A day in the life of Master of Digital Media student Annie Le

Annie Le (opens in new window)  is a Master of Digital Media (opens in new window)  (MDM) student currently in her final semester. For her major research project (MRP), Le is researching the utilization of games for the purpose of public safety education and emergency preparedness promotion. Apart from her research project, Annie runs a game production studio, Octopus Moon Studios (external link, opens in new window)  in addition to being a competitive Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu athlete with provincial and national level achievements. Annie owns a downtown martial arts collective, Grapple Garage (external link, opens in new window)  where she trains and teaches Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu as well as self-defense. Follow Annie as she balances her daily routine between being a graduate student, game designer, athlete, and business owner. 

6:00 AM

I start my morning every day at my gym Grapple Garage - a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu studio that I started in 2020 as a way for me and my friends to train safely between lockdowns. Before the hustle and bustle of the day begins, I have one hour to be an athlete and focus on the strength and conditioning side of my training. Before study sessions, Zoom meetings, or work emails start to come in, I have this part of the morning just to myself in order to enhance my performance as an athlete. 

7:30 AM

The work day begins! After wrapping up my time at the gym, I arrive at my desk to organize my day. It usually includes a good combination of studio work, working on my master thesis, preparing lesson plans for Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, as well as my own training at night. If the day includes any commuting (either for work, school, or training), I make sure to download the necessary readings for my MRP. That way, I am able to do school work on my commute, and no time is wasted.

9:00 AM

I make my way to campus to get some work done at the Graduate Study Space at the Student Learning Centre (SLC). I go through the necessary readings, take notes, and make progress on my master’s research paper. My MRP is intimately related to my work at the studio: in both areas, I am researching game design trends, and tailoring game content to the purpose and audience it is meant for. During this part of my MRP, I must gain a thorough understanding of how Ontario, as a government, tackles public safety, emergencies, and public safety education. Through this, I research ways in which educational games can contribute to the existing provincial framework in this context. I make sure to take detailed notes on my findings as well as my progress in order to discuss them with my supervisors. 

10:30 AM

It’s time for my weekly meetings with my supervisors, Dr. David Chandross and Dr. Alex Ferworn. Dr. Chandross supervises my MRP and has been of immense help to my progress. I love being able to leverage his experience and knowledge in serious games in educational settings. As for Dr. Ferworn, I have been fortunate to receive his guidance on my work-in-progress paper about the use of serious games for public health and safety, as I prepare to submit it to the Canadian Journal of Emergency Management. 

12:00 PM 

After meeting with my supervisors, I pack up and head home for the latter half of the day. I usually use this commute time to pick up something light for lunch. 

1:00 PM

The latter half of the day is shared between the remaining school work and studio work. I check in with my art director colleague Kathleen Pirrie Adams about our ongoing client projects and get updates on the games we are working on. We discuss strategies and timelines for upcoming projects. Some afternoons are dedicated to client check-in meetings, and others are dedicated to meeting with our programmers to make sure everyone is on the same page. If studio work is going smoothly, I switch my attention back to reviewing notes from my MRP meetings with Dr. Chandross and Dr. Ferworn, planning the next steps for my paper and MRP.

4:00 PM

I take my dog Pika out for a walk and a game of fetch. We go to Bickford Park and share a croissant. This is the most relaxing part of my day. Sometimes I use it to watch jiu jitsu instructionals to study for my own training or lesson prep, but most times, I just zone out and enjoy the afternoon with Pika. 

6:30 PM

Training starts at 6:30 at Grapple Garage! In a mixed-level class, we begin with a quick cardio warm-up, then quickly move on to fundamental techniques. In more advanced classes, we do competition drills, train from challenging positions and end the class with many rounds of sparring. This is my favourite way to end the day. 

9:00 PM

The day wraps up! A little bit of reading, but the productive day ends here. 

11 PM 

Bedtime!

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