That christmas I got in a really bad car wreck that I somehow walked away from. I was kind've lost and it shocked me back to reality. I was going 75 on a two lane highway that went opposite directions with no median. Some idiot decided to pull a u-turn in front of me and stopped sideways in front of me right as we were about to pass each other in our own lanes. So, I hit them. My windshield went white and my airbag popped. Rush of blood to my head and my nose was leaking red. I ran out of my car screaming for help because my engine was on fire. Luckily, a bearded old man who was a hero had a fire extinguisher from his propane truck. He ran without any questions asked and put out the fire on my engine. I never got the chance to thank him.
The front of my car was all the way up to my windshield and my airbag was in my passenger seat, that's how hard I hit. I escaped with a broken left hand and cuts on my waist, chest, and knees, nothing major. The only reason I survived was because they were at a slight angle from when they turned into my lane to pull their illegal u-turn. Since it was at an angle, it diverted the force and shot me across the oncoming lane of traffic into a ditch. If they weren't at an angle I would've been paralyzed or dead.
A few days later I finally took in that I just almost died and decided to completely rethink my life. My dieting obsession to stay in shape and exercise obsession took a back seat because of my broken hand and I had time to sit back and think. I decided I wanted to get serious about my future and do something I loved which was creating stories and worlds.
This is when I settled upon game design since I figured I could tell my stories there and find solace for myself in my own personal garden of words.
I went to game design school in Austin and met some.. interesting roommates. One was bisexual and said awkward things to me, the other gamed all day long and teamspeaked loud into the night, the other was hotheaded and always causing trouble (he stole my debit card once). I saw a glimpse into my future of what would happen to me looking at my roommates and I broke down. It was going great since I was one of the few normal guys there and I had girls talking to me left and right but then one girl I really liked hurt me really bad, and I started gaming a lot again. When i resorted back to running away I asked myself is this really all this is for myself?
I learned that all you need for game design is a portfolio and you can learn everything online. This translated into my education being a waste of money, plus the first 10 years unless you go indie you'll probably be texturing grass until you advance up the ladder to actually make games. I decided to quit the school after a semester and while quitting met an ex-military man who was quitting just short of graduating because he realized the same thing.
He told me to look at him as me from the future and that I'd thank him later.
(cont'd)