Finding Inspiration (Long and Lonesome Road)
Life tends to move very quickly and it seems like in June of 2012, life was about to get a lot faster. June 1st of 2012 I graduated from high school, and let me tell you I didn’t think it was even possible for me. I had spent the past 10 years struggling in school and high school was the hardest for me. I finally made it, I made it to graduation day! Now what? Let me tell you how life for me after high school was some of the best years of my life but also the fastest years of my life.
If you read my blog “Finding Inspiration (Cross Roads)”, you would know that I had been introduced to the world of game design. I was shown this amazing demo of how games were made and how using 3D modeling I could create my own virtual world, but to do this I would need to go to college and invest more time in school. I was hesitant about it because I struggled so much in school and the thought of continuing made me wary. After looking further into the world of game design and finding a school that was 80 miles from home, I was determined to get a career in game design.
I found my school the Art Institute of California (some of you may know their current reputation), I was excited to be entering a whole new world, a world where everyone felt the same way I did. No more people looking at me funny for liking games because we all had the same passion. June 1st of 2012 I graduated high school and had to say goodbye to all my friends and the girl who stole my heart, because on June 2nd, the next day, I was off to college for orientation and my first class. I had signed up for my college a day before the classes were going to start so it was go time. During my orientation they gave me what looked like a suitcase with the school’s logo on it and said everything that you will need for your first quarter classes are in there. This was a really cool feeling because, let’s be honest, who doesn’t like stuff. I then had moved into my apartment that I was going to be sharing with three other roommates. One roommate was going to the school to be a chef, another was going for film, and the third was going to game design just like me! I thought this was so cool, someone I could talk to about games and they would know what I was talking about. Little did I know that I was going to find myself becoming friends with most of the film students compared to the gaming students. Life was pretty cool at this point: I was learning new things and I was getting really cool homework assignments. I mean, come on, my homework was to play video games and draw, it doesn't get cooler than that.
But sadly things were going to take a turn, I had gotten a phone call that I was no longer going to be able to afford to go to that school anymore. I had spent two and a half years at this school and I had a half a year left before graduating. I was given the option to continue if I could get the money from someone else, but I would never be able to live with myself if I had to take money from anyone. So I decided to pack up and head home. Do I regret my decision? No, because I got an amazing opportunity to learn new things. Plus I found out after I left that the school was sued for accepting students that couldn’t pay their loans and was eventually shut down. I was reunited with my girlfriend (who later became my wife) and was starting yet another chapter in my life. I’ve learned from this experience that no matter how fast things can change and even if it's not the change you would like, you have to keep going and move on in life.
