From the time of my last post you can probably tell I've been swamped by the work load. I've gotten myself into the advanced GAM100 lab so we've already put together teams for our first game. In the 4 weeks that I've been at Digipen I've already completed 3 essays, 2 books, and 2 coding assignments as well as over 10 pages worth of math assignments. As well as several chapters in various textbooks. They weren't kidding when they said it was going to be tough, but this is also supposed to be the easy year.

I've been designated as Designer for the team and our first game will be a mini game compilation, the rules are that it has to be text based and written in Standard C. Not hard, but we also have to implement LUA. We have a 15 week design phase and a 15 week build phase. All the while I have a second major coding project that's due the same time as the design.

The Turing test, or a implementation of one. 15 weeks and limited to 1.44MB tops, meaning it has to fit on a floppy. So much for my original idea of a massive database of responses is dead. There's been a lot of discussion but nothings being done. I have doubts about our producer but I've already made my dislike of him clear, no need to pursue the issue further. He also lacks the ability to communicate his ideas properly. Then again, that's also why we're all here. That's life, I'll deal with it.

Things at "home" are going well, I've been left a lot of personal space in my room and enjoy it there. Not having to deal with my roommates (don't get me wrong, I don't hate them, I just don't like to deal with people unless I must). Someone forgot to pay their share of the cable bill last month but we figure it out and he paid up. All is well so far but I haven't been able to play and games since I've gotten here sans the occasional round of Counter-Strike. I've spent most of my time in school actually, working on math (my weakest subject, already failed a quiz) and programming (my strongest area, perfect scores on code that takes me 2 minutes). I've been keeping my head afloat for art and English with no drive to excel in those areas.

I've found a quaint little area in my apartment complex to read, the top of the jungle jim. Just like when I was in elementary school I used to climb to the top so I can enjoy life and the moments that evanescence. I'm working hard at school, something I rarely do and something I'm rarely if ever happy about. I'm enjoying myself despite not getting to do any of my hobbies anymore. Does this really mean so much to me?

Regardless of whether I'm happy or not, stress is stress. Making due dates and taking tests will take it's toll whether I enjoy the assignment or not. However, my usual channel of stress relief is not there anymore. I no longer have the time to be playing games or skating. I haven't had an adrenaline rush for the longest time and I'm starting to crack. I need to find some release and since I can't barrel down the busiest street in Queens at 50MPH on skates, I'll need to find something else. I need to find time to do it too.

I'm beginning to believe more and more in the idea that time is the most precious commodity we have. Ever minute of my life, I wish I had just more time, to accomplish more. It's also the one commodity one can't gain. That's life, I'll have to deal with it.

It's the second day of classes. Things are going smoothly and the school itself surpassed my expectations, which was rather shocking to me because I have rather high expectations. Usually what you hear during orientation is what the school wants to implement and usually never gets to doing. But here at Digipen, everything not only works, but works well.

First day, I showed up and had to get my ID since I slept through the day of orientation where people normally get their ID's. It was a bad idea to sleep through that day. But I got my ID and was off to my first class. Rather standard happenings. The hour and 20 minutes passed extremely quickly and the 3 hour gap before the start of my next class we a definite plus. It's great not having to rush from one class to the next in four minutes and forgetting everything along the way. I took a walk around the building, the neighborhood, got some food and drink. In general, just enjoying the change of scenery. I also spent some time in the computer lab.

I think I'm in love with these computers. 2.8 ghz dual core CPU's, GeForce 7900GT, 2 GB's ram. And these are school computers, can you believe it? I'd never thought in my life I'd actually want a school computer. These PC's are better than the one I have at home and the one I have at home was designed to be a high end gaming rig. And there's just rows after rows of these computers for me to use. I think I'm in heaven and loving it. I don't want to leave, ever.

Second day of class was a little more unsure than the first, I forgot my schedule. So I had to guess at which class I was supposed to attend. I guessed right when the attendance sheet showed my name. Imagine the relief. I biked home during my hour 20 minute break to grab my schedule. Feeling adventurous I decided to take the bike trail, that thing is all down hill all the way. Insanely fun and fast! The way back wasn't so much... Newtons law of conservation of energy. I hate that law.

I can't believe any school would actually invest so much money in these computers, which must cost at least $2000 a piece. Not only that, there is a great backbone behind everything and all devices in the building are interconnected. Props to the IT team.