Studying at Media Design School opened many doors for Amy, both personally and professionally.
"When I first started I was shy but determined to network like crazy," says Amy.
"While studying at Media Design School I was able to attend the New Zealand Game Developers Conference each year. It was inspiring hearing local game devs talk about their work and how they had solved problems. These events allowed me to meet and make new friends."
One of Amy's biggest highlights during her time at Media Design School was being able to represent the school at the Game Developers Conference in San Fransisco, California.
"With sponsorship from the school, I was able to attend the conference, which was the trip of a lifetime. As well as fantastic talks there were also expo floors to wander around and to look at indie games and new technology,"
"As well as going to the conference we also got to tour the Google offices. The trip cemented my goal to work in the games industry."
Although Amy says that she had a "bunch of amazing lecturers" during her time at Media Design School, one lecturer in particular who stands out is Senior Lecturer Tece Bayrak.
"Tece was a great mentor and it was good to have a female programmer role mode," says Amy.
Since graduating from Media Design School, Amy has been employed as a programmer at Rocketwerkz in Dunedin, New Zealand, where she is part of a team comprised of some fellow Media Design School graduates to develop a new game; a role that she clearly enjoys.
"Currently, I am working on AI programming (which is what I want to specialise in) and gameplay programming,"
"People are encouraged to pitch in their ideas regarding design and implementation of features so we get some lively discussions and meetings going on. This passion and enthusiasm makes for a great work environment. There’s also a great social side with drinks and nibbles once a week and playing games together after work and during the weekend."
