On that day, it dawned on me?!

I wanted do what I liked for a living , so I went to a vocational school. I chose a game design school because I loved games. However, I could not draw and was not good at planning, so I took the programmer’s course as my final option. (Mr. Takahashi would scold me for saying this.)
Before entering the school, I had no programming experience. So during my first year in school, I had no bearings on anything whatsoever, and got totally exhausted. Every day, I couldn’t understand what the teacher was saying and thought I wouldn’t make it. I felt hopeless. But one day at the beginning of my second year, something within my clicked, and suddenly I could make sense of things!  Along with exclamations of “I get in now!”,  and”So that’s what it was!”.  Although I was a little late in understanding things, I somehow came through.
I still wonder what made me see the light that day (LOL).

To become a software engineer that junior co-workers can depend on.

I was late in starting out my job hunting (around May), but I couldn’t finish my game for my portfolio,  so I stopped my job hunting and worked on my game during the summer. After that, I started job hunting again. A friend told me that he would apply to a company called Amata in Tokyo, so we applied together, and luckily I got in.
During my first year at Amata, my work was relatively light most of the time. But from my second year, I was assigned to work on critical parts of the game.
On the job, communication is important. If I don’t understand something, I would make an effort to consult a senior co-worker or my boss instead of keeping it to myself.
Fortunately, I haven’t made any major mistakes so far, and I think my work is progressing well too, but I want to improve my skills and become a software engineer that my junior co-workers can depend on.

“Loving it” and “creating it” are two different things.

One thing I want to tell people aspiring to enter the game industry: “Loving it” and “creating it” are two different things. At my vocational school, there were many who joined because they “loved” games, but many of them dropped out before they were able to “create” games.   Loving games is not enough.  You must also seriously think about what kind of games you want to create and aim for. Otherwise, the narrow gate to the game industry will hardly open up.
Apart from that, while in school, it would be a good experience to work in a team if you have the chance. Being able to think not only for yourself, but also for others will be helpful after you start working at a game company.
Also, it is important to learn the basics by using C++ for coding instead of an engine like Unity or Unreal Engine.

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