Real Life Game Designer

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of interviewing a guy who designs video games. How cool is that?!!

We ended up talking about how he got into game design and what advice he had for high school students as they were figuring out what they wanted to do in their life.

Simon  went to an alternative high school, so he had many opportunities to explore his passions. And for some people, this might not work. Some people need more structure. In this less structured environment, Simon took a lot of different classes that interested him. Just because. He had (and still has) the mindset that you never know where something will lead you. I call that fearless.

Simon went off to college. He majored in Physics and Philosophy. Go figure! While in college, he went to a career fair. There he met a guy who designed games.He thought it was pretty cool and decided he wanted to design games! So off he went. And learned how to design games.

As a recruiter I do a lot of research on potential candidates. Researching Simon, I went to his blog and read about a game that he had recently discovered. He liked the aesthetics of the game. It's called Ponycorns . It only takes a few minutes to play and, though I don't play video games, I had a blast playing it!

So what sage advice does Simon give high school students? One word.WRITE. Write a lot!

Simon is now working on a new game. He's building a business around this game. Check out his blog  and see how it's doing!

Oh, and if game design interests you, check out USC School of Cinematics Arts  or University of California Santa Cruz . GamePro  also did an article back in 2010 about the 8 highest ranked colleges for game design. I suggest you also read the comments because there's a lot of good info in there as well.

Working for the Dept of State

A friend of mine works for the DOS or better known as The Department of State. They even have a Facebook page .

Or you can go to their site  to learn about what they do, the jobs that are available, both domestically and internationally or just sign up to follow them on Facebook or Twitter!

If you want to check out all the jobs that are available with the US Government, go here .

This will give you an idea of what kinds of jobs are available with the government. If you like to travel (or think you might like it), then check out the foreign jobs. And once again, I can't stress enough the importance of learning a second language. It will open so many more doors for you. In fact, with all that is going on in the Middle East, you would be flooded with job offers if you fluently spoke and read Arabic. Think about it!

Education - The Great Cross Trainer

Every once in awhile I come across quotes that say exactly what I'm thinking. I came across one today.

We should think of education as a kind of intellectual cross-training that leads to many more things than at any one moment you could possibly know would be useful. The most powerful education generates further curiosity, new needs, experiences to meet those needs, more curiosity and so on.

Education isn’t just an object that you use to get started in a career; education is a catalytic resource that continues to energize and shape your life. Education enhances your ability to develop new skills and capacities for connectivity that allow you to solve problems and seize opportunities.

Who Do U Want To Be?

I came across this interesting website today while checking out the webpage of a media teacher at a local high school. Who Do You Want To Be? . It's much more entertaining than the other assessment sites I've found and it actually came up with areas of career interest for me that made sense! Though it is definitely not as indepth as the other sites, it's worth a few minutes of your time.

Stanford School of Medicine Residential Program

It's that time of year again!

The Stanford Medical Youth Science Program has a Summer Residential Program (SRP ) that is an annual science- and medicine-based enrichment program open to low-income and ethnically disadvantaged high school sophomores and juniors who live in northern and central California.

They only receive applications from the following California counties: Alameda, Contra Costa, Fresno, Madera, Marin, Mendocino, Merced, Monterey, Napa, Sacramento, San Benito, San Francisco, San Joaquin, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Solano, Sonoma, Stanislaus, and Yolo.

Information about the program is sent to all high schools in these 21 counties. Check with your school counselor or school Career Center for an application.

This is an AWESOME opportunity for any sophomore or junior who is interested in a possible career in medicine to get up close and personal in a real-world medical setting.

You must submit your application  no later than February 15th........so there's no time to lose!

One of the cool things about their website is their Health Careers Profile  page. Click on any of the profiles and you're taken to a page which has information about what the job entails, what a typical workday is, and also some related links and other information you might find interesting. It took me well over an hour to go through all the profiles.

Do you know what a Biophotographer  is?

Learn something new everyday!!

Letter To Self

First of all.....HAPPY NEW YEAR! I hope 2011 is an awesome year for everyone.

Secondly, I came across this very cool website called FutureMe.org  where you can send a letter to yourself which you will get in the future. The letter will arrive in your inbox at a date that you specify. So you can have your letter delivered in 1 or 5 or 20 years from now! I think this is a great way to remind yourself how you were feeling at the time, what your goals were and whether you are on the same path. And use it to remind yourself of what’s important to you.