Introduction to a Comm Major's Gamer Life
Hello everyone,
My name is Jake Compton and I am a Senior Communication Major. I have been in college since FA 2012 and have changed my major a few times starting with Chemical Engineering, moving to Finance, and finally settling on Communication. Initially I went to The University of Tulsa and played football my freshman year, but the struggles of football plus Chem E. was a lot to handle and I ended up transferring out and going to community college for a while. Finally making my way to OU as a Finance major however after doing very bad in Calc 2 I finally switched to Communication. Lucky for me, I want to be a sales rep. for a chemical company such as Chevron Phillips, Exxon, Shell, etc. and there are many majors that I can use to achieve that. After quitting football I was looking for something to do competitively and my brother introduced me to Magic: The Gathering and I have been playing that semi-competitively since 2013 and plan on being more competitive after graduation. Most recently, I have been playing PC games such as League of Legends, Smite, Diablo III: Reaper of Souls. I stream my games to Twitch.tv afternoons when I've managed to finish a lot of my work but almost every day of the weekend Friday through Sunday. A friend and I started our own small Esports organization where we field a competitive MTG team and have a team of fellow Streamers on twitch. Right now my days are waking up early in the morning to go to Gold's Gym coming home to do assignments online, going to campus for school classes, go back to Gold's and finally coming home for more assignments.
My name is Jake Compton and I am a Senior Communication Major. I have been in college since FA 2012 and have changed my major a few times starting with Chemical Engineering, moving to Finance, and finally settling on Communication. Initially I went to The University of Tulsa and played football my freshman year, but the struggles of football plus Chem E. was a lot to handle and I ended up transferring out and going to community college for a while. Finally making my way to OU as a Finance major however after doing very bad in Calc 2 I finally switched to Communication. Lucky for me, I want to be a sales rep. for a chemical company such as Chevron Phillips, Exxon, Shell, etc. and there are many majors that I can use to achieve that. After quitting football I was looking for something to do competitively and my brother introduced me to Magic: The Gathering and I have been playing that semi-competitively since 2013 and plan on being more competitive after graduation. Most recently, I have been playing PC games such as League of Legends, Smite, Diablo III: Reaper of Souls. I stream my games to Twitch.tv afternoons when I've managed to finish a lot of my work but almost every day of the weekend Friday through Sunday. A friend and I started our own small Esports organization where we field a competitive MTG team and have a team of fellow Streamers on twitch. Right now my days are waking up early in the morning to go to Gold's Gym coming home to do assignments online, going to campus for school classes, go back to Gold's and finally coming home for more assignments.
Hi Jake! I understand the difficulties in finding the right major; I switched 3 times before settling on one for sure myself. Magic: The Gathering is an old favorite in my family! We don't play competitively except with each other though. It's such a fun game with so much strategy involved. I also really got into Gwent, featured in The Witcher game series, which shares a lot of concepts with MTG. I also love how much effort goes into the concept art and characters in the game. What decks do you prefer? I'm very rusty, but my Sliver deck was always my favorite.
ReplyDeleteI am excited to see where your Storybook project will take us this semester, Jake! I had forgotten about your being involved in Magic: The Gathering. I am sure that is a great source for a lot of creative storytelling energy. Maybe you can do some stories for class inspired by Magic! It seems like there are all kinds of ways it could intersect with the world of Indian storytelling, where the mantras are very much like what we might call magic. You'll start seeing mantras in action already in the Ramayana, and there is more info here at Wikipedia: Mantra... and I am guessing you would enjoy this article, Vajrayana, which is about a "secret mantra" practice associated with the Vajra, the thunderbolt weapon that you will see is associated with the god Indra in the epics. Very cool stuff!
ReplyDeleteHey Jake! Super cool that you played football your freshman year at TU. I had the opportunity to play there but chose to pursue academics instead. I also changed my major from Petroleum Engineering. I did not enjoy it at all so I changed to Energy Management. Its also cool that you stream. I play Fortnite and COD on console and watch various streamers. Looking forward to getting to learn more about you and my classmates this semester!
ReplyDeleteHey Jake!
