By Andy Burrell

How to get the most out of the first term of SCA

What follows is an uncomprehensive, unordered and hopefully not entirely unhelpful list of things to know or consider as you embark on your SCA journey.

They are born out of both personal experience and watching others navigate their way through the year.

Here we go…

Use the mentors. They are your creative directors. If they give you an idea they are giving it to you. It’s not off the table. Take it and run with it. Mould it into something even better.

Go to the pub. Even if you don’t drink. That’s how you make friends.

Sometimesit’sbetternottostickbitsofeachotherineachotherforeachother.

Get some exercise. You’re going to think you don’t have time. You’re going to stay in and stare at a blank sheet of paper waiting for an idea to come. It won’t. Ideas live outside. They happen when you’re not thinking about them. They smack you in the face when you get into a meditative state ten miles into your run, or when you’re busting your arse off to get to the top of a hill on your bike. Learn how you burn off steam and go and do that thing.

Teach. Everyone in the room is the best in the room at something. Find out what everyone’s thing is.

The background music on your case study video is ALWAYS louder than you think. We can’t hear your voiceover. Run it through that Eastern European ‘fell-off-the-back-of-a-truck’ amp in the pit before you present it.

Sharing is caring. If you share your wisdom with your classmates they’ll be much more likely to share back when you get stuck.

Bring a plate, a bowl, a glass and some cutlery and HIDE THEM. Seriously, find a nook, a cranny or a loose floorboard and stash your crockery. No one cares if your stuff has your name on it. That just makes them want to use it more. I found the remnants of a raw egg in my coffee mug, no attempt made to wash it, abandoned by its borrower to grow a formidable crust in the sticky heat of the studio. Your classmates are dirty, dirty bastards.

If you’re reading this in July, don’t spend all summer trying to read ‘Your Memory’ and refusing to move on to the other books until you’ve finished it. You won’t finish it.

You can’t get a Unidays account when you’re at SCA but you can get a copy of your student acceptance letter so student discounts abound.

Do topicals. Start them now. They’re brilliant practice for getting a witty or poignant point across in poster form. Find a news story, link it to a brand in a way that moves people to laugh, cry or think and Bob’s your uncle.

Don’t be a dick.

It think that’s it for now.

This won’t be my last SCAB. I’m not ready to say goodbye yet.

Peace, love and bananas.