INTERVIEWS FROM THE METAVERSE

for the Community Gateway Group Ayuda Virtual
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«PART I: BRIANNA.JUPITER… HER BEGINNINGS

How did you find out about the existence of Second Life (SL) and how did you arrive in this virtual world?

I started out looking for games and among the ones that were suggested to me, was SL. It had a phrase that caught my attention, it said something like «design or create your world», so I opened the page and saw all the things it offered. I created my first avatar back in late 2006 and early 2007, and I entered a Welcome Area for the first time, where I stayed for about a week. After going back and forth and walking around, someone took pity on me and helped me. I must say that the place where I «landed» was Anglo, so for a long time I was convinced that in SL there were no Hispanics, therefore, in my beginnings I had to learn English to be able to interact.

I have always been curious about the origin of names in SL and, even more so, nicknames. Can you tell us how Brianna.Jupiter originated?

Well, it’s a long story. Brianna is the name that my daughter RL had chosen for her first daughter (when she had her) and the first person who helped me in SL with my first avi was called BreeAnne. Back then we all had first and last names, and they let us choose the surnames from a list. I had chosen «Debbel» but I don’t know why that avatar was never registered, so I had to do the process again and of all the surnames that there were, JUPITER he seemed the most Latin of all the others were all very Anglo…. and so here we are… Brianna Jupiter.

What has been the most important experience, positive and negative, that you have had in SL and how do you think it could be improved?

One of my negative experiences was almost at the beginning of SL I didn’t know all the things that were possible in SL, including sex. I met meet a «man» who invited me to dance and in the chat (basic, due to my poor English) the guy told me that he wants me to be «his little girl» to play with me and make me «little things» and that I call him daddy. I think that was the worst and most uncomfortable thing that happened to me in SL. That stuck with me, but I really learned not to pay attention to the bad things because that deprives us of living better moments.

The other negative experience was the theft of my first avatar. I went to a link sent to me by someone I knew and they phished me… I was able to get the avi back, but it was a horrible experience because not only was it stolen from me, but they used my avi to steal from others.
One of the best experiences was the Expo that we set up last year with my students on the fifth birthday of Ayuda Virtual. More than 500 people visited us and it was an immense job, but done with a lot of love from my students and that filled my heart with pride, because the union and the effort were both so intense.
Another wonderful experience was being accepted as a construction teacher at Builder’s Brewery (BB), an English-speaking and multi-award winning community. It fills me with pride that BB gives me the opportunity to teach there in MY language, I feel that I carry a little piece of all Latinos with me.

We know that for three years you have been working on the construction of objects, mesh and non-mesh and you are also dedicated to teaching this art. Could you share details of your experience as a Construction Teacher?

I have been a construction teacher at Ayuda Virtual for 3 years, but I have been teaching for many more years; before I did it in sandboxes or gave individual classes. Teaching is what I am passionate about, and when you notice that people want to learn, it is even more exciting. I have students who no longer come to class, and they still call me teacher, write to me asking questions or showing me their creations. The bond that is created is wonderful… Sometimes you have a full classroom and sometimes you have 2 students. Teaching also perfects you, makes you look for the best way to communicate your knowledge, teaches you as a teacher, patience and perseverance. At least that’s how I feel. My goal is that at the end of the class everyone leaves with their finished object and that all their doubts are resolved.

How was your own learning of this area of development in SL? Who taught you? What difficulties did you overcome to become a builder and, by the way, one of the few Spanish-speaking ones?

I started from nothing making cubes, first rugs and paintings and my first object was a kind of trunk, made with a crushed cube and cylinder– HaHa! Very basic. I learned how to link by watching a tutorial on YouTube and then I started to make some little things, bit by bit. I bought my first house in SL and I turned it into a LITERAL brick block, I even changed the texture of the glass. There I decided to learn more about construction.
Later, when I already had some notions of editing and having met some other Spanish-speakers, they invited me to a construction class. I remember that I listened to the teacher, and tried to do the same and I couldn’t. I could not see the things she said that were there, but since the others did advance, I felt ashamed and left the class.

I learned that if I was going to buy a house, I had to be copy and modify it because if I broke it I could take it down and then replace it again. Modifying that house I met my usual teacher; her name is Silvia Ametza and even today, after more than 12 years, we still talk to each other. I think my biggest difficulty was the language, because I didn’t speak English, and to learn how to build I had to learn it. Silvia was a friend and I didn’t want to bother her too much, but she gave me a space to work in her own sandbox and gave me things to challenge my creativity. She taught me how to manipulate a bit of scripts and how to place textures.

I worked a lot for other people. That taught me to look for the fastest and neatest way to do things. I had to work for a couple of stores, and for people who wanted me to produce the object for them and send it to them already finished. I learned to make clothing huds, and to work with mesh models, but my passion was always construction.

Getting to teach construction, was it by chance or by vocation? Who motivated you to enter the Community Gateway Region Ayuda Virtual and what has been your work there?

In RL I was a private tutor. I never got to be a teacher but I gave tutoring classes for many years. I think teaching is something that I love, regardless of what I teach. Passing on knowledge to another person is something special.
I had left SL for almost 5 years, my father was sick and I devoted myself to him. I kept going to SL, but only sporadically, to do some occasional work for other people. In one of those opportunities I met Damian Zhaoying and we became friends. A few months after my dad passed away in 2019, I went back into SL more often, and started putting my inventory in order.

I found constructions and things that I had done and I thought that maybe some of it could be useful even if it was just to start. I looked for freebies from when I just entered SL and built my little house, so I thought of doing the same: offer help to those who just entered with those little things. I talked to Damian and he told me to talk to Mariana, coordinator of the Ayuda Virtual Freebie. We immediately had a good vibe! We began to chat and I told her that I was building and that I would like to teach classes like I used to do and she immediately told me to talk to Cordoba Cluny, who was the person who was in charge of that area at that time. We scheduled a talk, then we defined days and times and — Well, three years later, here I am! I have been a teacher ever since trying to get people excited and wanting to learn. Now everything looks mesh and pretty and people don’t lose their excitement out of fear.

When and where are your construction classes? Does the applicant need to possess any fundamental skills or specific applications to take classes? Are the classes just basic construction or are there other levels?

My classes are in different places and times, on Mondays and Wednesdays (18 SLT), in a little role-playing school for kids, called Little Feet to Knowledge. Previously, I taught at two role-playing schools: Amigos x Siempre (which closed) and Little Angels, which is on hiatus for a while.

Tuesdays (4pm SLT), classes are at Builder’s Brewery.
Thursdays (15 SLT), Fridays and Saturdays (13 SLT), at Ayuda Virtual.

In Ayuda Virtual and Builders Brewery the classes are open to everyone who wants to participate; In Piecitos, it is not mandatory but desirable that people participate in the role. Additionally, I teach personalized classes that are coordinated directly with those interested. Generally, the classes are separated into levels, so everyone can participate according to the level of the class they aspire to go to; however, if you want to participate in the Friday class at Ayuda Virtual, you need to have an intermediate level in construction, because it is a very advanced group so you can join only if you have the required knowledge.

For the Saturday classes in Ayuda Virtual, advanced knowledge is necessary, since you work with objects to convert them into mesh. The classes on Tuesdays in Builders and Thursdays in Ayuda Virtual are basic ones and everyone, everyone, EVERYONE can participate, the only requirement is that the most advanced do not get ahead so that the newcomers do not feel clumsy or embarrassed (as I felt myself), and they leave and don’t want to come back.
What everyone must understand is that anyone has the possibility to build in SL and that the existence of the mesh is not an impediment to do things, to learn to edit and manipulate objects within SL, even a person who creates objects in 3D programs has that knowing how to manipulate them, even making a small vendor implies a minimum idea of editing objects within SL.

What destination do they give to the built virtual objects, do they exhibit them in a gallery, fair or global event or only in Ayuda Virtual spaces?

The models that I make for classes usually go to the Ayuda Virtual freebie area. As for events, last year we held a magnificent expo at AV, on its 5th anniversary. It was a way of showing everyone that beautiful things can be done with dedication and will. Right now, we are preparing our participation in an important fair that takes place in summer, autumn, winter and spring, which may be the first experience of some students on the subject. With them we seek to encourage them to sell the objects they build, thinking about how to have your own business in SL.

 

PART II: VIRTUAL WORLDS AND IMMERSIVE LEARNING EXPERIENCES… THE CONSTRUCTION WORK AS A MODEL!

What is your opinion of SL as an educational tool?

I’m lovin ‘it! SL has a thousand possibilities. It gives us the feeling of closeness even when we are far away, «Seeing» the avatar makes us feel closer to the one next to us even when 15,000 km away and that makes everything seem more accessible.

Has the use of simulations been useful to you as an immersive tool to facilitate the construction teaching-learning process?

Yes. The experience is always more attractive when you can demonstrate with facts what you are trying to teach, the Cause and Effect, if you will. It is more interesting for the learner because you show and demonstrate how it works or how it is done. In the case of construction, although there is a lot of theoretical learning, it is much better when the person sees with their own eyes and obtains an immediate and practical result of what is being taught.

What difficulties have you detected in the use of the tools and the platform itself?
	I don’t know if I should call it difficulty, but to work within the SL platform you must use a viewer, and each viewer has its own characteristics. Sometimes it happens in class that a student has a different viewer and there are functions that their viewer does not have. So the construction process is a bit difficult.

 

How is the work developed within SL linked to your real world, now that you are the first person in the Spanish-speaking world to enter, as an instructor, the famous Builder’s Brewery construction school?

I think that a healthy way of living Second Life is having a good balance between what RL demands of you on a daily basis and what you do within the platform. I take what I do in SL very seriously; I am passionate about building and teaching and that is what I do when I enter. So, to avoid imbalance, I make sure that I have done everything I need in my Real World beforehand, so that I can later connect and give my class, for example. The fact of having been accepted at BB makes me super happy, but it is also one more responsibility, and I take it as such. To avoid time overlaps above all, I have the time I dedicate to SL well separated and organized.

It is clear that the technological impact of SL has gone beyond the borders of the metaverse to positively modify the social, educational, cultural and even organizational reality of the world. What motivational message would you leave to those who still don’t know SL, so that they are encouraged to live the experience of virtual worlds?

Try it! The experience is unique. I have met great friends here, it is possible to develop many activities in SL, from recreational activities to even earning real money. I just think there is one thing we should always remember: behind every avatar is a person, not a bot.

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Interview conducted by :ۣღ-ڰڿ ოἶῆἶῆმ ოἶმυυυ ڿڰۣ-ღ: (murphymc), exclusively, for the INTERVIEWS FROM THE METAVERSE section, for the Community Gateway, Ayuda Virtual