My passion forgaming: A Lifelong Journey (part 2)
After graduating from high school, studying Business at ESADE was a natural progression for me. My passions for tech, business, and gaming converged in this choice, but I quickly realized that juggling the demands of an elite business school left little room for my gaming pursuits. Despite this, gaming never truly left my life. During breaks, my friends and I would dive into Pro Evolution Soccer 3 on a PS2, and I finally got to experience legendary games like Final Fantasy and Metal Gear Solid 2—titles I had only read about in magazines.
Gaming reappeared in an unexpected form when ESADE organized an Xbox tournament featuring Halo. I paired up with a friend, and our teamwork, honed through countless Xbox party nights, proved unstoppable. We dominated the competition, and our victory earned us an Xbox, which I sold to finally purchase a PlayStation 2. This long-awaited console allowed me to dive into Dragon Ball Z Budokai 3 and Tenkaichi—games that became the centerpiece of many late-night gaming sessions with friends.
The release of the Xbox 360 marked another significant chapter. Gears of War left me in awe with its gritty gameplay and revolutionary graphics. After working as a bank teller one summer, I saved enough to buy the console, and my girlfriend gifted me FIFA 10, marking my shift from Pro Evolution Soccer. The combination of Halo 3’s stunning visuals and the thrilling competition of Call of Duty 4 on Xbox Live became defining experiences of this era. Even during my semester abroad in Copenhagen, my Xbox 360 came along, serving as a bridge that connected me with new friends.
Post-graduation, I aspired to break into the gaming industry, but with no direct experience, it seemed out of reach. My journey took a detour into tech, landing a role at Hewlett-Packard as a Marketing Assistant in the Large Format Printing division. This role was a crash course in data analysis, teamwork, and meeting tight deadlines—skills that would prove invaluable.
After a year at HP, I ventured into entrepreneurship, setting up a webshop selling various products, including condoms. This experience was my introduction to e-commerce, SEO, and SEM, running social media campaigns and optimizing content for better search engine performance. This short yet intense period taught me a lot about digital marketing and laid the groundwork for my next big move—joining Google, a chapter I’ll explore in detail next.
Gaming was always more than a hobby; it was a passion that shaped my experiences and influenced my career path. From the thrill of multiplayer sessions with friends to the discipline learned from balancing studies and gaming, each step of my journey has been about merging my love for games with my professional ambitions.
In the next part, I'll dive into how these early experiences, skills from tech roles, and my entrepreneurial spirit led me to Google, where I embarked on a new adventure that brought my career dreams closer to reality.
