Second Year Reflection

     It’s that time of year again, deadlines, stress and hopeful progression to the next year. Universities are useful for structuring your path towards the career you hope to work in. For me, this was in the gaming industry, which is why I chose to study a degree course that would focus my skills and allow me to concentrate on achieving this goal. Without a degree, you are less likely to make it into the games industry, as it is difficult enough with a degree that has tamed your skills for industry. Universities differ from college and school education immensely, as I came from school after sixth form straight away then I wasn’t expecting such a vast change. Universities give you more freedom to learn for yourself instead of having to spoon-feed you information and hold your hand all the way through the year. I enjoy the freedom, though the quick change I had to go through to be able to put up with the heavier work load was something that scared me greatly. I find it difficult to learn things for myself sometimes as there is a vast array of information on the internet and 98% of that is practically useless as it has nothing to do with what you actually want to find out.

    Universities come from the medieval ages, taking place hundreds of years in schools such as monasteries. The earliest universities were created from cathedral schools, although this was quite rare at the time. Universities were also founded by kings, for example; University in Prague. A majority of schools in the medieval ages then became higher-education colleges and universities. Nowadays, higher education is still separated from the compulsory education like it was when universities were first created. This means that people have a choice as to whether they wish to continue to acquire knowledge or whether they wish to go straight into employment.

    From my university education, I expect to receive training and information on my chosen career and help about any issues during the time of the degree. Also, if any employment opportunity arrives, I aspect that my tutors would let the class know, as they have ties to the industry, they can use these to get people in industry to come and give us there opinion on the matter and help with any questions we wish to ask.

     Hopefully, if I am able to complete my three years’ worth of university education I’d like to get a degree. This degree, I’m hoping, will allow me to be more visibly pleasing to employers, even if not in the gaming industry. As hopefully companies will see that I can put in the effort and teach myself new things, and most of all, stick with something I want to do. Although I am currently afraid of not being able to get a job at all, because from hearsay, even people with university degrees are still not able to find work and are having to go on job seekers.

    This is how I hopefully will be able to get a well-paid job and actually afford to survive comfortably. Completeing this degree will show that I am capable of sticking to something, teaching myself and reflecting on what I am told. These are all important aspects of a career and hopefully employers will see that.

    In reflection to the second year, I believe I have improved some of my skills and I will hopefully be able to continue this onto the third year. Looking back, I think I’ve also managed to plan my time efficiently and finish my work with plenty of time instead of panicking to fix things last minute.

   Most projects I have enjoyed, others I’m just glad are over. It’s all part of my learning curve and I believe that I have come a long way since first starting this course.