Orientation Day: Classmates, Drizzly Wrong Turns, and No Backpack

After two solid weeks of beautiful weather here in the New West area, I finally got my taste of famous Vancouver rain. Of course it fell on the first day I had a mandatory appointment—orientation day—so after wandering around in the downtown drizzle I found my way to Scotiabank theatre and started introducing myself to some of the other students. I brought a book, a leather case to guard my student loans documents and various forms of ID, and an umbrella, but I was disappointed to learn that I would have to wait for classes to start before I get the free backpack I've heard about. Not enough hands for my payload.

Anyway, it was great to meet my classmates, and I think I shook hands with every one of them. Game Design 23 is a male-dominated intake of roughly 20 people aged 17-29, making me the oldest in our class by one year, with most of our students being around their early 20s. We've got a guy from Mexico, one from Brazil, and two Indians with awesome names. It seems a bit shocking to see people coming from so far away just to attend VFS, but it's a strong testament to the school's marketing machine and talented grads that these people are here.

A good deal of these students are, well, kids, so I'm a tiny little concerned about being alienated (or, worse, alienating) because I'm older, but so far the group is just an open bunch of gamers looking to improve their skills. I took the lead on pulling a group of us together right at the get-go, and I intend to be one of our class representatives (or the sole rep, if we go that route). Watching the presentations for the various VFS programs got me pretty pumped and antsy to get rolling, and I'm looking forward to living and breathing game design this coming year, and for years afterwards.

As expected, we may have some 12-hour days right off the bat, with our Friday evenings usually left to us. Looking through the student handbook, I'm really, finally, getting excited for the coming year and the work ahead. I'm going to be surrounded by people who will simply get what I'm saying and trying to accomplish, and reading the course descriptions simply makes me smile.

It's going to be an amazing year.