Ten years ago I was a bitter arrogant college student (with no smartphone), then met some really creative people. With these creative people, we made a group that created YouTube skits together, we eventually evolved into making games together after founding a business with two close friends of mine. It was through the studio that I was fortunate to meet even more talented and passionate people and it set the seeds for a lot of internships, degrees, and career opportunities for us.
For the second half of the decade I've been splitting my time between Southern California and Las Vegas trying to grow the studio while having a normal desk software career. I got to work for Mozilla Firefox for four years and helped them with their Quantum version that better competes with Google Chrome on load times, CPU usage and reliablity. (I'm still using Firefox as I write this.) I got to fly in an airplane for the first time and see Japan, Canada, Hawaii, and the Pacific Northwest and some of the midwest. Travelling has since become a hobby for me, and since 2015 I've made a point to see somewhere new every year. PS: I don't recommend going to Oregon. I re-established a dormant IGDA in Las Vegas and with the help of even more talented and experienced people expanding it to become one of the fastest growing chapters in the organization.
I wouldn't have expected the political climate to become as divisive as it has, and while some friendships did have to come to an end, I believe there is still a bright future ahead. Despite what political figures and certain celebrities and authors may think, I feel we as a society are becoming more accepting of each others cultures, identities, preferences and tastes as a whole than in any time prior.
Here's to the 2020's. (And yes I have a smartphone now.)
