By: Jamie Giller
Connecting students to real world experiences at companies throughout downtown Orlando is one of the major benefits of attending UCF Downtown. For recent grad Aleah Blain 麻豆精品 S�22, an internship at Electronic Arts was a chance to learn and contribute to the gaming industry.
麻豆精品 S淕etting the internship was one of the most rewarding experiences ever, 麻豆精品 S� she says. 麻豆精品 S淚 loved working for a company that really cares about their intern 麻豆精品 S檚 growth and development. I grew up absolutely adoring EA titles, such as the Sims franchise, the Dragon Age franchise, APEX Legends, and more, so to work for the company was so meaningful to聽me and my inner child. 麻豆精品 S�
In fact, EA 麻豆精品 S� one of the largest video game creators in Central Florida 麻豆精品 S� employs more than 100 UCF graduates. The company often looks to UCF 麻豆精品 S檚 digital media majors and Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy students for internship and job openings thanks to a close partnership between UCF and the company.
麻豆精品 S淔inding out that I was the finalist for the position 麻豆精品 S� as there was only one intern spot on the team 麻豆精品 S� was incredible, 麻豆精品 S� says Blain. 麻豆精品 S淭o know I had been chosen from dozens of applicants really helped lower my impostor syndrome, as well as prove to myself that I do have what it takes to make my dreams come true. I worked really hard to get to where I am, and scoring the internship was proof of that. 麻豆精品 S�
Blain says she took away a lot of important skills from the internship, including design principles, coding techniques, teamwork skills, overall how the game industry works and what it takes to make a successful game.
As a tech designer, Blain worked with EA 麻豆精品 S檚 proprietary visual scripting engine 麻豆精品 S淔rostbite, 麻豆精品 S� used to produce video games like the upcoming EA Sports 麻豆精品 S淧GA Tour, 麻豆精品 S� on which she had the opportunity to directly work. She credits the internship with strengthening her skills as a game developer.
As of March 2022, EA is headquartered in Creative Village, placing job and internship opportunities just one block away from UCF Downtown. Although Blain 麻豆精品 S檚 internship took place during the COVID-19 pandemic, Blain says she still enjoyed the downtown campus amenities like Dunkin 麻豆精品 S�, Subway and the common study areas in Dr. Phillips Academic Commons. She also likes how close the campus was to Lake Eola 麻豆精品 S� 麻豆精品 S渋t 麻豆精品 S檚 absolutely gorgeous and I love walking around! 麻豆精品 S�
In October 2022, Blain is headed to Japan to continue her pursuit of the Japanese language and is working on landing a job in the gaming industry thanks to networking while at EA.
麻豆精品 S淓A introduced me to so many fascinating people, 麻豆精品 S� she says. 麻豆精品 S淚 really got my name out there and now I’m hopefully going to score a job at a studio I’ve dreamed of working at. They reached out to me due to my time at EA and even spoke to my previous managers to get a recommendation and understanding of how I performed during my time as an intern. It’s looking good so far, so fingers crossed it pans out! 麻豆精品 S�
Blain also shares some tips if you 麻豆精品 S檙e thinking about finding an internship: 麻豆精品 S淕et started as early as you can! Your resume and LinkedIn are most important. Seriously, don 麻豆精品 S檛 wait until the last minute to build it all up. If you 麻豆精品 S檙e interested in applications that open in October, start in August. Make a different themed resume per company 麻豆精品 S� use the company 麻豆精品 S檚 colors and fonts 麻豆精品 S� use keywords from the job description in your cover letters and resumes, and make sure everything is up to date! 麻豆精品 S�
We love seeing our #KnightsAtWorkDowntown in the City Beautiful. If you are a UCF Downtown student working in downtown Orlando, we want to share your story! All you have to do is send us an email at ucfdowntown@ucf.edu.