GameRecommendations
I have genuninly been writing and rewriting this message on and off for almost a year and a half at this point, so I think it is time I finally finish it. Every time I have tried to write this message, I have run up against the Discord character limit and soared clear past it which has really demotivated me from ever finishing. I finally decided "a) why bother with the restrictions placed on communication by Discord? and b) why not get some more practice website styling?" I am sorry that this is a kind of unconventional way of communicating, but I have a lot to say and I wanted to get creative with the way that I say it.
The summer after I graduated from Darrow, I started HRT! In case you aren't sure what that means, HRT (hormone replacement treatment) is a common type of medication used for trans people. It changes your body shape and helps make your mind feel more at ease in your body. While I do still struggle a lot with things like my self image, this has helped IMMENSELY with getting me to start feeling comfortable with myself. Genuinly one of the greatest changes I have made in my life.
When I got to Smith, I was in a mindset of "I just want to try a few random things and see what sticks." One of those things was taking up fencing as a sport! I came to really enjoy it and found I am actually pretty decent at it. I have competed in a handful of regional tournaments through Smith (one of which I managed to get to semi finals/top 4 in!) and even went to US collegiate club nationals twice. Due to some issues with our "lovely" governemnt restricting who is allowed to compete in which tournaments as well as a larger issue I will bring up in a later section, I have stepped away from fencing for a little while, but I fully plan on returning to it soon and still go to some smaller scrimage-type events in the area.
This is a much smaller point than really anything else here, but I thought it would be relavent to share. Over the winter break of my first year in college, Andy and I spent a bit of time starting to put together the bones of a 2D platformer. The project didn't go very far, getting dropped after only a couple weeks of work, but it still has a decent amount going for it. The core concept was a half step between Celeste and Katana Zero. Taking the movement from Celeste and mixing it with a bit of melee combat. Right now it is playable on my itch page. (Although don't dig too deep on that site until you have finished reading this incase you want to avoid spoilers)
In the summer between my first and second years in college I managed to land a job working at iD Tech, a STEM education focussed summer camp. I worked there for a bit over a month as a teacher focussing on Unreal Engine game development. While this was lots of fun, holy cow do I have an entirely new found respect for you and every other teacher. I wasn't even doing a "true" teaching job (I was working off of a premade lesson plan, I was not assigning homework, I was not giving out grades, my whole class lasted a week and I taught the same thing a couple times in a row) but I have never been so exhausted both mentally and physically as I was in that first week I worked there. Insane respect for being able to do that day in and day out almost all year, that is wildly impressive.
Smith has a 3D printing maker space called "The Farm" who's manager was set to graduate at the end of my first year. I reached out to the faculty member who oversaw the space and applied to become the new manager. To my supprise, they accepted my application. Being the manage of The Farm was really not that much more than being a KIC prefect, I maintnenced printers, hosted open hours, and responded to emails, but it was a great way to not get rusty on the stuff I learned at Darrow and even make a little cash on the side.
At Smith, I made a great friend named Lan who shared a passion for game design, although they were more focussed on the art side of things. Over winter break of my second year in college, they invited me to come to a game jam with them out in Boston. The jam had a time limit of around 2 days and the vauge theme of "bubbles." Our team came up with the idea for a Y2K inspired bullet hell style game! This was my first expeirence working with other game developers who had prior experience (some of whom had actual industry experience) and I am really proud of what we managed to make in such a short amount of time. The name of the game is "Duchess Grizabella Nightfire99 in: Prom Panic at Bubblegum Island!" and can be played on itch.
Midway through my second year, Lan mentioned that they had an acquaintance who was running a small game development studio and searching for a programmer. The studio is called Studio Blue Jay and was being run completly remote over Discord. I got in contact with the project's head and joined the team! We were developing a game called Ghost Jukebox. The goal of the project was to make a "cozy rhythm game" where the player helped guide souls to the afterlife by helping them through their regrets from life through music. When I joined the team, the project had already been running for a bit, but they did not have a dedicated programmer so I was mostly reworking a lot of the stuff already in the game to make it more modular and to the point where it could actually grow into a full game.
After spending two years at Smith, I was realizing that things just weren't working for me there. Smith was a decent college, but it had a lot of issues. Mainly, the computer science department was clearly an afterthought for the school and was pretty poorly structured. I also had a really hard time relating to anyone there other than Lan since very few people made or even played video games, which is kind of my entire personality.... Along with a handful of other issues I was having with the school, I had had enough and decided I needed to transfer. I applied to WPI, got accepted, and pretty much haven't looked back since. I am now here as an IMGD (interactive media and game design) major focussing on game systems programming.