Hey all,
Today is the day went to the Sixth Form Conference at UEA, but before we left I spent an hour in college making new targets for my third week in my personal development plan (PDP) - for Unit 1. Afterwards, I spent some time making a new asset (bricks) for my background in the game as it is a dungeon themed platform-scroller game.
After an hour at Develop, the crew consisted of students from Level 3 and Level 3 extended, including "Calodemon Catherine" and "Jovial John". Some took car to directly get there whilst most of us caught the 25 Blue Line, then switched to 26 Blue Line to reach our destination.
There, it was a good first impression once again (I have been there before) - we firstly went into a collaboration room where a graduated student from 2 years ago shared with us information regarding about university courses, university choices, and accommodation. I believe I have absorbed lots of useful information but ultimately it has allowed me to come up with more unanswered questions. The way to tackle these is to research!
During Lunch, I toured around the campus and had a look at the area where the avengers cast recorded a scene in the UEA field grounds. It was a spectacular view despite the rabbit excretes on the grass...
During the last part of the day, we looked at Computer Science course, the group was split into two separate groups for simplicity. The first group - in other words my group was firstly showcased the 3D printer using powder. Next, the man presented his project where we can interact with a rubber duck in water but we can "feel" the sensation from a computer's monitor to our hands - all encrypted with code. However, as cool as this seems it does not interest me, but this is so cool, right???
Next, we look at another room where the walls are dark and infra-red lights roamed. Another man showed us how to use stock motion to pick up movements and then to model them into animations. The only part that intrigued me was the end where the movements can be processed and rendered into animations such as character designs. However, the course does not focus around games design and only does one compulsory unit on this during the second and fourth year, not good.
Lastly, a student currently doing his PhD showed us his project throughout his 3-4 year course. His project was about a Rubix cube so it wasn't so interesting to me but it was to himself. Overall, the tour was alright as the ambassadors did not explain anything much. The equipments were only described in the room but the course overall was not explained in detail. In conclusion, I don't believe this is the course for me as it is very much programming-based. I am more for the visual, creative, arty, games-design side. (I learnt that you can do a PhD without masters!)
Overall, today had its ups and downs, which means it is average. The tour was not as good as the other universities had more presentation but I am pessimistic as every university can be different. I will be thinking about the choices I will make in the future... but wait.. I am only 16!
