I'm going to be completely honest. This started off as a school assignment.
I tend to stick to Google+ for all my 'blogging' type needs, however, now with the integration of Google+ and Blogger, maybe this blog will be a bit of a success.
So what will this blog be about? Hmm... Still to be determined, but I know it will be about video games, the game industry, and being a female gamer. For other awesome stuffs, I'll keep that to Google+.
As for the school assignment part, I'm supposed to write about my internship and career into the game industry. I am the first person from my school to get a successful internship at a game development studio, which means there is a lot of buzz going around about me. My school, Fitchburg State University, has been working on a Game Design major for a while, and plans to officially implement it in September 2013. Unfortunately for me, this means I won't have an official Game Design degree as I'll be getting my degree January 2013. But that's ok... just get to know me and you'll learn how much I've taught myself about game development.
I mentioned my internship. It's tough to talk about it because of NDA legalities, but I'll try to say what I can. I am currently participating in an unpaid part time marketing internship at Tencent Boston in Concord, MA. I can't tell you what I'm doing marketing research on, or what we're even developing, but I can tell you the non-descriptive work that I do. I obviously am doing market research on video games, and investigate current trends in the video game industry. Along with this, I gather and present reviews on games and platforms. I also coordinate with the marketing team on collaborating projects, documents, and events. So, it's essentially a lot of reading, organizing, playing, and talking. I do want to emphasize however, how much experience this is giving me.
I love Tencent Boston, as it is hands down the best place I've ever worked at. I know it's just an internship, and it's a learning experience, but they treat me with respect. I've seen many interns get trashed and given silly busy work, but at Tencent Boston they actually assign me on actual tasks, answer my questions honestly, and teach me about new resources.
This internship has also given me some great connections. I've met people who worked on Baldur's Gate, and other great games. I have also been given contacts at other major businesses in the game industry. It's extremely overwhelming, and honestly, my eyes may have watered up a bit when I was handed a business card from a major player at a large gaming related company. I honestly hope that after my internship is done, there will be a position for me at Tencent Boston... but even if there isn't, I will truly appreciate what they have given me. Experience, Self-Confidence, and Connections.
I think the reason I get overwhelmed with joy when given these opportunities is because I was always told it was impossible. I'm a female gamer and computer programmer, who cares about her looks, so most people assume I am a fake. I have a metal plate in my head, have chronic pain problems, and went to a public college and learned almost everything I know on my own because I never had the money for somewhere great like MIT or WPI. These things were only road blocks for me though, and I pushed through them. I have worked extremely hard to get to where I am, and when given these opportunities, they are small little reminders for me that all this hard work is actually paying off and I need to continue through.
When we dream, things are always messed up and out of place, just like life. However, we can eventually break through to somewhere in the vicinity of our main goal. I don't want to say that "dreams can come true if you make them" because honestly they don't always work out that way. We can get ourselves close to our goal so that we are at least participating in it. For example, a person grew up with the dream of being an astronaut, however, they get motion sickness and are allergic to motion sickness medications. This obviously is going to immediately stop on their dream of becoming an astronaut, however, with hard work and determination they can still do something astronaut related - such as work for NASA as an engineer. As long as we tried our hardest and got into the bubble of our dream, we have succeeded.
I suppose that is it for now. Do me a favor and please get my blog out there by sharing it for me? I would really appreciate it! I promise to eventually do a video blog too!
Also, here's some ways to connect with me:
Google+: gplus.to/beckytaylor
This is a great story!! Thanks for sharing! Look forward to more!
ReplyDeleteThanks! I will definitely be updating this daily :)
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