Happy New Year!

Phew! I'm sure you probably share my joy in waving goodbye to the crazy year that was 2020. I know that 2021 isn't off to a great start but I still feel like the new year is a sort of goal post towards a brighter future. I'm hoping we'll suppress this pandemic and that things will settle down in political battlefield south of Canada. These however are things that I cannot affect.

What I can control is my focus and efforts in this New Year. The shift to online learning has allowed me to reconnect with my passion of programming. I spent much of 2020 learning and teaching Scratch and Python to a group of grade 2 - 6 students. Their creativity continues to astound me. I currently teach five sessions a week for the afterschool company and plan to continue throughout the year.

This year I plan to continue learning Python and Unity. I started 2021 off by working on a virtual reality project in Unity. I plan to make a simple wave shooter that revolves around the player firing a cannon incoming targets.

So far I have a somewhat functioning cannon which I can aim and fire. The cannon balls explode on impact and contribute to the players score. I have implemented a basic wave spawning system. The next step is to add animation, and movement to my enemies. I'm not sure how I'll make ships navigate the water but I'm sure I'll find a way. My inexperience with Unity has lead to some hilarious results but I will continue to fight through the various bugs and goofs.

I have a backlog of content to edit for the Dean & Bren channel. I participated in two small VR content creator eSports events recently and have enjoyed the new connections I've made. I hope to make the odd video for this channel in 2021 depending on time.

I also have been contributing somewhat regularly to a child friendly popular gaming youtube channel. This channel has a smaller scope which allows me to create content quicker and more regularly than VR videos. I'll probably look back on it in five years and cringe but it keeps my editing chops fresh. I'll have a library of rounds of Among Us and a multi episode Minecraft series with my friends and editing colleagues Russ and Brendan.

Amongst all of these passion projects I will be completing my final semester for my Bachelor of Education online through the University of Ottawa. I am happy to return to the somewhat social environment of online zoom classes. As of this time I do not know if I will be completing my practicum online or in person. I'm prepared for either option.

With all these irons in the fire 2021 will be a great year for me. I hope the same for you.

Best Wishes,

Dean