@nnci's blog

Master’s thesis handed in, rest of life awaits

One phase in life goes out, a new one lies ahead. February 1st 2010 I finally handed in my Master’s thesis at the University of Oslo and said goodbye to a place I’ve been studying at for many years. The only thing that remains is an oral presentation of my thesis due mid-March, and I will then (hopefully) dive into the job market armed with a Master’s degree in Computer Science.

Finished Master’s thesis

My thesis is about computer games, more specifically to which degree a quest game with a linear story can support meaningful choices for players, using the Xbox 360-game Fable 2 as an example and subject for analysis. (One thing’s for sure, I will never play Fable 2 ever again!) It was quite a new experience writing a long theoretical analysis when I both am more practical and have studied in a much more practical way. I feel that most of the thesis’ work was done in the last few weeks, and that I could’ve done more. But I bet everybody who has written a thesis most likely feel the same way. I was lucky to have kind people to support me, proof read and in general calm my nerves. Especially Sindre has been remarkably patient with me and endured my stressful mood.

When the thesis’ hand-in day finally had passed, I was suddenly free to do (almost) anything I wanted. I spent some weeks catching up on sleep and life. I could finally dig up my dear Wacom tablet, which has been missing me so much that it whimpers for my attention hoping I’d surrender and scratch it behind its ear with the pen. It was a great feeling to finally have time to draw and design web sites again! I redesigned my (so far) modest and limited portfolio, AcornArtwork.com, and hope to expand it and improve my drawing skills. I also plan to teach myself more in web design, especially JavaScript, Ajax and perhaps .NET in order to get more meat on my bones when applying for a job.

I’m now in the process of looking for and applying for a job. A very exciting and unknown road lies ahead!

March 2nd, 2010 in Personal happenings | tags: Acorn Artwork, master's thesis, UiO |  Print This Post | No Comments