Task 24: Personal review of the second year: Where do you want to go, and how do you get there?

Universities are for people who want to get a degree which they can then use to get a job. Some jobs require you to have a diploma and judge you depending on your grades. This is the case for most courses. My experience though is that most people just use whatever tricks they can to get the best mark possible and don’t even need to put in much effort sometimes. This course I think works a bit differently in that it really is about helping you learn the skills you need if you want a job in game design. It’s not about just writing a few essays, you actually have to actively take it upon yourself to learn as much as you can whilst you have the chance

Personally I’m more interested in developing my skills enough so I can create a good portfolio. When I planned on coming to university I didn’t expect it to be the same as most peoples courses, I always knew it would be different and be more about practice than anything else. The tutors are there for any questions you might have if you’re confused. The university is there for classrooms, equipment and guest lectures. University for me has given me more confidence and self-discipline. I have become less lazy and learnt so much just through doing projects, which I wouldn’t have done if I didn’t come to uni. It would require a lot of effort to stop procrastinating at home with so many distractions and no real reason to work instead of play. But here you are required to complete all the projects and they are not always things you want to do, but ultimately they help a lot in improving your skills.

I also always knew I wanted to do something to do with games, but wasn’t exactly sure what, I hope by the end of this course I can come to a decision based on all the work I’ve done and be comfortable with making the right choice. I also look at university as being a time where I don’t have to work a job and can still get by with my loan. Which means I have plenty of free time outside of university, which I can also use to practice my skills, even if they don’t count towards the course.

I feel I am quite a reflective person, but I usually reflect on the work I’ve done as a way of putting off the work I need to do. I know I have made tons of progress since the beginning of this year let alone last year. I’ve learnt that if I keep doing work sometimes its harder to actually stop working and start other things. But if I get used to doing everything except work, it is much harder to start again. In everything I’ve done here I have learnt something with each project, now this isn’t down to the projects themselves, but mainly down to the fact they are limited on time and they are things which I wouldn’t come up with myself, this forces me to think differently to solve problems.