Important: Translated automatically from Spanish by 🌐💬 Aphra 1.0.0
Or a year and a half later. That could have been the title too.
Most people think of years as running from January to December. And it’s tradition to use the last few days to reflect on what I’ve done, what I wanted to do, and what I want to do before facing a new cycle around the sun. But the teaching collective measures the passage of time in academic years1. And, at least many of us, use the summer to do just that. Because then in December we’re already bogged down (in the literal sense)2 up to our eyebrows in too many things to consider anything remotely serious. As I write this, I realize that I already told the same thing in another post. With the few I have published, and I’m repeating myself. The best thing is for you to stop reading immediately, because what follows can only be less original.
This academic year began with the fantastic news that two new courses would be taught at the institute:
- Specialization Course in Video Game Development and Virtual Reality3
- Specialization Course in Artificial Intelligence and Big Data
Along with the Cybersecurity course that was already being taught previously, we completed the offer of all the specialization courses in our professional family. Undoubtedly, something to feel proud of.
Thanks to the designs of, let’s call it destiny (for lack of any logical reason)4, I ended up teaching all my teaching hours in these three courses. Who’s afraid of a little challenge? We’re here to make things happen5
To make things happen. And to study, prepare new materials, seek new approaches, ask for help from external agents, experiment with new tools, walk each day through new unexplored terrain, get involved in new projects, attend meetings (and more meetings) for coordination… In short, the end-of-year review is literal. A mental wear and tear that I don’t think I can recover even in the (supposedly) almost infinite months of vacation we have in the teaching collective6.
But it has also brought many good things: learning that you can’t get even by enrolling in the best master’s degree, opportunities for collaboration with other educational centers, witnessing how students broke the barriers of their classroom to take their learning further, a new volunteering opportunity…
If you want to know more about the projects carried out by the students in this latest promotion of specialization courses, thanks to their enthusiasm and the close collaboration of the different educational teams, you have this website available.
You can also follow the news of these courses on their respective social networks:
- Cybersecurity in Information Technology Environments
- Video Game Development and Virtual Reality
- Artificial Intelligence and Big Data
After this touch of advertorial7, it’s time to reconnect with the beginning of the article.
What have I done? Read a lot, learn and stay up to date on the subjects I’ve taught. The latter has been especially difficult in the AI course. You can imagine why. And put my small grain of sand in those projects where I’ve been able to do so.
What did I want to do? Well, nothing really, I would have liked not to have to do anything. There’s no need to lie about it.
What do I want to do? For now, walk on the beach, read books that have nothing to do with computer science, and reflect. Maybe I’ll even end up reaching nirvana, who knows. Whatever that is.
Thank you for reading and making it this far.
See you in the trenches.8
PS: No AI was harmed in the writing of this article… But it was used to generate the image that illustrates it.
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In the Spanish education system, “cursos académicos” refers to academic years, which typically run from September to June. ↩︎
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“Enfangados” literally means “muddy” but is used metaphorically to mean “bogged down” or “stuck in a difficult situation”. ↩︎
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“Curso de Especialización” refers to specialized vocational courses in the Spanish education system. ↩︎
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This is a translation of “llamémosle destino (por no encontrar ninguna razón lógica)", an expression used when there’s no logical explanation for something. ↩︎
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This is an adaptation of the Spanish idiom “Quién dijo miedo, cuando claramente hemos venido a jugar”, which expresses fearlessness and enthusiasm in face of challenges. ↩︎
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This refers to the stereotype that teachers have excessively long vacation periods, often used sarcastically. ↩︎
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“Publirreportaje” in Spanish refers to advertorials or sponsored content in media. ↩︎
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This is a translation of “Nos vemos en la brecha”, an idiomatic expression similar to “see you in the trenches” in English, expressing solidarity in facing shared challenges. ↩︎
