Announcing the $10,000 Evo Scholarship Winners for 2012!

by inkblot on October 24th, 2012 at 3:34 pm

It took longer than we expected, but we have finally awarded the first ever Evo College Scholarship! The response was enormous; in our first year we received over 500 applications. Thankfully, the number of PPV viewers for Evo 2012 have allowed us to add one additional scholarship. So for 2012 we will grant two $10,000 awards, along with a special $500 creative grant! An enormous THANK YOU goes out to all our online viewers and to Capcom, Namco, Warner Bros, and Atlus for allowing us to run the PPV.

Students, this was an enormously difficult decision, so congratulations to our 2012 winners.

Dillon Jay Hageman

Dillon is a local Las Vegas player and a freshman at UNLV. He plans to major in Engineering or Computer Science and apply his education to designing games. In his essay, Dillon talked about how games have given him a positive outlet when dealing with some tough personal circumstances.

There are a million different reasons to play games, and everyone has their own unique story. I’ve had a tough childhood. My parents got divorced when I was just six years old and my dad hasn’t been in my life worth mentioning ever since. … Throughout my younger years I was one of the most athletic people I’ve ever known. Injuries and family issues caught up to me, and sports faded out of my life.

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For some people, games are just a way to pass time. Games for me have always meant just so much more than that. When I lost the ability to compete in sports, games supplied that thrill of competition for me. More than anything though, they allowed me to escape from life for short periods of time and kept me sane when things were difficult.

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I’m majoring in engineering/computer science because games have done so much for me and I want to help design a game that could do the same for another kid. This scholarship would help me out a ton and I sincerely appreciate your consideration.

Here’s a quick message from Dillon regarding his new scholarship.

Going to my first Evolution tournament was one of the greatest experiences I’ve had and I would definitely encourage everyone to make it out to Vegas for it in the future. Also, thanks to everyone who donated to the scholarship fund. I know many people weren’t even watching the stream, or didn’t care about the quality, and yet they still gave their money to the cause. I’d like to give a shoutout to Shrugu, Cartoon, Beto, Ruin, Zeromax, and the rest of the vegas scene. Big shoutout to Megaboy_BTP, who I’ve probably played 10,000 games against online. Also, Shoutouts to the whole FGC for making these games so enjoyable to play. It’s the best scene in the world, there’s just no other way to put it.

Andrew Dotey Jr.

Andrew is a graduate student at Stanford University pursuing his Master’s Degree in Computer Science. In his essay, Andrew discussed his lifelong interest in games and effect games have had in his life.

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As I’ve grown, my games have grown alongside me, with new systems and underlying technology …Two things that have remained constant are my fascination with games and the pure joy that they give me. When I was younger, I would spend entire days progressing through the latest games I was playing.

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My family has never been able to afford to travel, but games have allowed me to journey to countless new worlds and enjoy many new experiences. … As I’ve gotten older, I’ve become more interested in competitive gaming, and regularly bond with my friends over sessions of games like Counter-Strike or Street Fighter. I’ve made friends at tournaments that I never would’ve met otherwise.

Andrew would also like to thank everyone who made this scholarship possible.

I would like to give a special thanks to the fighting (and competitive) game community for helping to advance gaming’s status in society further than that of a simple pastime.

Christina Auo

Christina is a student at Ringling College of Art and Design. We are happy to award Christina a $500 creative grant to produce a work of art related to fighting games or arcade culture. In her essay, Christina writes:

Playing game was something that I could never imagine as a child. I grew up with my grandparents, while my parents were busy with their works.

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I remember my parents destroying my computer and game CDs when I was junior in high school. Like typical Asian parents, they were disappointed at the fact that I’m wasting my time on gaming that I’m not taking my schoolwork seriously. They thought I was addicted like I’m on drug, while I was simply, exploring.

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I took games as a form of art, which is a mixture of plenty of other types of art: It has scenarios like movies or plays, it has beautiful concept arts filled with brilliant imagination, beautiful renderings that are eye catching, and interesting interactive mechanics that attracts the gamers’ focus. I didn’t play the games because I was addicted to them. I played them to figure out why they are addicting and why they are special.

Now I’m Junior at Ringling College of Art and Design, studying Game Art and Design as my major. I’m proud of what I am doing and I would be happy to receive more encouragements.

Aside from Evo, this has been one of the most satisfying things for me personally that we have done here at Shoryuken.com Once again, thanks to everyone who helped make the scholarships possible!