It's currently crunch time. I finally got my project management midterm done, which I spent the entire weekend trying to study for it, as it was the closest thing due (As everything else is due next week). Why didn't I also work on other homework in the meantime, you may ask? Well I believe that because the material of Project Management is so dry and bland, it was only natural for my mind to wonder off about 50 thousand times. I then punished myself by not going out with friends that weekend, so that I may use that time to be more productive. Was I? HELL NO!
Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the world of Mario Greco. I try to be mature, do work ahead of time, and unlike some university students, I actually succeeded at doing it - this year anyway. The only problem is that like other university students, somehow the work task appointed seems to stretch out and take up all the available time it can. Ironically, such an unfortunate fate was actually described in Project Management:
Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the world of Mario Greco. I try to be mature, do work ahead of time, and unlike some university students, I actually succeeded at doing it - this year anyway. The only problem is that like other university students, somehow the work task appointed seems to stretch out and take up all the available time it can. Ironically, such an unfortunate fate was actually described in Project Management:
 |
"Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion." - Cyril Northcote Parkinson |
As I was writing this blog post, I noticed that my problem wasn't Parkinson's Law, rather it was actually Student's Syndrome!
 |
| Oh you ugly, ugly thing... |
As you can see where the green line begins on the graph, it starts a little bit after the time's start. I did start studying at a reasonable time, only to unintentionally do so unproductively, in front of a computer screen, and ultimately unintentionally alienating myself from going out with friends and basically having a life. Also notice how the green lump actually stretches past the deadline. Why Mario, why?
Personally, I believe that it was all due to project management's dry content. If I worked on other subjects that I find more interesting, like Game Engine Design, Modeling, and Marketing, I probably would have been more productive. But I know what you're all thinking, "Mario, that is known as an EXCUSE. It's such an ugly and frowned upon word! Why would you use it? You're only hindering your success time and time again!" As I usually imagine important figures in my life saying such a quote to me, such as my dad, karate sensei, game dev professor, or Shigeru Miyamoto.
Then I look over my shoulder to see my classmates, all working hard and completing their work. This isn't the first time this has happened, and I'm not the only one. In both first and second year, I've seen my classmates' work in regards to the GDW project (stands for Game Development Workshop; a project where we basically have to make a game in small groups). Some groups have incredibly phenomenal games that would look fantastic on the university's student demo reel, and then there's some groups who assemble abysmal creations, resulting in their demoralization, and ultimately their drop-out. I've seen it before, and it's not a good feeling. Thankfully I feel that I was at the middle-ground between the two extremes of "good student" and "bad student", but now that those "bad students" seem to have left, where does that put the old middle-ground students? At the negative end of the spectrum, the "bad student" side, if you will. Hence my title, "The worst student".
Typically the worst student lets his mind control himself, partakes in activities that offer temporary satisfactions (such as mindlessly traversing memes on YouTube, repetitively clicking on Facebook profiles, and other stupid or unnecessary things), only to afterward indulge himself in self-pity, and then strive to be on good social terms with the prof and other "good" classmates to create a self-perceptive illusion of being a "good student" as opposed to actually getting work done. And then finally, if required, writing a blog post about acknowledging how he's the worst student, and making a promise to the world that he'll change his ways and truly become a good student; a promise that usually ends up not being followed though; a promise that the world probably doesn't care about in the first place. The process described thus far is then looped forever until either the student drops out, or ends up passing by the skin of his teeth by accomplishing the bare-minimum required to attain the degree.
From my point of view, I don't think I'm anywhere close to having to drop-out, but I do feel like one of those students who doesn't learn his lessons, but still manages to pass. The thing is, I don't want to be like that. I know a lot of students who are like that, but I don't want to be that way. I want to be a phenomenal student who creates a great portfolio, revered by the class and his profs, and is the first pick of development studios around the world scouting for gleaming young new recruits. But the funny thing is that that's not my primary motivation for pursuing my studies; those are just side-results of my motivation to achieve the main reason of why I'm studying game development. What's that reason? I love gaming. I love game development. And forever I've dreamed of working for Nintendo. Childish aspie-oriented fanboyishness aside, it's been the main goal of my life ever since I started playing Super Mario Bros. on the NES, and especially after I was ridiculed for being a Nintendo fanboy back in my late elementary school years. Recently I've wondered that if I were to achieve such a wondrous goal, what should I do next? That's where the concept of art games come into play, and my vision of making games that send a positive message across the world. But that's a whole other story that I can talk about another time.
