Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Parallel Challenges

I can't believe September is already upon us (-and I'm still not a Paladin! -_-")! My first graduate semester begins next week. I'm a bit anxious about the amount of readings and anthropological theory I must tackle before fully delving into my project, but I'm very excited about it. Here's a quick rundown:

Firstly, I recently upgraded EvilCowKing's equipments (-including a sweet 123 W. Att. Blood Eye ^_^), providing a huge damage boost (+17k on Blue Wyverns), which has really motivated me to get to that 4th job advancement. I'm really digging the game and being a WK and eager to make it to 120. I've really needed this because I've been in a slump since Grind fell apart in April due to the "Guild Hack" issue and most of my friends quitting shortly thereafter.

Secondly, I've been brainstorming ideas for new topics for research and there's just so much I want to cover - GMs, private servers, MapleStory icons (Tiger, FangBlade, BSUCLA, to name a few)... There are all these different possibilities at this point. It will be a real challenge to break this all down and really hone in on a very focused topic.

Thirdly, I've been granted funding through the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. An enormous 'thank you' goes out to all of my referees for their support, as I could not have obtained the funding without them! This funding really alleviates my schedule - leaving me more time for Mapling and $$$ for NX bling! haha

EvilCowKing faces 8 more rigourous levels before 120. Similarly, I face academic hardship before enveloping myself in my thesis, but overcoming the obstacles will make reaching my goal all the much sweeter.

~sebastian
EvilCowKing
I was an unskilled Beginner,
who trained as a Swordsman,
withstood ridicule and discouragement as a Page,
and shone through in the darkness as a White Knight.

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Barbarians, er... White Knight at the Village Gate!

w00t! I'm in! The level 95 BW WK is packing his bags to rock academia! ^_^

Admittedly, this notice has been long overdue (- I never got around to publishing my earlier draft entry about the tediousness of the graduate application process), but I have been accepted to the Graduate Studies Program in Social Anthropology at York University!

Most importantly, the proposal for my master's thesis on MapleStory culture has been approved and I couldn't be happier about that! Truthfully, I must admit that despite all my hard work, I'm still surprised that I find myself about to embark on a two-year university project based on the study of a 2D video game! Nevertheless, I have a clear goal to challenge misconceptions of gaming in academia, and I intend to follow through on that.

As of writing this, I have about 2 weeks left before I finish my undergraduate degree, so I can't claim full status as a graduate student yet. Nevertheless, when all the paper work has gone through and everything is official, I will be further updating this blog. I'll have a spiffy new Zak Helm to show off too!