Week 5, 2012
Joensuu, Finland

Life milestones imply some kind of change. For personalities as mine, a life milestones can be experienced as paradoxical moments. Let me explain. One works intensively hard for a period of time to reach successfully the specific milestone, and then at the particular moment to face the milestone it emerges: (i) the rejoice that the process is over, (ii) simultaneously diverse emotions connecting me with the efforts of the journey hold me to the moments before the change and (iii) feelings of nervousness of the unknown future are also present. It is so incredible intense!

Milestones remind me vividly that life only moves forward. Take the time that it takes to walk the personal path towards one’s milestone. Just never give up! No Sir. Life only moves forward.

What does the milestone submission mean? It means that Erkki said my thesis is ready, he assigned my reviewers and yesterday my dissertation was delivered in the faculty to start the process towards the end of my PhD journey. Wow!

walk until reach your milestone *

* Translation of the photo: NO! Never give up, the good things can soon show up.

ok, finally here I am 🙂 . This one, will be my blog with research purposes. Yeap, I am persuading to be a researcher. Which as a child, I wouldn’t have accepted the possibility that I could get interested into research. As an small girl, when my father used to tell me “Ciro Peraloca” I always had replayed him: No way!!!!. But my perspective has changed, and it seems it really fits me, because I am enjoying doing this. Then, Dad seemed to be right.

Now, The first logical question will be to ask, what I am researching?! And this question is the first subquestion under what am I doing?. Well, just as a small introduction, I am researching on video games. My interest is on electronic, educational, immersive, etc. games, but for this specific “cooking recipe ” some of the important ingredients that I want to put an extra emphasis, or to work together in the development of my project are: involved actual no players (as older generations), involved people that hasn´t succeed in our actual western world educational system (drop outs), looking for the support between them. That the result after this leisure digital entertainment experience can help them, or it can be useful for them, beyond the enjoy moment, into their real life, in concordance with their context, nature, values, etc. All these in conjunction with the possibilities that digital technology offers to us (as mobil, multi-platform applications, etc )….

Oh yeah! now you can observed, that it is quite often that I ask to myself: “what am I doing?” BUT it is part of the fun, to put all this puzzle together, and things are getting there 🙂

Right now I am working with the concrete picture of the whole….. And I apply and thank you in advance for any comment you can offer.

caislas