you want to be perceived. 

Being yourself means you like who you are and live life how you want to live it, regardless of other peoples’ opinions. 

Worrying about what others think is just a waste of time, you can’t control them and you can’t control their thoughts. 

Not everyone is going to like you, and that’s okay. Comparison is the thief of joy, and life would be boring if everyone was the same. 

Just be you! 

2. Put a little piece of yourself in everything you do.

Graham Fink said it best: ‘Follow your uniqueness’ and ‘donate a piece of yourself in everything you create’. There’s no point making something that is not true to you. 

3. Hard work beats talent… 

… when talent doesn’t work hard. 

There’s 24 hours in a day. 

You can achieve more than you think. 

No one said it was going to be easy but if SCA’s one day briefs have taught me anything, it’s how much you can achieve in just a couple hours, let alone a day. 

Not everything will be good, but you may as well just put in the work, and let it pay off.

4. The best work is usually created when you’re having fun. 

Don’t overthink everything. Find your playful inner child and have fun with it.

5. You don’t always have to listen to your mentors. 

Don’t get me wrong. The mentors are great. They are knowledgeable, have experience and are very useful. 

You should listen to their advice and speak to them as much as possible. But in the end, it’s YOUR WORK. trust yourself, your intuition and the process. I will say this though… when a mentor tells you your idea is sh*t… they are probably right.

6. Use your templates. 

Stick to the template. It’s there for a reason. 

7. Six Hat Everything 

It’s better to realise if your ideas are sh*t sooner… rather than later. Been there, done that. Save yourself some tears.

8. The answer is in the problem 

Again, don’t overthink everything. Look at what’s right in front of you. Usually the answer is already right there, under your nose. 

9. Figure out what type of creative you want to be 

Richard knows best. Figure out who you want to be in this industry. 

What message do you want to communicate? 

What things do you want to achieve? 

Find your values and align them. 

10. Manage your time. 

We all know how important this one is, yet still it bites us in the ass. 

Trying to do a million things at once when the to-do list is getting longer and longer feels overwhelming, and we end up getting nothing done. 

Prioritize what needs to be done first. Make lists. Make a game-plan. 

Don’t work through the night if you don’t have to. Trust me it’s not worth it. You don’t produce good work if you’re running on too little sleep. 

11. Refer back to the brief. 

There’s no point creating great things if it’s not what the brief asked you to do. 

Of course, challenge the brief, find new ways to look at it but in the end, make sure you’re doing what it’s asking you to do. 

12. Practice Gratitude. 

Opportunity is nowhere, Opportunity is now here. Practicing gratitude makes you more aware of the great things right in front of us.

13. Question everything. 

Ask questions! This is one I’m still working on. I’m shy, so 99% of the time I end up swallowing my questions. 

But we’re here to learn. 

We have incredible mentors to ask for help. Use them. 

The more stepping stones we have at the start, the easier it is for us to navigate our way. 14. Everyone is in the same boat. 

Whatever you’re feeling. You are not alone. 

This course is f*cking hard. It breaks you before it builds you back up. 

I’ve had so many moments where I was having hard keeping things together. 

Everyone looked like they knew exactly what they were doing. Funny enough, once I started talking I realised that wasn’t always the case. When you’re feeling alone, chances are at least a few people around you are feeling the same way. 

15. Don’t sell work that you don’t believe in. 

Sometimes it’s easy to come up with an idea, and present it just because you have nothing else. 

Deadlines are important, but sometimes it’s better to present nothing at all if it’s not something you truly stand behind. 

Everything we present is a representation of ourselves. 

And sometimes it’s better to duck a brief, if it saves the world from yet another sh*t ad. With that being said, at SCA, we don’t miss a deadline. 

16. Trust yourself.

Listen to your gut. Trust the process. You’re on the right path, even if sometimes it doesn’t feel like it. 

17. Network, Network, Network. 

I don’t think I need to explain the importance of networking. Start now.
18. Don’t be a D*ck 

Not to yourself, and not to the people around you. 

19. Look after yourself, and your mental health. 

This one is so important. 

If you have to take a take a time out, you have to take a time out. 

Communicate with the people around you. 

It’s so hard to produce good work when you’re not doing okay. 

Check in with yourself, and relieve yourself from unnecessary pain and pressure.

20.When you can’t come up with any new ideas, STOP. Take a break. 

Go do something else. Collect some dots. The best ideas often catch you off guard in the strangest places. 

21. SCAMP IT. 

Scamps, scamps, scamp. Produce as many ideas as possible. It’s the only way to sieve out of all the sh*t ones. 

22. You can achieve anything you set your mind to. 

Trust the process. SCA is F*CKING tough. But it’s meant to be. Get out of your comfort zone. Push yourself. You’re already here for a reason. 

Cheers to 2023! It’s going to be a wild ride, but it’ll all be so worth it.

@gwenvaneck_