Ever since at started going to Woodbury University my journey as a game developer has been hard and nerve wrecking. When you are just an average freshman the only thing that tends to matter is what grade you get on your exams but as your journey continues as a college student the worries of what lies after college slowly approaches you like a giant foggy cloud getting ready to soak you like a torrential downpour. This is exactly what happened to me until a small light peaked through that cloud and that was light was GDC. I had heard about GDC from one of my fraternity brothers Cameron Williams and he told me that it was a place of endless job opportunities and the biggest opening to get your foot into the door of one of the worlds biggest industry’s. Soon after the planning of the trip began such as booking a flight, finding a place to sleep, and gathering as much cash from our negative college student bank account as possible it was finally set in stone. 
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After a few months the time finally came to adventure forward into the belly of the beast, GDC. The first day was amazing and slow as we had to wake up super early in order to make it to our flight out of the Bob Hope airport. As we arrived in San Francisco we were greeted by my cousin David who provided us some cozy couches for me and my fraternity brothers to sleep on throughout the week and a tour guide attitude to show as around the beautiful city of San Francisco. The city was one of wealth and danger but all I could focus on was the amazing architecture that surrounded us. As our first day came to a close, we prepared for the week to come, gathering up our business cards, notebooks, and resumes. These were the tools to help us slay the beast.​

The first couple days of GDC contained an assortment of talks that all had their own unique topics of interest. Knowledge was flowing through my head like the rives of the Nile. What was great about the first couple of days is that it was just going to talks, playing some indie games, and getting to know the Moscone Convention Center where GDC was held. I made the quick assumption that every day was going to be this fun and easy but it wasn’t until the third day, Wednesday, when I was in for one hell of a week. Wednesday was the start of the job fair where anyone whose anyone will be there. Companies from all over the world would be there judging every move you make as they hold a potential future in their hands.
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As Wednesday came, I felt the confidence slowly fade away as I saw all the game company booths being put up. I felt every nerve in my body as I quickly realized what exactly I got myself into. The pressure of finding my dream job position seemed harder by the minute. My two other fraternity brothers had their own tasks to do so I was left alone to tackle this head on. As I walked around, I was met with some welcoming voices and quickly turning heads. Companies from big to small were set up talking about there next big breakthrough. I looked for every opportunity to talk to the heads of the game company’s but I was too small of a fish in this pond. Wednesday seemed to go by quickly and I didn’t have that much luck on finding a promising with job. On the bright side I was able to meet some unique people such as indie developers who gave me advice on the rest of the days of GDC. 
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The next day I woke up feeling like the pressure of finding that dream job had grown and I had become Atlas holding the globe. I attended the conference on Thursday with the same goals as all the other days, learn, make connections, have fun, and find a job. The finding a job part seemed to be the only piece to the puzzle that was missing. As I walked around the conference floor, I decided that I shouldn’t let this get to my head and that I need to just keep enjoying GDC as a whole. At that exact moment I saw a familiar name in the corner of my eye MX vs ATV with the name Rainbow Studios next to it.

 As I approached the booth, I grabbed a pamphlet of a list of job opening and was greeted with the friendly voice of Robert Kinnamin, the lead designer at Rainbows Studios. At that moment I released that MX vs ATV was part of one of my all-time favorite racing series and I was talking with the guy who made all the tracks I used to race while playing them. As I talked with Robert, I felt like I blended into this company like cheese in macaroni. Before I knew it, I was setting up an appointment on Friday with Robert to meet with me for lunch to talk about there job opening and talk about his experiences. ​
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Friday was a day that ended with true perfection. My meeting with Robert was fascinating, we talked about all the games he was involved in, his level design experiences, the work environment at Rainbow Studios and much more. Time seemed to pass by quicker that ever. As my meeting concluded I was met with promise of a potential job position at my dream racing company designing tracks. I decided to celebrate by going on a huge shopping spree at the GDC store. At this time the convention center had just been closed and I met up with my fraternity brothers to tell them the news.
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The next day was a day of relaxation and exploration. We wondered the city and saw as much as we could before our flight. My trip to the San Francisco GDC had come to a close. The week had gone by faster than ever and I didn’t want to leave. From the first day of preparing to slay the beast to feeling like I had become part of it, I knew that every moment would last with me forever. All the late-night game parties with the bros, the never-ending notes I had taken from the talks, the overly price san Francisco food, and laughs that still hurt today had made this trip to GDC something I’ll treasure forever. 
 

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To find more info on GDC go to https://www.gdconf.com/

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