career day 2015
For this career day, I shadowed a programmer at Daybreak games, a company that has designed various video games, such as Everquest. For the most part I really enjoyed my visit, although I may have learned that maybe programming is something that I'm not very interested in. However, it was still interesting to learn about the process of programming, explore their buildings, and actually watch a programmer at work.
Below is my interview. Hit the play button in order to hear it.
Below is my interview. Hit the play button in order to hear it.
The day was mostly spent inside the programmer's office, where he talked to me a lot about code, the history of the company, and how he was affecting the games he was working on as we spoke. It was very interesting and very informative. We also took a tour around the company's two building which was also interesting to explore. There were many, many offices, as to be expected at a work place. However, there were a surprising amount of recreational activity available, such as a rec room with Mario Kart set up and a pool table. The day was very relaxed since it wasn't a huge work day, so it gave us a lot of time to talk about his work and to explore the different aspects of programming.
It was interesting to learn about how much a few lines of code can affect a game. This was interesting to me, because what looked like just a few characters actually contained of information. It was also interesting just exploring the building, seeing where the office was located and looking at the game artwork they posted on the walls. In the areas that they designed the game, it really felt like a creative environment where countless ideas where discussed daily. In the area where the programming was done it felt more focused on process and perfection, with multiple programmers making sure that each game worked perfectly. Also the game artwork that decorated the walls were very interesting and added a lot personality to the building. I also learned a lot about how programming uses tables to organize different components of the game.
In terms of education, my mentor has a MA in Computer Science, which is the major that was the most useful for his job. (He also has a BS degree in Electrical Engineering.) He said that in terms of computers, he worked his way up from working with the hardware to working on the actual database.
In the end, I do not think I will be pursuing programming in the future. It's just never grabbed me and the programming language has always felt extremely foreign to me. I also don't even play video games, which makes me believe that if I were to try programming at all, I shouldn't try programming in video games. However, maybe if I try some programming on my own I may find some interest.
Next year I hope to intern in something involving film, a topic I am extremely interested in. In particular I'm interested in the production and shooting of film. I may already have a connection, since my current advisor has a connection to an executive producer on a popular television series. Hopefully, if everything pans out, I will able to intern for the executive producer for a month in L.A. Otherwise I may try to intern in Sweden, so that I could intern with my uncle, who is an editor on various Swedish programs.
It was interesting to learn about how much a few lines of code can affect a game. This was interesting to me, because what looked like just a few characters actually contained of information. It was also interesting just exploring the building, seeing where the office was located and looking at the game artwork they posted on the walls. In the areas that they designed the game, it really felt like a creative environment where countless ideas where discussed daily. In the area where the programming was done it felt more focused on process and perfection, with multiple programmers making sure that each game worked perfectly. Also the game artwork that decorated the walls were very interesting and added a lot personality to the building. I also learned a lot about how programming uses tables to organize different components of the game.
In terms of education, my mentor has a MA in Computer Science, which is the major that was the most useful for his job. (He also has a BS degree in Electrical Engineering.) He said that in terms of computers, he worked his way up from working with the hardware to working on the actual database.
In the end, I do not think I will be pursuing programming in the future. It's just never grabbed me and the programming language has always felt extremely foreign to me. I also don't even play video games, which makes me believe that if I were to try programming at all, I shouldn't try programming in video games. However, maybe if I try some programming on my own I may find some interest.
Next year I hope to intern in something involving film, a topic I am extremely interested in. In particular I'm interested in the production and shooting of film. I may already have a connection, since my current advisor has a connection to an executive producer on a popular television series. Hopefully, if everything pans out, I will able to intern for the executive producer for a month in L.A. Otherwise I may try to intern in Sweden, so that I could intern with my uncle, who is an editor on various Swedish programs.