Juniors Research Higher Education & Explore Game Design

2019-02-09 09.35.12

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The Juniors started their first session of SAT Prep with an all afternoon diagnostic test. While tests can be nerve wrecking, Scholars were reassured that practice exams are a good way to understand their own strengths and weaknesses so they can better prepare for the SAT exam this summer.

Alongside Youth Advocates Havanna Fisher and Kevin Cadena, Scholars continued to develop their college research by forming a collaborative document that included a variety of colleges and information such as statistics, majors, demographic sand size. Next year, Juniors will reference this document to decide which colleges fit their career goals best and which ones they should apply to.

Game Designer and Artist Prashast Thapan returned to lead a more in-depth game design workshop with the Juniors. Prashast led the demonstration by introducing and explaining the basic tools of a program called Unity. Using individual computers, Juniors used the program to create landscapes composed of planes and terrains. They learned how to import free 3D models from sources like NASA, Blend Swap, Open Game Art,  to create their own digital worlds. Prashast also taught them how to import textures and backgrounds into their worlds to create a game-like experience on a small scale. At the end of the workshop, the Juniors were able to test their worlds from a first-person point of view in Unity and share feedback with each other.