Take Two

My first SCAB is about second chances. 

I loved university first-time round. Three years of fun and freedom in Leeds, away from the parents, with a handful of hours a week at lectures. I coasted along, doing just about enough to comfortably get a 2:1. I enjoyed my studies, and had plenty of time leftover to enjoy everything else university has to offer. 

This time, I’m not going to make the mistake of breezing through a course doing just about enough because I quite literally don’t know how to cruise through something I feel so passionate about. How could I put anything less than 100% into the course I know I’m made for? SCA won’t hand me a ‘perfectly respectable’ 2:1 after a mediocre performance. I wouldn’t want them to. I’ll need to work tirelessly and work intelligently in order to get everything I want out of the course, live up to the standard required and leave my own footprint on its hallowed halls. 

I didn’t love working in advertising first-time round. Life as an Account Executive entailed photocopying, stapling and printing, and it was a far cry from what drew me into the industry in the first place: contributing to great work, using brilliant ideas to grow brands, and applying the behavioural psychology that underlies purchasing decisions. I didn’t see any of this in my day-to-day life and I grew disillusioned, leaving my job and moving away from the ad world. 

This time, I’m not going to make the mistake of working in account handling when everything that draws me to the ad industry points to the creative side. Being accepted by SCA puts me on a path I want to tread for an entire career. I know it’s the right path because great advertising is defined by great creatives and their work, and I want to add my name to that list. I know it’s the right path because the idea of being paid to write – to create – fills me with excitement. 

Having a second stab at higher education, and at advertising, is not something I’ll take for granted. I’m raring to get going, to meet the rest of my intake, to squeeze everything I can out of the mentors, and to throw all of my time and energy into this course and the career that follows, in a way I didn’t first-time round. 

I don’t expect to be given a third chance. I don’t expect to need one.