The morning I set aside this week to start writing my first SCAB I decided to make pulled pork instead. 

I didn’t know what I wanted to write about in my first one, it felt very official; my first formal introduction to SCA and my peers. I spent hours online surveying through the multitude of SCABS on the SCA website and I confidently planned all my future ones. Photo journal? “Great”. Video progress? “Easy”. Design review? “Love it”. General thoughts towards life in general and my studies? “Amazing” I thought- “it can be like my formal diary.”

But this first one I was struggling with. I didn’t know how to start. I had a billion thoughts going round so I decided to take a step back to start the process of making my dinner for that night.

For some reason I had been craving pulled pork for weeks, I don’t know why it started, it just did. But once I wanted it, I had to have it. I went to Borough Market on the weekend to get it in a sandwich but it just didn’t hit the spot. It wasn’t smokey enough or BBQey enough. ‘If you want something done right, do it yourself’ as they say,  so I took on the task of making the perfect pulled pork sandwich on the Tuesday morning I had set aside to write this.

Prepping the pork for the slow cooker was easy, that didn’t leave much thinking time but it was making of the chimichurri where my thoughts really started flowing. I very easily could’ve put my ingredients in a food processor but I didn’t want to cheat. The hour and a half I spent finely chopping bunches of parsley and coriander gave me the much needed time to properly reflect on starting SCA. I thought a lot about my video and how I want to go about that, whether I go for a more crafty, put together stop motion animation of my learning process or a beautifully shot fluid moving image piece that truly represents the enthusiasm of the desiderata which I have tasked myself to learn. I still have not decided, I have plans for both but I know soon I need to make the final decision though I am leaning towards the first. I am looking forward to making my video and I am looking forward to seeing everyone else’s. I took a slight creative hiatus after finishing my photography degree this time last year, and over the past 6 months I have been slowly creating work again and it feels fantastic. This week I have been helping my friend who has been finishing off at Central St Martins University and putting together a book for him. Doing this has made me eager to start my video for SCA and has reminded me how much I truly love creating. That is something I am really looking forward to about SCA in general is the constant creating and making of work. I am apprehensive as many people are with new things in life but I truly feel excitement and anticipation as to what my time at SCA will bring me. Not only that but I look forward to working with others and learning about this industry I have wanted to be part of for quite some time. 

I am also enjoying Marc’s book recommendations, currently reading why the pedlar sings and next I am going to read Alchemy. I understand why Marc has recommended these books and I am glad he has done so, I appreciate that the knowledge from them will be a helpful tool to navigate SCA and the whole advertising world. Next on my mental check lists is to get on with listening to some podcasts. 

After 8 hours of slow cooking and various prep my pulled pork sandwich came out amazing. Best pulled pork I ever ate to be honest. I froze a ton of it too as I did end up with about 2kg of it. Maybe one day I will bring some in a sandwich for my lunch at SCA. 

@emily_bowler_