My name is Steffi Walthall, a Interactive Design and Game Development major with a concentration in Game development at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) in Savannah, Georgia. I was introduced to video games at a young age but had not developed a true interest in gaming around 2009. My father had purchased a Playstation 3 and he started me on Assassin’s Creed II, a triple A title video game from Ubisoft studios. Once I became proficient at the game, video games started to become more enjoyable to me. It was baffling to me how ther could be entire interactive worlds put onto the screen. There were so many characters and their stories, their lives were instantly at my fingertips within a matter of seconds. All of these aspects of games, coupled with the art, created these amazing, immersive environments that I couldn’t get enough of. The visual storytelling aspect of games is what gave me an idea of what I wanted for my future with my skillset: concept art.

After being accepted into SCAD my first independent decision was to join the School of Digital Media, focusing on the Game Development program. It didn't take long to realize that through this program, my passion for visual storytelling and character creation would still be validated while also involving myself in the development process of video games. Video games are tangible representations of ideas that have the potential to reach everyone, no matter how young or old. SCAD’s game development department has allowed me to become more knowledgeable about aspects of game development that the general public does not know about while also pushing me to be more involved in the different tasks required to develop and produce a game, such as programming, level design, and environment and hero asset creation. SCAD's mission statement states that they “exists to prepare talented students for professional careers, emphasizing learning through individual attention in a positively oriented university environment.” They make sure that the students are actively aware of the different parts of their future careers. SCAD also encouraging the students to network and collaborate with students from other majors so that in the future multiple opportunities will be open to them. Since attending SCAD, my exposure to many unique individuals and backgrounds has been limitless.

During my Junior year of college, I applied to the Research Experience for Undergraduates for Ocean, Marine, and Polar Science program (REU OMPS) .The program allowed me to further my skillset in terms of programming. My skills where also further developed in terms of research, especially research involving Science Technology Engineering and Mathematic (STEM) related fields. I had been previously involved with a STEM related program akin to REU OMPS, in middle school when I participated in the Center for Remote Sensing of Ice Sheets (CReSIS) at Elizabeth City State University (ECSU) under Dr. Linda Hayden.  CReSIS gave me a firm foundation when it came to STEM fields and introduced me to more effective research skills that helped me later on in my studies.

My acceptance into the REU program at ECSU has pushed me to be involved in many different processes outside of my comfort zone. In the REU program, the distinctive teams work very hard to collect data to create a research paper that focused on our findings. We focused on skills that would later give us an advantage when applying for jobs in any field of our choosing. What we learned in this program are skills that can be taken back and apply to the rest of my time at SCAD as well as later on in my professional career.

I plan on finishing my Bachelor degree in Game Development and my Concept Art for Games minor. Afterwards,my intentions are to pursue a masters in Computer Science. By utilizing the skillset that I have acquired from both of my degrees, I hope to start off a career in a STEM related field.