Hey folks! I am Christian Romero, and I have just begun my grad school adventures at the University of Connecticut! I hail from Orange County, NY, and I am super excited to start a brand new life here in Connecticut.

I got my start at Drexel University studying Game Art & Production. I knew since high school that I wanted to do game design in *some* form, but it took me a while to figure out exactly what about making games appealed to me. Since then, I have come to learn that I have a real fondness for worldbuilding, narration, education, and – most importantly for my time at UConn – 3D modeling and design.

For my first year here, my goals are twofold. One, I wish to build upon all I’ve learned through three years of self-guided Blender practice, and hone my skills in a studio setting. I can be a very messy person when working on my projects – running a ‘cowboy operation’, if you will – and I want to adopt the best industry practices so I can be a reliable teammate down the line.

Secondly, I want to see how best to apply my skills to projects with historic, cultural, and humanitarian significance. That’s one of  my biggest goals overall here at UConn, but ever since first filling out my application, I’ve been keen to join Virtual Aleppo, the code name for a project Prof. Ken Thompson is currently organizing. This project is in its early stages, and it touches on a lot of things I would like to be involved with as a digital artist.

On that note, the biggest things I would like to be involved with for Greenhouse Studios would be the historical projects it has in the works. I am familiar with both Courtroom 600 and Charles VR, and I’m fascinated with both. As games with historical significance, they’re exactly the sort of projects I would like to focus on and specialize in long-term, and Greenhouse provides an excellent opportunity for me to explore what it means to be a 3D artist working on these sorts of serious, educational programs.

I can’t say I have a lot of pressing questions about Greenhouse on my mind at the moment. I feel comfortable with what is *currently* expected of me. The biggest thing I would be curious of, long-term, is how much agency and creative input I will have in the projects I work on. I like to insert my own creative touch on the projects I am involved with, and I am intrigued by how I might be able to do that down the road.

As for what I want to be after I graduate – I want to be an established professional who can both tell a compelling narrative and craft some really pretty 3D models. Moreover, I want to be someone more intimately familiar with a variety of historic and political issues. Though I may be a digital artist, I have a strong interest in history and politics, and I want to be someone who can both reliably speak to various issues and – even more importantly – amplify the voices of others for other causes that badly need recognition and support.

In another way, I also want to be someone who would work on projects and exhibits for museums and other educational institutions while also having the time to work on games on the side. As much as I love game dev, I have my reservations about working in the games industry, chiefly because of widespread abuses and corruption taking place in both massive studios and indie teams. It’s a subject I have very complicated feelings on, but for the immediate future, I would like to secure work that would not be exploitative or inhumane.

That said, my biggest interests involve history, anthropology/cultural studies, social justice, and politics both international and domestic. I have a strong interest in the plight of immigrant and minority groups in various contexts, and it’s something where I want to put my money where my mouth is, especially as a descendent of multiple immigrant groups. I am also a huge Star Wars fan – love the old EU – and it would be both a joy and a terrifying prospect to be a creative director of some kind for something involving Star Wars. Lastly, I would like to think I’m kind and compassionate, but my actions will speak louder than my words on that front. I wish to be a warm and friendly face around the studio, and I look forward to getting to know you all.

Thank you for reading my post! If you’ve made it this far, I hope you have a lovely night.