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My Game Design Degree: A Postmortem
A new graduate breaks down the pros and cons of attending a post-secondary school game design program, as well as advice on what students can do to prepare for the future.
After 4 long years, I’m almost graduating with a Bachelors of Game Design degree from Sheridan College in Ontario, Canada.
Go me!
Over the last 4 years I’ve been to MIGS, had my writing published here and there on the internet and even been to GDC twice which is impressive to me since I knew next to nothing about game development when I started all this.
It’s been a long journey, but I thought the best way I could commemorate the event would be to reflect on my past 4 years in this program; what I wish I knew, what I learned and a little bit of philosophy on post-secondary schooling in general.
Be aware not all of this will be about Game Design programs (or post-secondary education, even!) and can apply to many different fields as well. Additionally, this is all just my personal opinion and everything below can be taken with a grain of salt!
Learning Is Hard
Before spending 4 years on Game Design, I spent 1 in a general arts program. My time in general arts mostly taught me I didn’t really want to do art for a living - I like it as a hobby, not as work. That helped usher me into Game Design.
But it wasn’t until a year in Game Design did it kick in just how much more work college was than high school; in part because I was in an actual degree program now, but also because I was now doing something that I started to feel like I actually wanted to do with my life. The difference between high school and college to me was that college felt a billion times more relevant to my future. Not to mention that I was paying thousands of dollars for my education I needed to make it really count.
For my first year in Game Design I struggled with programming, not really understanding what I was doing and riding off the help of others. One day I had a group assignment where I couldn’t contribute anything and I realized how poorly prepared I was - and I didn’t want to keep that up for 3 more years!
Over the summer I was working full time, but I dedicated every weekend to programming my own little side projects which helped me build up my skills to where I felt confident enough in a group setting. I don’t remember doing anything aside from coding, working fast food and rollerblading that whole summer.
Before I knew it, I was coding almost every group project I was in for the next two years, mostly because no one else wanted to.
It was a good kick in the butt and the point where I realized this was the chance I had been waiting for my whole life - the chance to finally do something with my life and dedicate myself to something.
I’m not saying everyone will have an “a-HA!” moment, but try to remember that college is long, hard and you’re in it for the long haul. The industry is competitive - don't hope to just sail through like I did and hope everything will work itself out in the end.
Don’t Procrastinate
The single most frustrating thing about school was watching my classmates - people who I knew to be very skilled, hardworking and capable - put things off again and again until the last minute and then panic and crunch when their work wasn’t finished a few hours before the deadline.
This happened for almost every single assignment.
Early on I noticed I have pretty intense mental health troubles when I didn’t have something to work on. By necessity I always keep busy and try to get work in as early as possible since it makes me feel more comfortable about the homework process. A bonus was it gave me time to take breaks, work on portfolio pieces and I don’t have to crunch!