ReplyDeleteYour intro made me immediately think of my cousin. She changed her major a few times until she found what made her happy and I am so glad you did too! Many people don't realize the importance of communication and the fact that you're majoring in it is very neat. I probably need to be more aware of the what kinds of games are out in the world now, because I was kind of lost on when you mentioned all those PC games. I think the last time I played a game was a few years ago with my brother. I'm pretty sure he took my controller away because apparently you can't play GTA for just fun like plunging the car into the water or having the helicopter nose-dive into a building. I'm looking forward to getting to learn more about how you write!
Hi Jake!
ReplyDeleteTalking about the major you have changed few times had remained me of my friends who also hated to take calc 2 and drop that course 3 times already. This is his fourth time taking that course I hope pass this time. I am taking finance class right now as it requires towards my business degree it is too much to remember and I hope that I can pass this class. I not really into communication, I really don't like to commute that much and just do my work that I have to get done with.
Hi Jake!
ReplyDeleteI can totally relate to how you felt after you stopped playing football. I was a ballet dancer for 16 years, and after I stopped I was left looking for something to fill my desire to do something physical kind of like you were looking for a competitive outlet. I do some pilates, but I still haven't figured out something to do consistently that fits into my shedule. It's awesome that you found something to fulfill your competitive drive.
Hey Jake!
ReplyDeleteI feel you when you said you changed your major man. Im the same way. I was liberal arts major for 4 years of school until i finally decided to change into a bio major. It set me back but it is what it is. As a casual gamer myself, i will definitely check out your twitch page man. Keep up the good work and i am looking forward to read your future posts this semester.
Hey Jake, I have also changed my major a couple of times. The way I think changing your major is that picking a major or your life career choice when you are a freshman and only eighteen may not always be exactly what you want to do. People who know what they want to do from eighteen and stay with it are pretty lucky, the rest of us are just figuring out life as we go. I am glad you finally found something you are passionate about. Good luck this semester.
ReplyDeleteHi Jake, my name is Naomee. I loved reading your introduction and although I cannot relate to changing my major, I can understand the struggles of feeling overwhelmed while juggling with nonacademic related things. I think it's great that you have explored different majors before coming to a final decision because now you know that Communication is what you are passionate about. Also, I love League of Legends!!! I usually play Draven... "places to be, me to see." Anyway, good luck with the semester!
ReplyDeleteHi there Jake! I totally understand the struggle of finding the right major. I'm a senior and still don't know if I made the right choice. You made a good point about there being multiple paths you can take to get to your dream career. I think it is similar for me too! Best of luck to you this semester.
ReplyDeleteHi Jake! I can’t imagine trying to balance a sport that requires so much practice time with a major as difficult as Chemical Engineering. I’m glad that you set your mind and found a major that suits you best though! I used to play league of legends and smite but I haven’t had time to play lately. Props to you for working out multiple times a day and staying in shape!
ReplyDeleteJake, I too have been in college for quite a while. You have me by a year, but I understand the struggle of changing majors and trying to find something you are both good at and enjoy doing. It is satisfying to finally have figured it out a little bit though, isn't it? I know when I finally settled on a major and stuck with it that made my life feel a lot less hectic.
ReplyDeleteHey Jake! May the cards have mercy on your wallet. I used to play MTG extensively with a group of friends back in high school. Since starting at OU, I have not been able to find the time to keep up with the current modern playsets. Smite was my go to game for my freshmen and sophomore year, but I fell out of it towards the end of Season 4. I have currently been sticking to Path of Exile and Fortnite as my go to games to relax.
ReplyDeleteHello Jake, it sounds like you've finally found the right path for yourself after a couple of detours. It will all be worth it though when you find a job doing something you like. It also sounds like you found something you really enjoy doing during your precious free time in college, while not quite the same as Magic the Gathering, I enjoy playing Hearthstone in my free time, the strategy elements just make such a relaxing activity.
ReplyDeleteHey Jake! Your introduction and name sounds very familiar.. I think we may have had Myth and Folklore together last semester. I've not seen gameplay for most of the games you mentioned, but my boyfriend did get into League of Legends for a bit last semester. I enjoyed watching that one, but don't think I would've done well playing it! I'm not a particularly competitive person, so that might be why I prefer games with less direct conflict. Nice to see you again!
