Remember in 3rd grade when we learned how to write in cursive and our teachers told us that from then on we’d always have to write in cursive? What a load of hoopla that was.
Throughout my first 17 years of education I noticed a similar trend of scare tactics coming from my teachers and professors about how hard the next level would be. “It won’t be this easy come middle school.” “This kind of work won’t be accepted in high school.” “College professors are going to expect more.” Yet despite all the forewarnings, when the time actually came to experience those next levels, we learned, we adapted, and we made it. So, when I heard warnings about how hard the sixty weeks at Brandcenter are, I was skeptical. I figured Brandcenter was just the next step in educational progression that included scare tactics yet ultimately wouldn’t be too bad. It took me about one week to realize just how wrong I was.
When people say that Brandcenter produces the most challenging two years of their lives, please take their word for it. The 3:00 am nights working on presentations knowing it’s just 6 hours until you present. The real time realizations that your work really isn’t as good as you thought it was just 30 minutes ago. The weeks spent juggling three projects due, getting your portfolio done, and applying for jobs. All those challenges that the Brandcenter purposely curates come together to create two years where you have the opportunity to grow more than you did in those previous 17 years of education. And for your efforts, you’re rewarded with the ability to work on international brands, with mentorship from historically great advertisers, with lasting friendships that will help you along your career, and with the knowledge to make an impact from day one on your job.
I finally feel ready to be a leader in any industry, working on any brand, or on any project…and for that, I have to thank all the people that came together to make Brandcenter one of the few experiences that is truly hard hard.
– Alex Glaum, creative brand management track, class of 2019