SCABs

For next years Intake. By @Benedicttatham

Benedict Tatham

By Benedict Tatham

 

For next years Intake.

 

So this is my final reflection. Wow, how this year has flown by.

I guess the best thing for me to do is give some advice on the things I’ve learnt from the last 10 month. Hopefully anyone joining next years intake can then get a better sense of what’s to come. This isn’t really for Coup as they’ve heard it all before.

Put everything into it. I have to say I’m not envious of you. Not what you really want to hear I know, but this course I feel is something you only want to do once. It’s really full on so get it right the first time. 

A lot is down to luck. Referring back to point one here, you can put everything into this course, heart and soul and it might not work out. Whether that’s because of partners or home life, or whatever it’s a lottery. But if you work your hardest then you can’t look back and say you didn’t try. 

Slow and steady wins the race. You’ll find that by the end of the year you can put a book together in no time. So don’t panic if it’s not coming early on. 

Be prepared to sacrifice your social life. You will barely see your friends and you will have to turn down so much just so you’re ready to hand work in on the deadline. It’s just a year, keep telling yourself that.

Network. From the start. Even if you haven’t got work to show because it is definitely one of    the most important things you can do to get a placement. I regret not doing more of that.

Be ready to fail. It’s hard to get to grips with and I think I’m still battling it. This career is all about failing. But I might say that it’s a very negative term to use and really you might be better off seeing every failure as progress. Telling yourself that you are failing can get you into a negative thought pattern. Whereas actually, getting to a decent piece of work is just a series of failures. 

Try not to stress. Stress can motivate some and harm others. SCA works under the theory that constant pressure will lead to better results. In football you either put your arm around a player or you shout at them, depending on which way they respond best. SCA won’t put their arm around you. Honor and Claire might, but for most of the time you will have to dig deep and work it out yourself. Just remember, as the old saying goes, ‘We’re not making parachutes.’ 

Believe in yourself. This I would say is the most important point of all. There will be doubts and many of them. Just remember that you’re at the school for a reason and that some will learn faster than others, that’s just normal. There was a period of about 3 months where I wasn’t believing in myself. My girlfriend noticed it and gave a me firm talking to and since then work has been so much more enjoyable.

Try lots of partners. You’ll be surprised how much you learn from each and everything will change in the last term anyway.

Try and have fun. It is fun and the thing is, it’s so much better than anything else you could be working on quite frankly.

Learn adobe. To a competent standard because the course does require you to quickly mock things up and make videos and posters etc. It also means you’ll have more time to come up with ideas.

Kiss goodbye to your weekends. Maybe not as much in the first term but certainly after that. I mean I haven’t left my desk since Friday evening and I’ve still got loads to do. Not to mention finish this scab.

I could go on and bore you with more cliches but I think 12 is enough for now. The year coming is going to be a rollercoaster for you but, I guarantee it will be worth it. Good luck! p.s worth reading all the books for the course as well.

Related SCABs

Go back

Student Application

  • Fill out the Application Form below to be a part of our next Award-Winning intake.

  • MM slash DD slash YYYY
image