UNC Week 1

This summer I am working for iDTech camps and we are required to learn the curriculum so we can teach 3 classes. Due to scheduling conflicts, we didn't have anyone teaching one of the classes being offered and so I volunteered to learn it. Initially I thought it would be easy to learn because I had already studied the material for Video Game Creation and I they wanted me to learn Video Game Creation Xtreme. Last year both of these courses taught the same software - Xtreme just went at a faster pace. Not so this year, but from a quick glance the software seemed pretty simple. It ended up being a pretty frustrating week because we were teaching the Beta version of the software and it had so many bugs. My students lost their work multiple times and really basic functions didn't work in the program. So I ended up teaching them the non Beta version which requires scripting, but that is much harder present to them and make fun.

I really like the people I'm working with though. Liz, my boss, is great - she is always energetic and witty. If you know Christine Vaughn, she is a lot like her. We are very alike in that we love doing outlandish things to keep motivated. This week we were all X-men characters - she was Mystique and I was Wolverine. We carpool together and act like cheerleaders at camp. iD Spirit Express! I love it. And I really feel like if I have any problems I can come to her and she can and will help me.

Mandy (Magma / Rouge this week) is awesome too. I love listening to her talk because of her Irish accent and her stories. She is really inspiring - she is married and has 5 kids, most of whom have kids and she has always wanted to come to the US and teach but didn't want to leave her family. But she decided that this was the time to do it and she packed her things and flew over here. It is a really hard thing to do - being 5 hours away from the people you love and entering a culture that has different rules and views on things. So I feel very privileged to have met her. In addition to her amazingness, she even told me that she could probably find me a job in Ireland once camp is over!

Hassan (Professor X this week) "that's whats up" is from Atlanta and is so funny. When we played Mafia with the kids, he came up with some really crazy deaths for them including "When you were playing kickball, the Mafia stuck an explosive in the ball. The pitcher rolled the ball and when you kicked, it exploded...and a fragment from the explosion killed the pitcher as well." As instructors we are also in charge of getting the all of the kids attention so we can go to lunch or make an announcement etc. Usually we are going out of the room and there are a few stragglers that we have to round up. And since I look like a camper, Hassan is constantly mistaking me for one. "Hey! Didn't you hear us?! Turn off the computer and...oh, hey John, my bad man. I thought you was a camper."

Allen (Gambit this week) is from Michigan and is really cool. He has a real sense of responsibility and helping people out. And the kids love him too. During the week, we hand out tickets to kids when they are nice to other kids or they figured something out, etc. And, at the end of the week, we have a raffle for prizes including pieing an instructor in the face and pouring a bucket of water over an instructor. Both of the students that won each chose Allen hahah.

Brittany (Storm this week) seems pretty cool too, but I haven't gotten to talk with her much so I'll have to write more about her later.

Below are pictures of the staff in the order which I wrote about them. You can check out more pictures but going to www.internaldrive.com/photos and then click UNC.