My interest in IT was mostly fascination of video games when I was young, which turned into an interest in the Internet and the ease of access to information. I still have vivid memories of loading a website on our Pentium one for 10 minutes on a dial-up connection, only for the landline to ring and the internet to drop out. Since then, the advancements in IT have grown exponentially and my passion for it has grown alongside it. I’m specifically excited for the future in Virtual Reality and AI as these areas are only just getting started and the next 5 years should be incredible.
Just recently I purchased myself an Oculus Quest 2 virtual reality headset. I have been blown away at the technology and it is the coolest thing I own; it is incredibly immersive, and I can’t wait to see what is next.
I believe it would be from as young as 4 years old, sitting cross-legged on the carpet playing on the NES when I first dabbled in IT. My parents didn’t know then what sort of path those innocent days would lead to and how it would spark this desire in me to want to eventually be a part of making my own game.
Since then, IT seemed to always be a part of my life. I have been the ‘IT guy’ for any computer related issues my family has had, including building PCs for my friends and for myself.
I can’t outline any one event but more like a series of events that spiralled and coalesced into the gamer and future games programmer I aspire to be. Probably the most memorable of these is Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. This particular game still holds up as one of, if not my all-time favourite game, and I attribute a fair portion of that to nostalgia, but also as recognition to what can be achieved by the gaming world, for the joy and memories it can bring to people from around the world.
Most of my IT experience has been through self-paced learning using online tutorials or YouTube videos. I studied Information Technology in Secondary College and completed a Cert IV in Games programming. But a lot of the information I learnt at that time is now outdated.
In the last 2 years I have finally decided to improve upon this skillset and have been undertaking online short courses in Cyber security and Networking, although I have not had as much time to put to these as I would have liked.
I mostly decided on RMIT for 2 reasons, the first of these is that the Bachelor of Information Technology that is on offer here covers a wide range and allows me to explore other avenues of IT, not just limiting myself to solely games programming. The second reason being that I live in Victoria and the Time zones would be convenient.
I understand that IT in itself is a broad category, so mostly I am hoping to learn the foundations required to get my foot in the door with an IT company and begin my career in the industry I have dreamed of for years. I am hoping that the Bachelor of Information Technology will help give me that foundation.