My career in video game development was not a direct path. A gamer since before I can remember, I was practically born with a game controller in my hands. I had plenty of other interests, of course, but gaming was always my favorite hobby.
When it came time for me to enter college, I was, unfortunately, unsure of what I wanted to do with my life. After a couple years of finishing general education requirements, I finally came upon a career path that I thought I might enjoy: Journalism. This interest was partially due to years and years of reading Nintendo Power magazine (again, it all comes back to gaming). Having declared my major, I quickly integrated myself into the University of Utah’s journalism scene. I spent years as a reporter, both in print and in television. While I covered a variety of stories, I always made it a point to cover that which interested me most.
When I stumbled upon the University’s new game development program, I knew this was something I wanted to learn more about. Therefore, I always made the EAE (Entertainment, Arts, & Engineering) my focus, while covering U of U news. Every time I covered a story for the program, I wanted more and more to be a part of it. After all, why tell stories about people doing amazing things when I could be one of those people. And so, after receiving my B.S. in Mass Communications, I decided to make a career altering decision, and apply for the EAE Masters program.
While in the EAE I learned more about game development, and more about myself, than I ever thought possible. As stated, I’ve always loved gaming. But what I didn’t know, was that I loved making games even more. I fell in love with the process. Knowing that each day would bring new challenges and new problems to solve. To be able to work with a myriad of people with different backgrounds and personalities. For it all to culminate in the creation of a product that would bring joy and entertainment to others; it’s a feeling like no other. And it was during this time that I realized that, while gaming was my hobby, game development was my passion.
- If you’d like to see my tv journalism coverage, you can check out this playlist.
- In addition to gaming, I also like reading novels (mostly fantasy/sci-fi stuff, especially Star Wars novels) and comic books.
- I’m also an amateur writer. In my spare time I’ve written 5 short novels and am working on a 6th.
- I really enjoy tabletop RPG’s. I see them as a chance to flex my problem solving skills. There’s nothing quite like the rush of coming up with a creative solution to a complex problem (whether in an RPG or in real life).
- Some of my favorite games are: Donkey Kong Country, Punch-Out!!, Star Fox 64, Hotel Dusk: Room 215, and Transformers: War for Cybertron.