The Final Countdown. Year 3 has just begun.
Year 3 of my VR degree has already started. It actually not only has started but goes at quite fast peace. We are currently in week 5 of this academic year and I must admit, I feel slightly overwhelmed by the amount of the work I need to do at the same time.
As it is our final year, there are two big tasks ahead of us.
The first one is writing a dissertation. We are to research the topic of our interests, form a thesis and based on available literature and results of carried out studies, analyze the subject and conclude if our hypothesis were accurate, what the prognosis are etc. This process has already started but I am not going to write about it in this post. I will dedicate a separate blog entry on the introduction to the thesis I am going to develop. I am actually pretty sure that I will be writing a lot this academic year – not the dissertation per se, but also about the research which may or may not be included in it.
The second task (and it is massive!) is the Final Major Project. This project involves producing a piece of work that would be then displayed during the graduates’ showcase. It requires research, idea developing, preparing a presentation and pitching it to the group and the lecturer. It also requires some sort of collaboration. Therefore, we need to think about roles within the project and people who we need to reach so these roles would be fulfilled appropriately. The most important stage of building this huge project is coming up with the actual idea and the narrative for it. For me, even though I have a rough idea for the experience I want to build, coming up with the actual story will be the most difficult part.
If that wasn’t enough work for the upcoming months, I have added something extra to my daily schedule. During the summer holidays, while I was looking for work placement or internship, I successfully went through the recruitment process and was offered a Quality Assurance Intern position at the company called Disguise. Disguise offers 3d texture mapping and visual effects for live stage productions, TV shows, film industry, art displays and metaverse events (such as Billie Eilish TikTok virtual concert). I learn a lot every day at my workplace, utilize some of my skills and gain new ones. I feel extremely lucky that I managed to secure this position at Disguise. It not only feels great but is very important to have a chance to gain invaluable experience (still being a student) working in the industry I have been training for.
At the same time, I do realize that upcoming months will be demanding and require a lot of work and engagement in both places. Actually, not in two but three places since I have a young family and will be dividing my time between three places: university, company and home. I know how important is work-life balance, therefore, I have been trying to work out the best style and schedule of working and looking after my family, so neither of the 3 spaces is neglected.