ReplyDeleteHi Jake,
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you finally found a major. I have a lot of friends who have switched majors a few times as well. I remember coming in my freshmen year as a Business major but wasn't sure if it was right for me or not. I went to the major exploration office and took their fun little test only to find out I did in fact make the right decision and found my way to MIS and love it! I know exactly what you mean about Finance. I had to take Accounting and did not like it one bit. I guess I just needed a little reassurance.It must have been hard to quit football but I'm glad you found something else to do instead. I don't think I've heard of that game until now but it sounds pretty interesting. Well, I hope you enjoy the rest of your semester! I look forward to reading some of your stories.
Hey Jake!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you've finally found something you enjoy, I have a few friends who have also switched majors several times and I always encourage them that it's better to do that now and find what you love than to end up miserable later! My brother is really into Magic and League of Legends, so I'm pretty familiar with both of those games. I've tried several times to play Magic with him but I always find myself struggling. I need to take some time to really learn the rules of gameplay before I jump right in with him. I hope you enjoy the rest of the semester!
Hi Jake! I am a senior Communication Major as well! I also changed my major a couple of times before I landed on Communication, but I am so glad I did. The classes are so interesting and the right kind of difficult. Also, it is really cool that you stream on Twitch. I watch a couple people pretty religiously, it is a really fun platform.
ReplyDeleteHey Jake! It is really cool that you have such an interesting story. I can only imagine what it is like to be football player and doing chemical engineering AT THE SAME time! Wow! I think it is great that after switching your major a few times and switching schools that you finally found what it is that you are passionate about and what you want to do. That is definitely reasurring and it really does mean a lot to read something like this at my age! Thanks for sharing you story and I am excited to read what type of stories you do!
ReplyDeleteHey! It is great to meet you! I totally understand switching majors. I originally started out as a ChemE major as well. I found out very fas that was not meant for me. I shortly switched to Econ, but I did not like that either. After two years, I found a path that I equally enjoyed and was good at. Good Luck with your last semester!
ReplyDeleteHey Jake!
ReplyDeleteWow it looks like a very long journey is finally about to finish up! That's so cool that you got to play football for a year, I hope it was a blast. Chemical Engineering doesn't make any sense to me, so I totally understand why you would want to switch majors. Way to keep with college and finally finishing your degree! I'm graduating in May also, so I bet you're feeling even more ready than me.
Hi Jake! It was interesting to hear about your academic journey and I am glad that you have found a major that you are really happy with. I switched from math to music to biochem to microbiology, so I completely understand the feeling of not knowing what major you want to pursue. It sounds like you've got a really good plan now, good luck!
ReplyDeleteHey Jake, nice to meet ya. Dude, I totally get your journey to finishing college. I had a long winding road myself. What matters is where you stop, not how long it takes to get there.
ReplyDeleteIt’s cool you’re super into games. I don’t play a lot of console games, but I do play on my phone a lot, probably pretty boring to most but they keep me entertained! my favorite is Monument Valley if you’ve never tried that.
Hi, Jake! Congrats on making it to senior year. I am a senior too, but I have an extra year. I grew up in Claremore so I am very familiar with the Tulsa area. I started out as a psychology major and somehow ended up in music so I totally understand that struggle. Thanks for sharing part of your story with us!
ReplyDeleteNice to meet you Jake!
ReplyDeleteI just got done reading your introduction! I understand the difficulties of being a student athlete. People do not give you all enough credit for how much time and effort it takes to maintain that sort of lifestyle. My friends play magic literally all the time, although they have moved more toward heartstone as it's easier to access and cheaper.
HI Jake! Wow if you're involved in all these online games with other worlds, I am excited to read your stories and see what you've been coming up with. I think it's great that you have a specific goal and it's only a matter of getting to it. I was in the opposite boat where I knew exactly what I wanted to study but now I don't know what I want to do with it/do in general!
ReplyDeleteHi Jake! Wow, sounds like you've had a rough time finding what you want to do. I'm glad you've finally settled on being a sales rep. I hope that works out for you! I stuck my toe in magic the gathering my freshman year, but most of my friends kind of bailed on the game and I haven't gotten back into it yet. Fun game though!
ReplyDeleteHi Jake great job on finding what you want to do! I can understand that it is difficult to find exactly what you want to do, but having a life plan now is great. It seems like you have a lot of other hobbies besides just school work. I'm impressed that you have the time to make it to the gym two times a day with a full class load. Good luck with graduation!
ReplyDelete