But in order to work for a company like Nintendo, I have to stand out. As I've heard from Ken Yeeloy back at MIGS 2009, his company didn't apply to Nintendo, Nintendo went to them. (Ken Yeeloy is a gentlemen who works at Next Level Games, which is known for making a few recent Nintendo games, one being Luigi's Mansion 2 for Nintendo 3DS)
Unfortunately as of today I don't stand out, and I continue to live the life of a child stuck in a man's body who won't accept the fact that he's grown up. Then I look at other classmates of mine who stand out, are revered, and are mature independent adults. Then I think, "Wow, how do they do this? How do they stay in control, accomplish what they strive to accomplish, etc.?" Then I look at myself; yes, I've always had the passion for gaming, and now more recently, game development. But I am not in control of myself, not disciplined, and not a mature independent adult. It's only natural for me to not stand out and blend into the array of mediocre students, ones who put things off to the last minute, and then burn the midnight oil time and time again which is also taxing on one's health. Then to boot, reminisce on personal downfalls while stomping away directionless in the heart of Montreal back in 2009. A certain someone remembers this, lol.
I recently found another thing on the internet about some guy named Christian Weston Chandler, who had this brilliant idea to create an original game concept called "Sonichu" (you get my sarcasm) in the form of comic books that look like they were drawn out by a ten year old, when he was actually around 18 at the time of creating them. Yes he does have high-functioning autism, but his passion to create a game series which he longed to pitch to Nintendo ultimately became his demise after internet trolls got a hold of his work a few years later, and taunted him to the nines. His extreme passion coupled with his social and intellectual retardation ultimately led such trolls to even create a Wiki laying out everything negative about him, as you can see here. I must warn you that its content is quite offensive, so if you wish to take a look, proceed with caution. Anyway the reason why I bring this up is because this man made me reflect on myself. Okay, I understand that my disabilities are no where near as drastic as his, and thank God I have parents who raised me to be a socially sound individual. But it just leads me to think that perhaps passion isn't the only variable to success. Perhaps natural born intelligence, creativity, social soundness, and maturity are also equally prominent factors that contribute to the success of an individual. Knowing myself, I'm obviously not the most intelligent person out there (my constant need to ask questions in class should give that away). I'm not the most socially sound person as per asperger's (though I have been gaining positive momentum in that department recently). I feel my creativity has diminished compared to the free mind I had as a child, possibly due to putting most of my attention on completing schoolwork, particularly math and programming. And finally I'm not mature. But I do have passion! Though again, my point and belief is that passion cannot be the only variable of achieving a life-long dream. Hence probably why I'm still in my position today.
This all leads me to wonder if I'm deserving of entering the game industry, or even participating in university life as my high school guidance councilors instructed me to avoid. Yes I'm still alive in university, but as someone who studies game development, my passion should kick in and push me to the top, where all game dev students should be. This isn't bio-med, or engineering, or business studies where people take it "to make lots of money". This is game development, where creativity is supposed to flourish within the passion of its students.
Okay, this is the time where the person I'm talking to would say, "Mario, you're rambling, I think it's time to end the conversation", even though the discussion has been one-sided the whole time. Anyhow, to sum things up, I'm going to try my best to get my work done, and then network at MIGS 2011 to hopefully get my name out there in the industry. Thanks for reading, and if anyone has tips on how to smarten up and be a man, please let me know, thanks.
P.S. Listen to this melancholic music, if you'd like. I find it to be quite soothing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOrpAJgXY50
References:
"The Economist." Parkinson's Law. N.p., 1955. Web. 19 Oct 2011..
Holohan, Ron. "Podcast episode 045: schedule killers – student syndrome." the pm411.org project management podcast. N.p., 2009. Web. 19 Oct 2011..
Personally, I believe that it was all due to project management's dry content. If I worked on other subjects that I find more interesting, like Game Engine Design, Modeling, and Marketing, I probably would have been more productive. But I know what you're all thinking, "Mario, that is known as an EXCUSE. It's such an ugly and frowned upon word! Why would you use it? You're only hindering your success time and time again!" As I usually imagine important figures in my life saying such a quote to me, such as my dad, karate sensei, game dev professor, or Shigeru Miyamoto.
Then I look over my shoulder to see my classmates, all working hard and completing their work. This isn't the first time this has happened, and I'm not the only one. In both first and second year, I've seen my classmates' work in regards to the GDW project (stands for Game Development Workshop; a project where we basically have to make a game in small groups). Some groups have incredibly phenomenal games that would look fantastic on the university's student demo reel, and then there's some groups who assemble abysmal creations, resulting in their demoralization, and ultimately their drop-out. I've seen it before, and it's not a good feeling. Thankfully I feel that I was at the middle-ground between the two extremes of "good student" and "bad student", but now that those "bad students" seem to have left, where does that put the old middle-ground students? At the negative end of the spectrum, the "bad student" side, if you will. Hence my title, "The worst student".
Typically the worst student lets his mind control himself, partakes in activities that offer temporary satisfactions (such as mindlessly traversing memes on YouTube, repetitively clicking on Facebook profiles, and other stupid or unnecessary things), only to afterward indulge himself in self-pity, and then strive to be on good social terms with the prof and other "good" classmates to create a self-perceptive illusion of being a "good student" as opposed to actually getting work done. And then finally, if required, writing a blog post about acknowledging how he's the worst student, and making a promise to the world that he'll change his ways and truly become a good student; a promise that usually ends up not being followed though; a promise that the world probably doesn't care about in the first place. The process described thus far is then looped forever until either the student drops out, or ends up passing by the skin of his teeth by accomplishing the bare-minimum required to attain the degree.
