With every school semester comes a new adventure. Entering my fourth year now as an NYU student, I can’t help but think about how lucky I am to have attended a school where there are countless opportunities for students who are looking for unique careers. For example, I came into NYU thinking that I was going to be a writer and come up with fictional stories for a living. But of course, as most freshman, I changed my mind six times about what I wanted to do for my major.
I took my first programming class at NYU during the spring semester of freshman year and absolutely loved it. However, I was still conflicted. I also had a passion for producing, specifically for film. I studied the history of film in my free time, worked on my friends’ short films for fun, and begged professors to let me come work on their movie sets. So…what job combines both computer science and producing? I felt like Troy Bolton from High School Musical. I couldn’t choose between the two!
It was not until I started my summer internship at the future reality lab that I realized that I didn’t have to make that tough decision anymore. Working as an associate producer for a virtual reality film was a dream come true! And SIGGRAPH made the dream even more real. In between shows, I got to show volunteers how to work with the headsets and help Marcus and Sebastian with any technical issues. Meanwhile, during shows I got to play the role of a line producer for the main show.
Now that I’m back at the lab, I’m even more excited to learn about VR and AR. I love learning about what everyone is working on at the lab, especially because it inspires me to want to work on a project myself! In addition to completing my usual admin duties then, I hope to learn how to work with Unity by the end of this semester. And so, with this new semester comes a new beginning, and I can’t wait to see what’s in store!