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In this series, How Did I Get Here?, I will be sitting down (and logging onto Zoom) with individuals that have a career path that resembles a roller coaster track more than a sidewalk.
When Adrien Cho graduated from U of A in 1998 with his BSc in Mechanical Engineering, Microsoft was still three years away from releasing their first gaming console, the Xbox. Adrien’s current role as the Outsource and Vendor Manager at 343 Industries, an American game developer part of Xbox Game Studios, didn’t even exist yet. Today, Adrien flies around the world getting to know different artists and companies that are specialized in specific game development skills to see if they would be a good fit with the team at 343 Industries. Adrien grew up hoping to do something creative in his career, so being able to work and make meaningful connections with other artists for the gaming industry is something Adrien is extremely grateful for everyday.
However, Adrien did not waltz out of university and into his role at Xbox. Adrien’s passion for art and career in a creative field was not a straight-forward path. Adrien became interested in art when his older sister began taking weekend art classes from a local Chinese artist. He developed his artistic skills at an early age, but his interest waned when a high school art teacher warned him to be "prepared for a life of hardship" if he chose to pursue art as a career, which simply wasn’t the life that Adrien’s parents wanted for him.
“My parents sacrificed a lot: they gave up their lives to immigrate to Canada,” says Adrien, who is Canadian-born Chinese (CBC). As a child of immigrant parents myself, hearing about Adrien’s experiences with the pressure that comes with wanting to meet your parent’s expectations struck a chord. I actually find the parallels between our experiences almost comical because just as Adrien went into engineering school to try and meet those expectations, I initially went into nursing school for the same reason (I eventually transferred out).
“[After graduation], I did a lot of *interesting* jobs but also it was a really good way to figure out what I didn't want to do,” Adrien says. Just as Adrien had to work many strenuous jobs that didn’t truly interest him to learn what types of jobs he didn’t like, taking different classes and moving around programs just means you’re taking extra steps to get to a place that suits you the best. If you’re in a place where you’re unhappy with what you are doing, it would be good to take a step back, take a holistic look at what’s in front of you, and tell yourself 'that’s not exactly what I want to do, and that's OK.'"
Adrien returned to U of A in 2000 for a MDes in Industrial Design and finally pursued his passion for art. Still, Adrien maintains that the skills and values he gained from his undergrad help him in all of his jobs even to this day. As I enter the final year of my degree, one particular reflection of Adrien’s will stick with me: “you can practice and fail safely in school.” In school, getting a bad grade may mean failing a course and having to repeat it, but in a job you don’t want to do poorly or fail because the stakes are much higher. As someone who has changed degrees more times than I would like to admit, seeing Adrien look back at his first degree with gratitude rather than regret has given me the chance to look at my own tumultuous degree path through a different lens.
But that’s not to say that working through a possibly life-changing decision is easy. “It never felt courageous, it was just like 'I think this is the thing that I want to do,'” referring to his decision to go back to school to pursue his passion for art. By comparing the act of making a difficult decision to jumping from one platform to the next in a Super Mario game, Adrien captures the fear and anxiety that can stop someone from making that jump as well as what drives someone to take that leap: “I didn't want to stand on that ledge and have regrets for the rest of my life.”
Adrien urges anyone who is thinking about taking a leap in school or their career to be courageous (even if you don’t feel that way in the moment) because that is how you reach the end of the level. Each time Adrien reached a precipice in his career journey, whether it was deciding to go back to school for art or taking on a job despite feeling unsure of his abilities, he was glad that he took that leap.
Once Adrien followed his passion for arts and made the leap to go back to get his Masters in Design, he found his experience studying design to be incredibly empowering because he was doing it for himself and no one else. By staying true to himself and constantly reflecting on whether he felt like he was heading in the direction that he wanted to go on he was able to overcome barriers such as self doubt and fears which ultimately led him to his current job at 343 Industries working on the Halo franchise.
A valuable lesson that Adrien has learned from his winding career path that resonated with me is that you should “stay true to yourself and constantly ask what you really want in life and be courageous when the time comes.” Adrien passionately shared that a great part of this drive to continue to grow in his career and personal life stems from a quote by Joseph Campbell he crossed paths with in a high school English class: “that if you do follow your bliss you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while, waiting for you, and the life that you ought to be living is the one you are living. When you can see that, you begin to meet people who are in your field of bliss, and they open doors to you. I say, follow your bliss and don't be afraid, and doors will open where you didn't know they were going to be.” This meant nurturing his passion for art and creativity, though this realization did not come to him until after completing his engineering degree and realizing that it just wasn’t the path he envisioned for himself. He eventually realized that “at some point in my life, I need to live my life." Following his bliss, his passion for art ultimately became a beacon to guide him and ensure that he remains on a path that allows him to stay true to himself.
I am still struggling to come to terms with the fact that you can never fully prepare and plan for everything in life but having a guiding mantra such as Adrien’s is something that I want to apply to my own turbulent life. I find that when you’re at a crossroads in your career or studies, it’s easy to make the situation even tougher by overthinking and getting lost in your thoughts, so having a simple yet powerful idea such as following your bliss can make working through a tough situation much simpler. “I didn't choose the right path right away, but that's okay,” confesses Adrien, reiterating that as long as you can find a way to follow your bliss, “the doors of life will open for you.”
Want to hear more from Adrien? Listen to "Making a Video Game with Adrien Cho" on U of A Alumni's What the Job podcast!
About Francine
Francine is in her fifth and final year of the secondary education program with the fun combination of being a physics major and English minor (she swears there’s more overlap than it seems!) She is very importantly also an avid lover of bread and cats. When she's not spending time working and studying, you can catch her reading a book, playing video games, or finding various ways to be a loaf.