Goodbye 2014

2014 started in the best way. I had just left my job as a waitress, meaning I had my weekends back. New year's eve was a fairly lacklustre night on Ashton Lane, but it was new year's day that was really special. We had pub food, lots of beer, and mini musical sessions in the pubs we stopped in. Impromptu ceilidh dancing even started while we were playing. It was fantastic.

February brought my 21st birthday. I wasn't expecting much; I just wanted to have a few drinks with some pals. As I was getting ready, I opened my front door to find that 2 of my best friends had travelled half way up the country to surprise me. It was the first time I've ever cried with happiness. I was elated. I truly do have the best friends ever, and I hate that I don't get to see them enough.

A few days later, my boyfriend and I travelled to Iceland. He bought me the tickets for the birthday. The trip included whale watching, the Blue Lagoon, and best of all, aurora hunting. Probably the best holiday I've ever been on.

All photos by me :) (and Doug)

One of my final astronomy projects involved making a magnetometer to detect geomagnetic activity. Without a doubt, it was the most fun I had during my 3 years at uni. Not only did I enjoy the topic, but it felt like the work was actually worth while. This lead me to writing for The GIST, and realising that I quite enjoyed coding.

It was around this time that I realised that it was possible for me to pursue a career in video games; something which always seemed like a dream before. I'm not sure what actually made it click, but I decided to start making that dream a reality.

I still worked hard on my physics course, but I knew that it was no longer for me. I started to focus my free time on other ventures, such as teaching myself some basic coding, and creating this blog to record my progress (amongst other things).

Things started to look bad around May, when a job offer went sour, but I always have back-up plans. Sort of.

I would have probably been a lot worse off if I hadn't decided to adopt Logan form the SPCA.

He completely brightened my life, and kept me company during my month-and-a-bit of unemployment.

After sending my CV around, I found a video game company looking for QA testers. I sent off my CV, and got a reply within 10 minutes, asking me to go for an interview. The company was based in Edinburgh. Not the most ideal for someone happily living in Glasgow, but it's not really that far, so I went.

A few days later, I got the call telling me I got the job, and I started in July.

This is it. My foot is in the door. I have a job at a game company.

Since then, the year has FLOWN by. I mean seriously, how have I been working here for 6 months?

It has been a GREAT 6 months, and the job also allowed me to relax. I've always been the type of person to over-work myself, and stress myself out, but having a job meant I could chill out a bit. (I'm still not completely over the fact that my free time really is FREE. I don't have to worry about exams or report or lab work.)

I realised that I don't need to rush myself to put out games. I only just graduated, I'm allowed to have some time to chill. I don't need to stress that I haven't published anything yet; I don't need to rush myself. I'm still just 21.

So, I caught up on games I missed while I was at uni, all while picking up fantastic experience at work. I helped the lead designer work on the matchmaking systems for the game, and I've been playing around in different game engines in my spare time (when I'm not too exhausted after work).

Oh, and I bought a car. That was good, too.

The work can stress me out (as I haven't completely forgotten my old ways), and the days are long, but as I said, my foot is in the door. This is all going to be worth it.

Aside from playing games, I've been getting back into painting and drawing, as these are all things that will help me make games.

Unfortunately, I've neglected this blog a bit. Partially due to being busy, and partially due to being worried that no one even cares what I write.

I'm going to start thinking less things like "but will people like this?" and more like "I want to write about this". So that might mean I share my thoughts on a game I played, or I might post pictures of my crappy (but starting to impove!) art. You don't have to read it, don't worry.

All in all, 2015 has a lot to live up to if it wants to match 2014, but I can't wait to see what's in store for me :)

EDIT: oh, and Christmas was good too. I wasn't working, so, yay.