I'm sitting at the computer with Blogger still open, so I might as well just do this already. Okay, here we go: two posts in one day will put me at, like, 200% of my average daily output. I may have to lie down...
My earliest memories are of learning things. I remember my sister reading a book to me in my dad's enormous recliner and having me read back to her (apparently you do not need to sound out question marks even if they sort of look like the number 2), and I remember memorizing the oath my brother Phil took when he joined the Navy even before he did! I remember a few weeks of kindergarten, although I only vaguely remember being kicked out. I have gone to many schools since then, and while the social aspect has not always been fun, I consistently enjoyed learning, and always wanted more; a trend that continues to this very day.
I never had any doubts that I would finish college, and while I haven't done it yet I still have no doubt about it. My problem in the past few years has been filtering through all of the many super cool things there are out there to learn and do, and figuring out what kind of degree would actually be a logical choice for a husband (and now father) in his mid-20's who wants to have a career. This made choosing a school, let alone a major, extremely intimidating, and cost me at least $50 in ASU applications fees (putting aside the time I put into walking around the campus). When my daughter was born, however, I sat in the hospital room convicted that I had to make changes in my life that would take me somewhere, to a job I would be proud of.
I had looked at schools besides ASU before, but had dismissed most of them (especially the tech schools) as not being "prestigious" enough when compared to the degrees many of my peers (such as Andrew) have. Around February, I came to the following realization: a person who goes to college straight out of high school usually does so because it is expected of them and may actually change their life goal multiple times during their time there (I saw statistics on this, but you can look them up yourself). A person like me who goes later in life goes for one of two reasons: 1) Self-validation (or for kicks, perhaps) or 2) To find a better career. I am most definitely fall into the latter category, and decided to go after something I have loved to do since I was about 5 years old: video games.
Collins College-the school I decided on- has a great program that not only teaches the science of game design (yes, there is science behind it, and it's very tricky), but also teaches the business aspect with the intent of getting the student a job hopefully before they even graduate! They actually expect me to have built a working game before I'm done there, and I am at once intimidated and endlessly excited. While there have been a few hiccups in the plan since I registered (see previous post), all of my online classes went well, and I am now into week 2 of my first 10 week term on campus. I am in my element, even if most of the students are younger (with much, much more hair).
The first three classes I took online were: Cultural Diversity (yuck!), History of Art I (mostly yay!), and Physical Anthropology (sort of yay!). Those went very well, and helped get me back into a school-oriented mindset. Toward the end, I even did some of my homework before the night it was due; a feat I didn't even accomplish through all of high school! This semester I have History of the Gaming Industry (epic), Drawing I (awesome), and Environmental Science (meh). Unfortunately I will have a few more "gen ed" classes like that, but my transfer credits and online classes have wiped most of them out already.
In summary, I get to get up early (which isn't as bad as I thought), drive to school in Phoenix (just as bad as I thought), and talk about video games pretty much for 2-3 hours plus another hour for science, then back to school to play with my kid. There's some other stuff in there too, but so far I think this decision is a win. Thanks again to my wife for supporting me in this! Some day when I'm a rich and wildly successful game designer, I'm pretty sure I can buy you an ice cream cone after we pay off the student loans, so look forward to that.
Scott
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