If I had a million dollars...
Ed Note: Wrote this at Loagan airport; Posing now.
As I was eating dinner at Logan, waiting for my flight out to Oakland, the senior couple near me talked about forgetting to get lotto tickets. It struck me then that not only have I found a certain gage of personal zen, I also achieved that level.
"What would you do if you win the lotto?"
A question asked from time to time, it's more of a question of what a person would do if money wasn't a factor (but reality applies). For a lot of people, this would be how life would be better for them. Weather or not that would actually be the case, the goals and wants associated with the answer give into a clue to the current opinion of the self.
For me? I realized that even with money as no object, I would still be on this plane to Oakland and preparing to work at Telltale Games.
It's not a matter of being set for life and excluding myself from working, nor is it an attempt to humble myself by trying to be more like 'common people'. I am way too young to enter a form of retirement state and there are plenty of things I want to accomplish with my life. But what else would I be doing?
I could start my own slate. More accurately, have Everything After Productions become a real development studio. Make titles that I want to make and such. I could throw a bunch of money at the prospect and get it done. However, it wouldn't be any good. As much as my education is, I still haven't worked in the industry for any amount of time. I just have enough knowledge and experience in my head to work the bottom rung of an independent developer. Worlds away from starting my own slate. But I'll learn it at Telltale. One of the contributing factors as to why this job is so awesome is that it has the foundation of industry veterans, but new enough to be able to learn more about the business and not lost in the crowd.
This doesn't mean I wouldn't spend anything, but it would amount to deep investments and getting 'nicer' things. Instead of a studio apartment, I'd get a house all to myself. I'd get something more than a Ford Focus (still wouldn't get a Jaguar; why add more worry to my life?). But in reality, I will be just fine with my studio apartment and Focus.
I also shouldn't fail to mention the non-profit investments I would make. Some more formal than others. I'd buy that motion capture equipment for Emerson (only $10,000) or even pay for a room for it and demand it be called 'The Seg Room'. Again, nice things to do with money, but not doing them wouldn't make me regret.
This is the point where I realize that my life is going where I'd like it to be. The past two years working at Emerson (post-graduation) felt as if my life was on pause. A sort of getting on my feet approach to entering the rest of my life. While my time certainly wasn't wasted, not that much could contribute to my benefit either. Yes I improved the lives of the Emerson College community. Yes I made the admission process fairer by building tools that helped see applicants in more detail. This is charity work that I will always be proud of. But working for Emerson is just that for me: Charity. It's long overdue that I learn to grow.
If the Telltale gig didn't happen, I would be hopping to win the lotto in order to pay for USC (if they accepted me). Now, winning the lotto would amount to mostly luxury and charity (of minimal personal commitment).
I'm ready to do this.
As I was eating dinner at Logan, waiting for my flight out to Oakland, the senior couple near me talked about forgetting to get lotto tickets. It struck me then that not only have I found a certain gage of personal zen, I also achieved that level.
"What would you do if you win the lotto?"
A question asked from time to time, it's more of a question of what a person would do if money wasn't a factor (but reality applies). For a lot of people, this would be how life would be better for them. Weather or not that would actually be the case, the goals and wants associated with the answer give into a clue to the current opinion of the self.
For me? I realized that even with money as no object, I would still be on this plane to Oakland and preparing to work at Telltale Games.
It's not a matter of being set for life and excluding myself from working, nor is it an attempt to humble myself by trying to be more like 'common people'. I am way too young to enter a form of retirement state and there are plenty of things I want to accomplish with my life. But what else would I be doing?
I could start my own slate. More accurately, have Everything After Productions become a real development studio. Make titles that I want to make and such. I could throw a bunch of money at the prospect and get it done. However, it wouldn't be any good. As much as my education is, I still haven't worked in the industry for any amount of time. I just have enough knowledge and experience in my head to work the bottom rung of an independent developer. Worlds away from starting my own slate. But I'll learn it at Telltale. One of the contributing factors as to why this job is so awesome is that it has the foundation of industry veterans, but new enough to be able to learn more about the business and not lost in the crowd.
This doesn't mean I wouldn't spend anything, but it would amount to deep investments and getting 'nicer' things. Instead of a studio apartment, I'd get a house all to myself. I'd get something more than a Ford Focus (still wouldn't get a Jaguar; why add more worry to my life?). But in reality, I will be just fine with my studio apartment and Focus.
I also shouldn't fail to mention the non-profit investments I would make. Some more formal than others. I'd buy that motion capture equipment for Emerson (only $10,000) or even pay for a room for it and demand it be called 'The Seg Room'. Again, nice things to do with money, but not doing them wouldn't make me regret.
This is the point where I realize that my life is going where I'd like it to be. The past two years working at Emerson (post-graduation) felt as if my life was on pause. A sort of getting on my feet approach to entering the rest of my life. While my time certainly wasn't wasted, not that much could contribute to my benefit either. Yes I improved the lives of the Emerson College community. Yes I made the admission process fairer by building tools that helped see applicants in more detail. This is charity work that I will always be proud of. But working for Emerson is just that for me: Charity. It's long overdue that I learn to grow.
If the Telltale gig didn't happen, I would be hopping to win the lotto in order to pay for USC (if they accepted me). Now, winning the lotto would amount to mostly luxury and charity (of minimal personal commitment).
I'm ready to do this.