Who'd have thought it, I think I may have made friends

I am genuinely so happy with the group that I have been put with for this debate project. Bloody love those guys. The project seems to be going quite well, particularly our Twitter campaign. We just need to really work hard on the print, video etc side to things. Next step is to come up with some visuals and think about the presentation. Not long to go now!

DEBATE BRIEF - A change of pace and a change of heart...

The brief that I am currently working on for Bucks Ad School is a 'debating brief'. We are required to research a topic in detail, create a campaign to raise awareness and get people on our side for the topic/issue and then take part in a debate with opposing teams.

The topic that has been chosen for us is the current issue of the Scottish Independence Referendum. My team has been assigned the position of 'Devo Plus' while the other teams are 'Devo Max' and 'For the UK remaining as it is'. I volunteered myself as deputy leader for this project with Joe as leader.

While I initially was uninterested in the topic chosen I have since had a change of heart...

After spending 2 days on this project I have come to the realisation that I really really miss LEARNING. In-depth research and new knowledge of a specific topic with an ultimate goal and use of that knowledge in sight. Of course I have learnt so much in my first term and a bit at Bucks, but it's a different kind of learning; highly subjective practical application of ideas and creativity, learning from mistakes about how you develop concepts and really drill in to an almost philosophical understanding of an insight. The work I am doing now however is so factual and I come away from my research with a clear cut understanding of brand new knowledge immediately. I feel as if I am being much more proactive and I like it! This is the reason why I have (finally) started this blog. 

From the offset of the course we have been told we need to be 'on it', which in my tutors words means being active on social media sites, particularly Twitter, networking and documenting all the work that we do. I'm not going to lie, up until this point I just haven't been bothered to do it, but after realising how much better I feel by actively working in my own time I decided that I now have the motivation to do this. 

Another thought that this brief has made me ponder is the possibility of become a Planner for an agency rather than an Art Director or Copywriter like most people on my course. I have been praised to no end by my project group on my research skills and today one of them asked if I'd ever considered being a planner which I hadn't until now.

Truth is I have no idea what I want to be when it comes to graduating, I just know it will most likely be one of the three positions above. Good job I still have a good while before I have to know!

An Introduction

Hello there! My name is Joanna, I am 19 years old originally from Kingston-Upon-Thames but I am currently at Buckinghamshire New University studying Creative Advertising. I have 5 younger siblings called Daniel (13), Jack (5), Teddy (4), Georgia (2) and Keira (2) and I love my family to bits. My mum and I have the best relationship and she is the cleverest and most inspiring woman I know. My boyfriend is called Jonny and we have been happily together for 4 lovely years - which I think is quite an achievement at my age.

It has always been my dream to work in advertising since I pretty much started secondary school (I know it's strange dream for an 11 year old, most girls that age still want to be a ballerina or princess or something). I have spent since then working on the path to achieve my goal. After achieving very good grades at GCSEs I went on to study Fine Art, Media, Psychology and English Language at college; though I dropped English after AS level. I achieved grades BBC at A Level and secured my place at Buckinghamshire New University. 

The reason I chose Bucks as my first choice is because of how different it is from any other university I looked at in terms of the course. It is an incredibly practical and creativity based course as opposed to many other advertising courses that appeared to be more focussed on the theoretical side of advertising. At Bucks we are given a new brief every fortnight and we are expected to complete the brief and present our finished product, concept, campaign, idea or whatever the brief requires at the end of each fortnight. The close proximity to London was also a massive determining factor in my decision to study there. London is the advertising hub of the UK and, some might argue, the world. We go on several visits to London agencies every month or so and it is always a brilliantly inspiring experience and gives much greater insight into what it's actually like to be working in this industry. There are so many Bucks Ad grads working in these agencies as well that it makes it seem like we really can do it and we really can get the job we want and it is all possible.

Ta ta for now!

Jo