Update on Life!

Wow, it's been awhile since I've posted anything. In my defense, ever since I graduated (June 5th, 2015) from Full Sail, things have been really crazy - all of the time.

I decided to create a post to let every one know what I have been up to these past couple of months!
So, after I graduated I immediately moved back to New Mexico (my hometown) so I could get back on my feet financially, start on some personal projects, and really start to apply to jobs that pertained to my degree. I worked a job at a local cafe for a little over a month to help me out financially (while waiting to land a job with my degree elsewhere). I also babysat my cousins for about three weeks. I spent a lot of time hanging out with my family and just enjoying having a social life again! While in Full Sail, I didn't get much of a social life with all of the homework, crazy class schedules, and trying to squeeze in sleep somewhere in there, so it was great to finally get time to relax and unwind from all the craziness I went through.

While working and having some spare time as well, I also was part of an internship with Theory Animation. This internship was unpaid, remote, and it was pretty laid back for everyone. Our team would meet weekly for our meetings (via Skype) and critique each other's work, get assigned new work during those meetings, and repeat that every week. I learned how to use Blender a little bit while being part of that internship. I also worked on a 2d animation short (that I will post up after this post) for a competition I was a part of, The United Nations Climate Change Project. The 2D animation was roughly about 15 seconds long, and it wasn't of the greatest quality, but I did my best on it with the time I had (about 2 weeks). A few weeks after submitting my work, I found out that I won that portion of the competition, in addition to the portion of the competition that I won the year before that. The last phase of the competition was to be interviewed to see who would win a free trip to France to work with the French Embassies for a week. Three lucky students would be chosen for this trip. My interview seemed to go well and everything had gone great so far in the competition for me, but unfortunately I received the phone call to let me know that I did not win the trip to France.  I was pretty disappointed that I put so much work and effort into the competition and did not make it, but I am happy for the people that DO get to go.

Anyways, I was only home for two short months when I received an email regarding a rigging job. I thought at first it was just a free lance gig or something of that matter. The person and I emailed each other back and forth and soon enough, he wanted to have an interview with me over the phone. The interview went great (even though I was incredibly nervous and hadn't slept in over 24 hours thanks to my graveyard shifts at the cafe). The person I was talking to, DJ, was the technical supervisor for the company "The House of Moves" in Los Angeles, California. They were looking for a junior rigger to join the team temporarily (ending September 30) and it was a paid position. I was SO excited when I found out all of this information and realized how well the interview went. This was on a Monday that I received the phone call and he told me he would let me know the following Monday whether I got the job or not. Well, just three short hours after that phone call, DJ called me back to ask if I could actually start on the following Monday instead! It was so sudden and kind of crazy to pack my stuff up and leave home again, but I was excited to get my career started finally.

I have been working as a junior Rigging Artist at The House of Moves for over a month now and I absolutely love it. The people are so easy to get along with, the atmosphere is inspiring and easy to learn in, and I couldn't be more fortunate to have been chosen for this position - especially right out of college. About a week ago my contract got extended (it was initially supposed to end on September 30th because that was the "trail period" to see if I would get along well with the team or not) and so I will be here for awhile (most likely through the end of the year)! I have learned so much and just continuously keep getting taught new things every day by my coworkers and my boss.  I have tons of free time again, but I spend most of my time focusing on being healthy and getting myself back into the gym. Its one of the best hobbies I have picked up. Even though I am really loving my job, I am having a hard time finding somewhere to live in Cali (currently I'm staying with family members that I hardly know) on my own because everything over here is extremely hard to afford. I also really miss being home, too. It's never easy leaving home and I always miss everyone back home immediately after I leave.

Well, hopefully I will find a small house for myself soon and see where this job takes me. :) Also, I forgot to mention that I am working on a Triple A video game at HOM, but I cannot mention the name of the video game until I get the OK from my boss after it's released. I also get to go home for a week soon too, yay!! I can't wait to see my dogs and family again. Until something else crazy happens or new projects appear, I will talk to you guys later. :)
-Shannon.