I quit on my dream after one programming class. 10 years later, my name's in 44 video game credits. Here's what I learned about not giving up.
One bad class almost cost me everything I wanted.
When I was in high school, all I wanted was to work in video games. That was it. The whole dream. But then I took a programming class and discovered I absolutely hated it. One class. That's all it took for me to convince myself the door was closed. I figured if I couldn't code, I couldn't work in games. So I stopped thinking about it entirely. The dream just... died.
I was raised by a single mother with six kids in a poor household. There were no mentors. No one in my family who'd worked in tech or entertainment. No roadmap. When giving up on your dream feels like the realistic thing to do—especially when you lack direction or positive role models—it's easy to accept defeat and move on.
Then in 2014, I found out Sony PlayStation had a studio right here in San Diego where I was living. That reignited something I thought was long dead. I made it my mission. Within a year, I was working there.
Today, my name appears in the credits of 44 video games. Forty-four. I saw it roll by recently on Marvel Tokon and felt something I hadn't felt since I was a kid watching credits as a nobody in the audience.
Here's the part that matters: I don't write code. I never did. My credit reads Systems Administrator. And that's the real lesson about giving up on your dream—most people quit because they fixate on one narrow path into their goal. I thought the only door into games was through programming. But games don't get made by programmers alone. They get made by artists, designers, sound engineers, producers, QA testers, project managers, and yes, systems administrators.
The door you think is the only door usually isn't.
When I was younger, I'd watch credits roll without recognizing a single name. Now one of them is mine. But that only happened because I didn't let one bad experience define what was possible. I let the dream breathe. I stayed open. And when the opportunity showed up years later, I was ready to walk through a different door than the one I'd originally imagined.
If you're at Success Scholars or anywhere else trying to figure out your path, understand this: the version of your childhood dream you hold right now might not be the version that actually comes true. And that's okay. The point isn't hitting a specific target. The point is staying committed to the direction while staying flexible about the route.
Whatever your dream was—whatever it still is—don't give up on it because one thing didn't work out. You don't know where life is going to take you or which doors are going to open. But they will open if you keep moving.
So here's your action step: Name one dream you've given up on. Now ask yourself honestly—did you give up on the dream itself, or just on one particular way of reaching it? There's usually more than one door. Go find another one.