Recently, an instructor asked me for a copy of my Resume. When he reviewed it, he promptly asked me why I'm not pursuing other work. It is a question I get asked often. After all, I have a bachelor's degree in Biology. Why am I going back to school at MATC?
There are a number of reasons that I chose to come to MATC and change career paths.
When I studied biology at Carthage College, I knew I wanted to be a researcher. I wanted to unlock the secrets of the cell and contribute to science. After I graduated, I spent a few months working as a lab tech to get experience. I was already wavering on whether I wanted to continue that route, as I wasn't enamored with the idea of continuing on to grad school. Working as a lab tech for those few months made it clear to me that I didn't want to continue down that road.
After I quit my job in the lab, I returned to work at the family business. It was good work, and while it wasn't a bad job, my heart really wasn't in it. I didn't want to continue manufacturing cages the rest of my life. I wanted to work with computers, and more specifically I wanted to work on making games.
I considered a number of schools in the area, but MATC stood out. I had always had both a talent with and love of computers. While many schools in the area have IT degrees of some description, MATC is the only school that also has a Computer Gaming program. I knew a number of individuals in the CSG program and had heard good things. The instructors had real-world experience, which I felt was a great resource.
When I entered the program, I was one of only a few people in the class with previous programming experience. When the class was divided into groups, I was chosen as our group's leader. I was reluctant at first, but I grew to enjoy directing the project and studying Agile and Scrum project management techniques. I worked hard to make the group successful, and my efforts were noticed by my instructors. I was given opportunities to work on projects for companies my instructors owned, which has been a great experience.
I hope to become a successful Game Developer and share my love of games with others. That is why I am studying computers and game development at MATC.
