Journey Ahead
01 Sep 2023
Season One
From as far back as I can remember, I have always loved playing Pokemon and became fascinated with creating my own games. So, when we were given creative assignments in elementary school, I would always take that opportunity to write my own spin-off version of Pokemon. I would stay in at recess to design my own Pokedex of Pokemons, gyms, rivals, and the entire map of what this world would look like. This was the introduction to the longest-running series ever made. Alongside designing my own Pokemon game, I became involved with my school’s robotics team and was one of two coders on the robotics team. Endless hours would be spent designing the robot and creating code that allows this robot to function properly and this was the first time I ever coded anything! I fell in love with the process of it all and continued it into middle school.
Season Two
When I first heard that our middle school has a robotics club, I was more than thrilled to try it out! However, when I got there, it was not what I had expected. It was just a bunch of friends hanging out, building Lego-like kits, and having them do random things like pick up a pencil, race down the hallway, and do donuts around the classroom. Though there was no competitive aspect to this club, I quickly became fond of the free environment and allowed my creativity to run wild. I would often Frankenstein different codes together from the online library of actions the website had so my robot could do a series of tasks I wanted it to do. This was the first time I was able to freely work on robotic projects that I wanted to do, rather than meet competitive guidelines.
Season Three
Throughout all of this, I became really engrossed in gaming and since high school, I made it my long-term goal to become a software engineer for Riot Games since I enjoyed playing all the games they have developed. The process of creating games seems challenging at a glance but seeing how Riot Games can execute some amazing stories, I dreamed of being able to program a champion, big or small, since I would love for something that I developed to be played and loved by many others too.
For Future Seasons
As I start entering more advanced software engineering classes and preparing for the job market, I hope to continue to get better at coding by working on my problem-solving skills, teamwork abilities, and communication. I also hope to continue building up my knowledge of data structures and algorithms so I can become more confident when working on projects. I would also like to start creating more games, individually or with a team, anything that I can proudly showcase would help with my journey to becoming a software engineer for a gaming company.