Becoming a Game Programmer was a lofty dream for me. Video games were my escape from the sensory overload I felt as a child. Video games were my solace. You, see, I am on the Autism Spectrum. The world around me is overwhelming sometimes. It is hard for me to filter out the things in everyday life that neuro-typical people take for granted. When I realized that the dream of becoming a Game Programmer could be my reality, I grabbed on and have never looked back.
The community of Game Programmers all follow big dreams. Each of us has a responsibility to create the alternate realities that we all love to dive into. I see my role in this community as an example to more people like me on the Autism Spectrum. There are so many of us high functioning autistic people with technical minds who just get cast aside as weird or even strange. I feel it will be important for me to speak up for those of us that may feel hopeless and without purpose. People like me can do great things with their lives. Sometimes all it takes is for one person to say, “I believe in you” to spark the dream.
In high school, I was part of the Robotics Club. I worked with another student to program a robot. We attended First Robotics competitions around my State and were successful many times in defeating our opponents. After high school, I became lost and did not have a purpose. I worked as an after-school care assistant at my mother’s school for many years. It was not until an opportunity to attend a week-long Summer Tech Camp through my communities Autism resource center came up that I gained the spark I needed to pursue my programming dreams again. At this camp, located on the University of Advancing Technology campus, a whole world of Tech opened to me. I got to work with Robotics, Game Programming, Coding and even dabbled in a little animation. After I returned home, I applied to UAT and was accepted! The rest is history, and a ton of hard work.
While at UAT, I have attended many of the IGDA meetings and gained insight into the kinds of people and organizations I will be working with in the future. I found a common mindset with the people who were at these meetings and enjoyed our topics of conversation and discussion. This group has opened my eyes to the world of Game Programming, Design and Development. My goal is to someday attend GDC (Game Developer Conference) in California.
I have a sense of accomplishment with the many projects I have completed at UAT. The step-by-step process of each project I have programmed has taught me so much and I am confident in my skills. The best part about being a Game Programmer is that I have found my community. I do not feel alone as a programmer. I know that I can always ask for help, collaborate, and gain new knowledge and skills just by participating in this field. The many different platforms and coding languages have all been challenging but at the same time exciting. When I look at what I have done in such a short time, I am in awe.
Production Studio, by far, has been the biggest immersion into the working world of Game Programming. My first semester, I joined a work in progress that was nearing completion. I was on the programming team for “Escape Room AR”. While Production Studio is a lot of work, I found that I excelled in this environment and completed every task that I was given. My second semester in Production Studio, I joined a team working on a children’s interactive game called “Fizzling’s Funhouse”. This type of project is near and dear to my heart as programming games for children is a goal of mine. My SIP is a children’s interactive music game. My future is promising, and I have UAT to thank for the top-notch training and education. I would be honored to work for a company that embraces games for children, teens, or those on the Autism spectrum. I feel that I have a lot to offer a company based on my training and insight.