Funnily enough, I didn’t specialize in FX, as there was no program for that at my school. I was taught as a generalist and learned a little bit of everything from traditional concept art and 2D animation to 3D character modeling and level design.

It wasn’t until my last quarter in my 2nd year in college that I made the conscious effort to figure out what I wanted to specialize in. I remember talking with friends at a restaurant freaking out about it. I understood how to do a variety of things related to game development; I just wasn’t confident in them.

Later that same year, a colleague of mine introduced me to “particles” in Unreal Engine 4. And that’s when it clicked. I finally decided, “I can see myself doing that. That looks like fun!” The only problem was not having an industry professor to teach me. So I searched online and found a lot of helpful resources.

I didn’t even know that FX artist was a career path. Not only was I learning something new, but I began to understand and break down effects from my favorite games.

I’ve known about World of Warcraft since 2005 when my older brother bought the game alongside his college friends. We also only had one computer, so my parents told me to just watch him play. It wasn’t until 2010 when I started playing, and I haven’t stopped since then.