Adriyana Ivanova – a student in Game Dev Fundamentals

This is Adi, who loves to draw and study in the Game Dev Fundamentals program. For Adi, the best moments in the academy are those in which she sits on the yellow chairs in the classroom and listens with interest to the lectures!

1. Introduce yourself in a few sentences. Tell us about yourself, what you are doing at the moment, your hobbies and in which program do you study at ARC?

My name is AdriYana Ivelinova Ivanova and I study Game Dev Fundamentals at ARC. I am currently on a journey to study Blender because I really like it as a software for 3D and I want to learn how to use it and focus on 3D art. I like to cook noodles and experiment in the kitchen. Well, I’m not so good at it but it’s fun. I have a cat that doesn’t even want to smell what I’m cooking.

2. Why did you choose to enroll in the program?

My enrollment in ARC was so accidental that it was even like a joke. During the last summer I was bored at work and I was browsing the social networks when I saw that there was a competition for a scholarship. I decided to read the description of the assignment and it grabbed me from the heart  and I couldn’t wait to draw the task, despite my poor conditions for drawing. A few days later I received an email that I was one of the 5 selected for a 50% scholarship. At this stage I did not know that ARC is for mostly university students and I confirmed the scholarship. Then with another subsequent email I realized that I would have problems if I did not say that I am still a high-school student and called to explain the situation. To my delight, I was warmly received and allowed to join the program.

3. What lessons does ARC teach you?

ARC has taught me to enjoy the people I work with and to turn disadvantages into advantages. In class, we learned that creating a character, whether for a movie or a game, is always based on a real person. The more interesting the person, the more interesting the character (well, with exceptions according to the context of the story). My favorite classes at ARC from the first term were Perspective with Antony Christov, because of the cool tasks and professional feedback, as well as the Anatomy classes with Hristo Savov. From the second term – all classes with Snapshot games.

4. Describe how one of your favorite lectures went.

I love the academy’s classroom, the water machine there and the big soft yellow chairs which tempted me all the time. I liked to sit on them as much as possible, and I drank water all the time. I have even passed a whole lecture there sitting and listening to the prof. The interesting thing about ARC is that each lecture is held differently, but the important thing is that it is always interesting and you learn a lot.

5. We recently switched to online education. What do you think about it? Do you think that in the future the education will be entirely online?

As for online learning, I can say that I don’t like it as much as I like going to the academy’s building, using the equipment and socializing with people. At ARC we do a great job with online classes, but live training will always be a preference for me. I hope to return to the normal form of education as soon as possible. It’s a bit of a shame the technique in ARC, which is great, to just stay without being used by the students.

6. What do you think about your fellow students and how do you work with them?

For my colleagues, I can say that there is nothing more a person could want from them, they are great. I have no problems with them, and if one comes up, we solve it without much drama and we move on united. We all understand each other and help each other. We can’t wait for the quarantine to end so that we can have another party.