This week focuses on looking at what is important for us as Game Art students to focus on when it comes to gaining an actual job in industry. These things include: Our portfolio, personalities, work ethic, professionalism etc, and there were a range of lectures & workshops to attend.
On Monday we had an introduction to the week, which was basically a small lecture presented by the various subject tutors, displaying their thoughts about what we need to succeed in industry. I found this very interesting, all of the subjects link together quite similarly, and the skills we need to develop are essentially the same. This was the only timetabled event for the day, so I spent the rest of it trying to get some more modelling done on my architect project - Damn doorways are so hard to get right! (So scared of the texturing!!). I did some more on Thursday, got half of the building uvw unmapped but still have no idea how to do the tiling textures properly!
Tuesday was very interesting for me, we had a lecture about work placements & work experience in general, plus one about commercial awareness. The placement one was a kind of eye opener for me, I know that it is important to have any kind of work experience whatever it may be, but I didn't know it was THAT important/ 52% of employers wouldn't consider you without experience. I haven't had a job in the past, and I vowed that when I came to university, I would get one. However, due to the pressures of the course as it is at the moment, I don't think I could handle the long self-directed hours, plus a part-time job. Although, I hope that this will settle soon, and that I will look for one which fits around my schedule & is manageable.
The lecture on commercial awareness wasn't too much related to my course, but there were still some good points that I can relate to, e.g. It is important to build a network of potential employers so that you can always see your options. In addition, I found the resources they gave us to find out about how well a business is doing, rather interesting - but that's just my personal opinion on learning about businesses.
Wednesday consisted of a presentation by the Demon Media team. I loved what they did, and am interested in what they do; I would like to learn more about it and perhaps join it. However, it comes back again to not wanted to commit to doing something, then saying "Oh, sorry, I don't have the time to do that because I have A, B and C to do for tomorrow". This is a real shame as I want to just get out there and do all of these things, but can't just yet.
Another amazing thing of Wednesday was a small talk about resilience and well-being. Now, I see myself doing ok in terms of taking care of my mental and physical health - Mental health dropped since being at uni... So much stress!! :O It covered a lot of things I know I should do e.g. balance work & play, time to sit and reflect, time to eat properly, do physical exercise etc. However, it re-instated these things, and added to them, and I found it very interesting. It also got me to look at the positive things I can do well, as opposed to all the negative things I always look at & put myself down on. So, it was a good session, that I felt like I needed to induce a more positive attitude.
Thursday & Friday consisted of a time management lecture, library information and the radio. The library information was very useful, and I'll certainly need to use it a lot more when it comes to looking for resources/journals to use in the "History of Video Games" blogs. Finally, the time management was also a rather useful session, where we looked at things we can do to plan out our lives a bit more, and procrastinate a little bit less. I'm also finding it hard to even get 5/6 hours sleep on around 65% of my nights, but the woman who took the lecture advised: 8 hours sleep, 8 hours work, 8 hours play/relax. That is simply not possible for me, as I prioritise work over sleep, so that tends to take over sometimes. Nevertheless, as I said, it was useful to me, and I will look to try and plan things more.
Overall, a very good week in terms of general attitude towards work, my future, and my well-being. As a result of this week, I hope to plan my time better, which will hopefully also help me deal with the stress a bit more. In addition to this, it may even create time for me to get some experience somewhere, doing anything, as long as it lets me interact with other people and gain some experience - including volunteering. It has also helped me to think about what I can do in order to improve myself as a person, my employability, and my well-being, all hopefully will make my experience more valuable whilst I'm at De Montfort, and carry on after I leave.
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