Myles Boyd
New Media
Spring 2023
Graduating Fall 2023
https://mjb7261.blogspot.com/

My college journey started at the University of Tampa in Secondary Education-Mathematics. After 2 years I felt incredibly unsatisfied and overwhelmed by the demands of the major and decided to switch to Accounting. Within 1 semester I knew it wasn’t right for me, and that’s when I met with the university’s Career Services Center and found the New Media major. I finally felt like I was taking classes that piqued my interests and challenged me, as well as allowed me to explore my creative passions. Studying under this major these past 2 years has given me an inner purpose and confidence in myself and my future. Although I have met many influential professors along the way, Professor Santiago Echeverry stands out the most. He has been incredibly supportive in all my projects, while also helping me find opportunities in the field to network and set me up for success. He also never fails to offer well thought out feedback that can only improve my skills as a New Media Producer.

One specific strength I’ve developed in my time at the university is that I can showcase my style in anything I produce. Whether it’s coding in HTML5, projections and installations, or videography, I want every piece I create to be true to me, and if someone looks at my work, they know it’s mine. I make it a point to showcase my struggles and what I am passionate about, such as when I created my anxiety centered video mapping project in Multimedia Installation (FMX 463). Though I am a New Media major, and my style is more modern, I feel connected to the past, and will sometimes go for a more retro design. I enjoy combining the new technology with older designs to put my spin on digital art. Throughout my studies, I have been exposed to a wide variety of programs relating to my field. I have knowledge in many Adobe products such as Dreamweaver, Premiere Pro, Photoshop, Illustrator, and XD, as well as knowledge in HTML5, Javascript, and MadMapper. I enjoy learning new programs and hope in the future I can master my skills in the programs I am familiar with, as well as adding new ones to my arsenal.

In terms of weaknesses, 2D and 3D Animation (FMX 238 & 217) immediately come to mind. These were the most challenging classes I’ve taken at UTampa, and I have nothing but respect for every animation major, as they are difficult skills to master. As a perfectionist, I do not like seeing myself make mistakes and fail, but it is something I am working on and beginning to accept as part of the learning process. I’m starting to break out of my comfort zone and attempt things I never thought I would before. I was able to create a model train in 3D, for example, but rigging a walking character is where I struggled to finalize the animation. Learning Maya was not easy for me, as it is much more complex compared to any other software I learned in the last 2 years. I oftentimes found myself getting frustrated and having to take breaks with the projects to recenter myself. With 2D Animation, although I didn’t do the best and my drawing skills aren’t stellar, Professor Dana Corrigan was incredibly supportive in her feedback on projects and would always answer any questions I had, which helped me not give up on learning animation in general.

When I graduate in the Fall, I cannot pinpoint exactly what I will be doing, as my major is broad and covers many areas and professions in the digital world. I see myself working in content creation for social media, marketing, or somewhere in the film industry as I have a lot of passion for those areas and can see myself doing well there. I’ve also been looking into furthering my skills in UI/UX as it is something I find incredibly interesting but only have a little bit of knowledge of and would like to learn more. I am currently awaiting my acceptance into the SIGGRAPH Student Volunteer program for the annual conference in Los Angeles this summer, which gives me a chance to network and see the field firsthand. It’s comforting to know that no matter what happens I will be able to overcome anything and have confidence in myself that I will succeed, which is all thanks to my time here at the University of Tampa.