Cranky. Old. Man?

So since our projects for my Week Long Intense Projects class are provided by external companies and one of them has too much shit going on to give us one? WE GET A WEEK OFF FOR THE CLASS.

Oh thank god, I needed that.

Gonna work on my portfolio site, sleep, read, browse shit? I dunno man, a lot of us were sitting around after Prototyping today, unsure of what to do since we didn't have like three group meetings scheduled.

First order of business: SLEEP.

Last week was one of those weeks that was really intense and I'm glad I decided to not SUDDENLY TORONTO and do that to this week (half the cohort is in Toronto for a user experience convention). Job fair happened, which was very different from any other job fair I've ever done in that most of the people were legitimately looking for people in my program and we had to do a one-hour design challenge where the employers went around and questioned us and then watched us present our designs.

One company in particular interested me, as they are located where Ladyfriend lives, and they are small and dynamic and consulting-based, as opposed to being a large corporation simply maintaining products. Emailed after the job fair and got a pretty encouraging response; they are still deciding if they are going to take on an intern this summer, but the dude seemed interested in me. It didn't hurt that pretty much everyone in the cohort immediately thought that I would be perfect in this environment. Hopefully they are right!

This semester has noticeably more individual work, as we're not in Major Design Class, with some partnering up. It's not too bad. And one class is very artsy which is a lot of fun for me. In fact I took a lot of the pictures for my last assignment at Ohayocon. Hell I did two assignments and finished my web portfolio at Ohayocon. XD

Also tornadoes in January? What's up with that.

I really feel like I belong here.

This program is very challenging. But not in a way that it was with undergrad, where I was simply so overloaded with things that I had to prioritize my failures and there was really a lot I didn't absorb because I was panicked or exhausted most of the time. Challenging in that the problems presented have no real clean answers and I find myself thinking again. And sketching. When did I stop sketching? What made me believe that doodling was a counter-productive activity?

So there are a lot of conflicting sources on what the hell Human-Computer Interaction design is. The best definition so far is "what is means to be human in a world of computers".

Profound shit, right?

Human-centered design is a really weird sort of thing. It's come about because there are so many brilliant people who have gotten tunnel vision with their own abilities that they start to forget simple things about how people might actually use things. Kind of in line with a lot of criticisms I had at my workplace with some of the things we were doing.

Anyway, I may be poking some of you to do informal "usability testing" for my first project, if you're free tonight or tomorrow night let me know!

Still rejecting me! Waiting to hear from backup school.

Looks like I'm going to have to do this shit piecemeal. Which is annoying as hell.

Anyone who doesn't think the system is stacked has clearly never been the "wrong" type of candidate.

Not in.

NO WORRIES, SERIOUSLY. HOLD THE CONDOLENCES.

The letter was not actually a form letter (it was very specific to my application), and it was signed by the dean. They think I should get a master's degree first, as my grades in undergrad were less than stellar.

This immediately tells me two things:

1. The kid that got my spot had better grades. Fucker.

2. I may be able to get in next year. I live next to another university, one which transfers credits up to the university I am trying to get into a lot. Football rivals, academic incest. I could start on said degree without much trouble already, as said university is also ridiculously lax about letting people in (see: I was on academic drop for a semester and they let me in basically on a pinky swear). If they want proof I don't flunk out of every class, well, I'll give them proof.

I was starting to think that it was just a little too easy considering my history (spoiler alert: if there is ever an easy way, I manage to meander completely around it). And part of me is relieved. I'm not sure I'm quite ready to launch back into full time school yet. I really only want to get into academia to help fix it, because I think it's kind of broken. Also I like games a lot.

If I weren't adaptable, I wouldn't be where I am now, which is actually fairly happy. I do like my job. I'm just kind of ambitious and always looking ahead. So here I am, looking ahead. Hell, if I get the info I need soon I may even start a class this summer. This is how adaptable I am.

Also, I'm glad I was checking into apartments in town and not just up at Other College, cause, I need my own place if I'm staying for another year (or more).

So I'm thinking Education and CS classes. But we'll see what the Engineering Ed people say.

Am I disappointed? Of course. It's a great program and I want to do a lot of things with my life and I need some more cred to do ALL the things. It would be nice if I didn't have to wait another year or two. But this is part of the academic dance I have to do because I am just not a typical student. Never have been.

But then again, I'm only 25, I don't have kids, I don't have a lot of things tethering me down. I still have an undergrad in Aerospace Engineering from one of the top schools in the nation. I have health insurance and a retirement plan. I am not shit out of luck in life, I'm still doing pretty darn good.

And hell, not being in school full time this fall means I get to be there for the testing of THE AEROSPACE GAME I AM LEAD CONTENT DESIGNER ON. I was worried I'd be missing that, and I hate missing testing. I want to see kids play my game! I AM EXCITE FOR THAT.

So yeah, don't worry, I just figured I'd share the news.