After 3 years of studying to become a game artist at Breda University of Applied Sciences, I decided to go on exchange in my 4th year and study game design for a bit instead. I lived in Dundee, Scotland for 5 months and was often asked 'why Dundee?'. I could've chosen York or Madrid, but I chose Dundee for Abertay's game design courses. Abertay offered the perfect design introductory package including level design, narrative design and audio design. I aced all three courses and when people ask me how my exchange in Scotland was I could talk endlessly about the fun I had in school. Instead, I talk about the places I visited and the people I met which was definitely a bonus to my exchange experience :P

Of course my exchange was about more than school, but I did learn a ton from the three courses I took. There's a quote by Iroh from Avatar that goes 'It is important to draw wisdom from many different places. If you take it from only one place, it becomes rigid and stale.' I believe this rings true for making games and the different disciplines; design, programming and art. Specializing in one field is impressive and valuable, but knowing more about the other disciplines can give you a new perspective and make you more hands-on when trying to overcome a new and challenging task. There's nothing in the realm of games that I'm too scared to try or too lazy to learn. Quite the opposite; the opportunity to grow my skillset as a generalist is what fuels me.