Snapshots of Memories

For Final Presentations this term I am presenting the GCE Minecraft server. The GCE Minecraft server is a multiplayer world on Minecraft where me and a fellow freshman have built GCE. Since we were not able to conclude our school year at GCE and it being the last year at the current location, we decided to make a replica in Minecraft.

During the terms pre-apocalypse a few GCE students took interest in creating multiplayer Minecraft worlds like surviving as a group to beat the game and even building a massive city. As we moved through the weeks after GCE closed its doors the students continued to play and collaborate with each other. One of these students came up with the idea of building GCE. I agreed to do it because I have a passion for Minecraft and have become an architect on it just like the creators that I take inspiration from. When there is something you enjoy, do more of it. So, in the mindset of the Final Presentations for this term and having a little bit of fun we started the project. 

In order for us to get the replica as close to its original we could not do it by ourselves. Thankfully a staff member at GCE gave us the floor-plans so we could create our outline of the building. The virtual open house that GCE hosted was also a considerate amount of support so we could choose the different blocks that we would put into the build. This insanely time consuming build was not going to be a rough layout of our second home. It was going to have all of the possible details we could transfer from the real building to the game. We also wanted to include some memories that we have all had over the course of this school year going from the orientation trip to the last day. 

The Final Presentations this term are supposed to be about snapshots that have happened over the past ten weeks. For my title of this FP I would say, “Snapshots of Memories.” The reason why it is called Snapshots of Memories is because there are so many memories that all of the students and staff have shared together but we cannot continue the memories in this space. At the end of this school year it would be the last time we would be in this building and we were not able to attend school on campus because of the global pandemic. By creating a space where some wonderful moments happen, it is possible to relive those moments or create new ones, even in a video game.

Representation of Gaming Club

Gaming Club was really fun and there were so many good times that I shared with my schoolmates. I loved having the opportunity to talk with people that knew what I was talking about. We had so much fun in the club and it was always a great time. In the club we decided that we wanted to see the Sonic movie which I never thought I would do in school. I did not know that I would be going to see a movie with all of my friends after school one day. At the end of middle school and going into high school I did not have many friends. Being with people that enjoyed the types of things I like and playing games with others helped me gain some friends. I now feel like I am part of a community and there are friends that I can play video games with even outside of school.

In addition to showing a couple screenshots we also created a video tour of the build. This was to show off how much work we did and the detail of every classroom. We will be showing the walk through live in front of the entire school, staff and students. If anyone who has not been to GCE comes across this they can see a replica of our beloved space. This build really meant a lot to us and we wanted to try and make GCE be with us even when we weren't truly there. Even though I have only been at this space for less than a school year, I still feel like GCE was my second home. I have found some good memories looking back on the year and I am sad to see it end so soon. I encourage you to watch the video to see the space and I hope you enjoy the tour.