The Future is Waiting

By: Eli Ouellette

Will you answer the call?

After a week in NYC with 60+ UO Creative Strat-ers, @debkmorrison and @gHarsha, touring DDB, Big Spaceship, McGarry Bowen, Strawberry Frog, Ogilvy, Wieden+Kennedy NYC, Mr Youth, and a few other non- ad places, jetBlue included, I have learned a lot about the Ad. industry and more importantly, I learned a lot about myself.

I soaked it all in, marveling in the New York lights and constantly adding to my list of “Things to do by next year.” The biggest takeaway that I have to share is a continuation of something that @debkmorrison told us a year ago.

“If you are waiting for permission to do great stuff, stop waiting. You have permission. Go build $#!%.”

The future is waiting. Waiting for you.

The enthusiastic encouragement that we received from creative directors and fellow students was so exciting. Hearing how highly Oregon’s Ad. Program is regarded was something else. So was being reminded by  Glenn Griffin how lucky we are to have Deb Morrison steering our fleet of self captained ships.

“Deborah Morrison is the best at what she does. She did it (transformed the ad. program) first at Texas, and now everyone is copying Texas. She is the best in the world” -Glenn Griffin

UO Creative Strat-ers: we are truly blessed. Let’s not take that for granted.

@BlueEyedLeah12 and I met Glenn’s students from Alabama and immediately began talking about how different NYC is from Oregon and Alabama, what goes into running a student agency, and Ad Kids’ troubles.  Connecting with them and realizing that we can help one another out across America, and share encouragement, dreams and fears, was good. so good.

I’m excited for tomorrow.

Are you?