From my point of view, I don't think I'm anywhere close to having to drop-out, but I do feel like one of those students who doesn't learn his lessons, but still manages to pass. The thing is, I don't want to be like that. I know a lot of students who are like that, but I don't want to be that way. I want to be a phenomenal student who creates a great portfolio, revered by the class and his profs, and is the first pick of development studios around the world scouting for gleaming young new recruits. But the funny thing is that that's not my primary motivation for pursuing my studies; those are just side-results of my motivation to achieve the main reason of why I'm studying game development. What's that reason? I love gaming. I love game development. And forever I've dreamed of working for Nintendo. Childish aspie-oriented fanboyishness aside, it's been the main goal of my life ever since I started playing Super Mario Bros. on the NES, and especially after I was ridiculed for being a Nintendo fanboy back in my late elementary school years. Recently I've wondered that if I were to achieve such a wondrous goal, what should I do next? That's where the concept of art games come into play, and my vision of making games that send a positive message across the world. But that's a whole other story that I can talk about another time.
But in order to work for a company like Nintendo, I have to stand out. As I've heard from Ken Yeeloy back at MIGS 2009, his company didn't apply to Nintendo, Nintendo went to them. (Ken Yeeloy is a gentlemen who works at Next Level Games, which is known for making a few recent Nintendo games, one being Luigi's Mansion 2 for Nintendo 3DS)
Unfortunately as of today I don't stand out, and I continue to live the life of a child stuck in a man's body who won't accept the fact that he's grown up. Then I look at other classmates of mine who stand out, are revered, and are mature independent adults. Then I think, "Wow, how do they do this? How do they stay in control, accomplish what they strive to accomplish, etc.?" Then I look at myself; yes, I've always had the passion for gaming, and now more recently, game development. But I am not in control of myself, not disciplined, and not a mature independent adult. It's only natural for me to not stand out and blend into the array of mediocre students, ones who put things off to the last minute, and then burn the midnight oil time and time again which is also taxing on one's health. Then to boot, reminisce on personal downfalls while stomping away directionless in the heart of Montreal back in 2009. A certain someone remembers this, lol.
I recently found another thing on the internet about some guy named Christian Weston Chandler, who had this brilliant idea to create an original game concept called "Sonichu" (you get my sarcasm) in the form of comic books that look like they were drawn out by a ten year old, when he was actually around 18 at the time of creating them. Yes he does have high-functioning autism, but his passion to create a game series which he longed to pitch to Nintendo ultimately became his demise after internet trolls got a hold of his work a few years later, and taunted him to the nines. His extreme passion coupled with his social and intellectual retardation ultimately led such trolls to even create a Wiki laying out everything negative about him, as you can see here. I must warn you that its content is quite offensive, so if you wish to take a look, proceed with caution. Anyway the reason why I bring this up is because this man made me reflect on myself. Okay, I understand that my disabilities are no where near as drastic as his, and thank God I have parents who raised me to be a socially sound individual. But it just leads me to think that perhaps passion isn't the only variable to success. Perhaps natural born intelligence, creativity, social soundness, and maturity are also equally prominent factors that contribute to the success of an individual. Knowing myself, I'm obviously not the most intelligent person out there (my constant need to ask questions in class should give that away). I'm not the most socially sound person as per asperger's (though I have been gaining positive momentum in that department recently). I feel my creativity has diminished compared to the free mind I had as a child, possibly due to putting most of my attention on completing schoolwork, particularly math and programming. And finally I'm not mature. But I do have passion! Though again, my point and belief is that passion cannot be the only variable of achieving a life-long dream. Hence probably why I'm still in my position today.
This all leads me to wonder if I'm deserving of entering the game industry, or even participating in university life as my high school guidance councilors instructed me to avoid. Yes I'm still alive in university, but as someone who studies game development, my passion should kick in and push me to the top, where all game dev students should be. This isn't bio-med, or engineering, or business studies where people take it "to make lots of money". This is game development, where creativity is supposed to flourish within the passion of its students.
Okay, this is the time where the person I'm talking to would say, "Mario, you're rambling, I think it's time to end the conversation", even though the discussion has been one-sided the whole time. Anyhow, to sum things up, I'm going to try my best to get my work done, and then network at MIGS 2011 to hopefully get my name out there in the industry. Thanks for reading, and if anyone has tips on how to smarten up and be a man, please let me know, thanks.
P.S. Listen to this melancholic music, if you'd like. I find it to be quite soothing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOrpAJgXY50
References:
"The Economist." Parkinson's Law. N.p., 1955. Web. 19 Oct 2011.
Holohan, Ron. "Podcast episode 045: schedule killers – student syndrome." the pm411.org project management podcast. N.p., 2009. Web. 19 Oct 2011.
No comments:
Post a Comment
What do you think? Comment below: