After my first year in school, I wanted to further my coding skills and have fun, so I started a Summer project of making an open-world RPG. It was a lot of work! It easily continued on well into the second year of my schooling, so I was able to use skills as I was learning them from my classes.
My understanding of how game engines are put together, basic and intermediate concepts of programming, and my ability to think of something I want to implement and make it a reality, all greatly benefitted from this project. By mashing together tutorials and my ideas, I was able to grow as a programmer and as a developer.
This project is not permanently discontinued, but it is on hiatus. I am currently focusing on my schooling, and in game development, I am extending my knowledge by learning to use more modern game development techniques such as using the game engines unreal and unity.