I set out to learn how to build games. Early on, working hard landscaping jobs made it clear that wasn't the path I wanted long term, so I started focusing on programming instead. Games became more than something I played. They were something I wanted to understand and eventually create.
That interest had been building for a while. Growing up during the early internet, I was pulled into Flash games and the indie communities around them. Sites like Newgrounds were full of people making their own games and animations, and it felt accessible in a way nothing else did. It wasn't just big studios anymore. Regular people were building things and putting them out into the world.
I wanted to be part of that.
I spent time digging through forums, trying to figure out where to even start, saving up for tools, and teaching myself what I could. Eventually I got into ActionScript and started building small projects of my own. They weren't great, but they were mine. It was the first time I felt like I was actually creating something instead of just consuming it.
By the time I got to college, that direction was already set.
I spent six years in school from 2008 to 2014, working toward a bachelor's degree in web development while taking classes part time. I did well, but life outside of school was real. Money was tight. I was living in a small apartment, newly married, and by my fifth year we had our first child. I kept going.
Around that same time, I started picking up web work on the side. Simple sites, small projects, anything that helped bring in money while I was still learning. What started as a side path slowly became something steady. By the end of it, I had a solid foundation in programming, systems, and design, but the path into game development wasn't there. The jobs weren't local, and moving wasn't realistic at the time. So I adjusted.
I moved into web development, where the skills still applied and the opportunities actually existed. It wasn't the original plan, but it was a way forward. I never dropped the original goal. I kept trying to build games on my own, over and over, even without financial success. Each attempt just became experience for whatever comes next.
Over time, my interests started to expand. I found myself getting pulled toward embedded programming, working closer to the hardware and understanding systems at a much lower level.
I'm still building toward it.