Changing the world, one game at a time.
Games have always been a large part of my life. Growing up in a small trailer park on my family's farm taught me a lot about connection and our weekly game nights only solidified those lessons. Through these experiences, gaming was how I learned to create and maintain bonds with others. I even used them to hang out with my dad while he traveled for work by hopping on World of Warcraft with him after school! It was when I first played through the game Fable 3 that I realized these strong connections between players weren’t the only impact games had on a player’s emotional state. I learned that a video game could also create and alter intense emotional connections and perspectives through being experienced alone as well!
Wanting to understand how these experiences affected me so strongly outside of the game world led me to research in understanding biases and the effects they have on the larger world. I continued this research into cognitive psychology as well as my passion for gaming into my education; gaining two bachelor degrees (one in interactive media and game design, the other in psychology) and a masters degree in interactive media and game design from Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
As people today now engage with video games in some capacity throughout their daily life, there’s an incredible opportunity presented to use games as a tool to improve our society. I hope to utilize the amazingly complex field of interactive media and gaming to mitigate potentially harmful biases of users, making the world a better place one game at a time.
