<p>Don't be afraid to get nitty gritty with my paper. I'm a somewhat "older" applicant attempting to get into the UC system and I really feel like this is my last chance in getting out of the Community College world and on with my career life so... needless to say I feel that this personal statement has got to be pretty good. It's still in rough draft form and so I'm still trying to figure out the best way to word things etc. </p>
<p>Thank you way in advance for your help and again. I'm here to be critiqued so don't feel like you will hurt my feelings.</p>
<p>My intended major is Computer Science or Computer Game Science. When I was four years old I became a child within a broken home. With my parents divorced, I spent the weekdays with my father and the weekends with my mother; naturally never having time to comfortably adapt to any location for too long. It was the Christmas of 93’, my mother laid a couple of presents underneath our Christmas tree and I was overwhelmed with curiosity, as to what Santa had brought me. Opening gifts on Christmas Eve was a normality growing up because my parents had decided to separate the merry holiday. I opened presents with my mother in the morning of Christmas Eve, while my father picked me up in the evening, in order to celebrate Christmas day at his house. As a result of this back and forth throughout the year, I did not have a lot of friends growing up so all my gifts usually consisted of something singular like a collection of Goosebumps books. One year, I even got a tetherball which I played by myself in the front yard. I use to pretend I was participating in the world cup of tetherball, making up playoff brackets and playing for both teams of every matchup. Through these experiences I learned a great deal about humility and making something amazing out of ordinary circumstances. Furthermore, I believe it had a pivotal role in my critical thinking and creativity growing up because I relied so much on my ability to imagine as a child. In 1993, Christmas would bring me more or less the same type of presents. I received a hockey stick and a few more books to add to the collection. On the other hand, there was one present in particular that seemed out of commonplace, and it ended up being a stepping stone towards my present day ambitions. I had received my first gaming experience, the original Nintendo Gaming System with Super Mario Brothers 3 and an assortment of other classic titles. The Nintendo became my new best friend and I began to play video games whenever, wherever and however I could. Video games would soon become the central hub for my personal learning, socializing and adaptive growth towards Computer Science technology.
With age, I began exploring the relationship between people and the social interaction involved with online games. I would beg my mother to drive me to the local Blockbuster because they offered free trial disks of American Online with movie rentals. These ancient treasures, allowed me to experience online gaming, which opened my eyes to how culturally diverse gamers are. By 8th grade, I was creating private gaming servers in my bedroom that hosted a popular Korean Massively Online Multiplayer known as Ragnarok Online. My in-house private server was able to host over 1000 unique accounts online at a time and it included custom features that I had programmed beyond the scope of what the retail version of the game possessed. I was astonished at how many people were signing up to play an unofficial version of a game that I had produced as they enjoyed the version I had created over the original title. After high school, I had definitively considered video games more than a recreational activity. They were learning tools, conversation starters and building blocks to other growing avenues. I became very enthusiastic about the idea of creating video games for others to enjoy because the concept involved so many diverse artistic mediums. To design a game meant becoming a director, a writer, an artist, an actor, a creator of worlds and for young children that came from the same background as I did, it meant becoming a role model for the imaginative spirit. With a lot of personal experience already under my belt, I sought a job in the gaming industry so that I could back up my knowledge with real world experience.
Halfway through my tenure at Community College, I started working at a gaming company called 2K Games as a Quality Assurance tester. I was a lead tester on several games including: Borderlands 1 & 2, Bioshock Infinite and NBA 2K13 & 2K14. Through this experience I gained a lot of familiarity with understanding how programming relies heavily on regression in addition to testing code for errors before it becomes finalized for mainstream users. In turn, I have become a more refined programmer because I’m able to critically approach a project and plan ahead of time for any eccentric ideas someone else might have testing a program or game I’ve created. It is a huge advantage understanding how to program code from an educational standpoint and also being able to dwell inside the mind of the user via my work experience.
Stay hungry, stay humble is one of my founding principles and I’ve always motivated myself to stay indomitable; to go beyond my expectations. I feel that I have established the right set of skillsets from both Fullerton College and 2K Games in a way that remains complimentary to what will be asked of me at the University of California, in addition to, my future career path. I’ve taken two years of top level computer programming in Java and C++. Furthermore, I’ve completed both levels of Calculus I and II that satisfies all math transfer requirements. I’m a very well-rounded, talkative and inspiring individual. I’m always willing to be better than the person around me in a way that inspires others to do the same. I am extremely confident in my personal grit to have what it takes to flourish in the Computer Science field, and in particular developing video games. </p>