With everything that’s been going on, it’s hard to believe that it’s been almost two months since I lasted made a blog post. As I look over everything that’s gone on this quarter and supposed to happen going into the future, I’m beginning to realize that I have more on my plate than I initially thought I did.

• The first quarter of junior year is finally over. Grade-wise, I think I made out okay. Not quite as good as I’d hoped, but still better than previous quarters. The improvement is largely the result of a better work ethic is developed over the summer.
• I didn’t think that I’d change much going from 19 to 20, but I began to notice quite a bit of change since last year. I take school much more seriously than I did in the past, doing better at time management and overall showing a better effort in classes than I used to. Certainly room to grow on the effort part, but there’s been some change for the better. I am seem to have to developed a better understanding of programming compared to last year, which is odd considering I had a QA internship this past summer.
• I figured that running IGDARochester with Zach wouldn’t be a walk in the park, but… holy crap, this is hard! I have no idea how Gordon, Jack, and rest manage this global organization when we’re pulling our hair out getting once chapter off of the ground.
• FPS Golf has finally gotten some life in it, and I’m really excited for it. The initial design phase is mostly done, and we’re hoping to begin drafting a level or two once we come back from break. The plan is to finish to show it off at GDC 2013, so it’s nothing to kill ourselves over right now. The team is only three people as of today, but I’m sure that will grow as we get further into production.
• On the job front, I’ve already gotten some responses in regards to the search for next summer’s co-op. This Thanksgiving break is the free time I need to finish up a few other applications, so I’m hoping for good news in the next few months.
• What’s most excited of all is seeing RIT’s program continue to thrive. It’s only the end of fall, and some of the seniors are getting jobs at some really awesome studios. Seeing them go off into the industry and show everyone what RIT students can do is an incredible feeling. The are also some really impressive projects being developed for competitions like IGF and ImagineCup. Finally, the department as a whole has become much more of a community. We’re mingling between year levels more, going out together, and enjoying each other’s company during all night homework sessions and Skyrim marathons. A few upperclassmen even put together a final exam review for freshmen in their first programming course!

It’s been a fun quarter, and I’m ready to to have a go at the next one. With wrestling season picking up and the disturbingly cold Rochester winter getting into spring, it will be an interesting 11 weeks to say the least. But first, a week out of school and giant turkey have my name written all over them.