READER FEEDBACK
I ’ ll never forget Sixth College orientation when a presenter mentioned a video game tournament . I ’ d been playing games since childhood , but hadn ’ t realized that I could meet others here who loved them as much as I did . Winter GameFest and Triton Gaming are pretty big now , but the gaming community on campus used to be much more quiet , almost hidden — like , “ Aren ’ t all gamers just basement-dwellers ?”
Sixth College and student orgs really opened the doors of this world to the rest of UCSD . Though my grades suffered and my sleep schedule didn ’ t exist , spending time in clubs like UCSD StarCraft , the Video Game Development Club ( VGDC ), and the League of Tritons-turned-Triton Gaming were definitely some of my favorite moments in college . I had the pleasure of working with and growing alongside so many people in your article : I knew Kevin since he was a freshman , Alex and Nicole when they led the VGDC , and Dom when he was just starting out as a shoutcaster ; they were all integral figures on my journey .
Thanks to everything I learned at UCSD and its community of gamers , I landed my first job in Jam City ( then SGN ) as a software engineer and have been in the Carlsbad studio ever since . My team develops mobile games played by millions of people every day . It ' s challenging , yet super fulfilling to provide fun for so many people .
Gaming has come such a long way even since I was a student . Live streaming , mobile games , VR and high-level competition are bringing so many more people to this phenomenon I owe so much of my life to . I ’ m excited that the love of games is growing and that we ’ re now entering fields of play that previous generations could only dream of .
Now that I have my bearings and more of a read on the happenings of esports , I like the part about using games as teachers , and as J . T . Vandenbree ’ 09 says , “[ Esports can ] help you develop life skills and even make you a better person .” I like the interactive , collaborative aspect of esports . I ’ ve tried to collaborate in sports and writing . I can see where esports could take some of the ego out of competition and be fun for all contestants .
John Rubens ’ 81 Warren College
The new art on campus , What Hath God Wrought , is noteworthy for going where the Stuart Collection has never gone before : off campus . At night you can see it from Trader Joe ’ s , from Mt . Soledad , and even La Jolla Cove .
This happened once before , until it didn ’ t . Back in ’ 84 , Vices and Virtues was supposed to go up on Mandell Weiss Theatre , until La Jolla realized its nighttime view was going to be augmented by the cardinal sins flashing in multicolored neon . Which is how it ended up where it is .
That What Hath succeeded where Vices failed shows how coding is an elegant solution to all sorts of interesting problems .
Richard Gleaves ’ 79 Warren College
Tansen Zhu ’ 13 Sixth College
Triton is your magazine . We love to hear from you . What do you think of the articles and what would you like to see in the future ? Share your ideas for stories , relive campus memories and give feedback on our issues .
Drop us a line at tritonmag @ ucsd . edu
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