By Ethan Bennett

Opportunities. Take them all.

Since coming back to SCA we’ve been barraged with briefs and new challenges. The first being a huge live brief for OS maps, where we have to get to grips with the worlds most painstakenly detailed map and all the technology features it has for businesses to use.

On top of this we’re developing scamped campaigns from the Christmas break and writing new SMPs and scamps every day on the build up to D&AD.

If there’s one thing I’ve done consistently the last 3 or 4 years, it’s been taking every opportunity offered to me. I also remember Marc mentioning it as one of the reasons I got into the school.

It started with my first creative brief for the Ideas Foundation back in college, and after many opportunities later through them, I have now recently been made a new Board Member.

I’m a big believer in that once you get a taste for winning, you live life with a certain optimism. Take on everything, it’ll get done somehow.

My partner and I, along with a handful of other students, have taken on a great opportunity presented by Google, in partnership and supported by many of London’s top agencies and organisations. It’s a huge brief.

“How can we help Tesco customers reduce the amount of food they waste?”

I remember Owen and I sitting down and looking at our list of passion projects, briefs, portfolio building, networking, admin, and getting a little nervous about how we’re possibly going to fit it all into our tidy tidy google calendar and moleskines. We’ve even taken on the responsibility of producing the video to try and win more money for the school next year, which is another couple of days knocked out the calendar.

Now we have another massive brief to add to that diary, in fact, it simply doesn’t fit. But the opportunity is so great, it out-weighs the tired eyes and long evening slogs.

If there’s something that grinds away at me most, it’s looking back at an opportunity that’s come and gone. Right now we’ve been going through scholarship students’ vox pops for our video being produced, and I can’t help but think.. What if I’d just pushed my entry that bit further? Would I have won a scholarship? Both myself and my Mum would be in a much more comfortable financial position. I wouldn’t have so much debt to repay. I wouldn’t have to feel guilty about borrowing money off of my parents. But what if’s aren’t enough. You can’t change the past and so you can only make sure you live in the present and stay mindful.

That’s why going into this new year and this new term, you’ll be sure to see me eat up everything that comes my way. And more.