Hello to everyone on the Train2Game courses, my name is Daniel Parkes, and I’d like to share my story and what it means to me to be on the Train2Game QA Tester course.
Like every good story does, I’ll start from the beginning. For the past 20 years games and gaming have not only been my number one hobby, but a passion that continuously grows day after day.
I wouldn’t say I’m your standard day-to-day gamer. I love to play games don’t get me wrong, who doesn’t? But the really fun part for me is everything else about the game. The way it’s made and put together and the time, effort and ideas that have gone into making the game that you choose to buy. I started this love off on my first computer around the age of six on a Spectrum and played the classics like Paperboy and Dizzy and never stopped.
Through my school life I had the aim of getting into the industry and achieve what I needed to make this happen. It didn’t take long for a spanner to be thrown into the works. I was finding it harder and harder to learn and absorb the information that was needed just in day-to-day school life.
I went for a few tests and that told me I was dyslexic, and to be honest I didn’t have a clue what that was at the time. So thank you to most my teachers and school friends who told me “is ok you’re just thick” and “you’re a bit slow” and what followed was the icing on the cake for me because they pointed out I wouldn’t achieve my dream goal.
A year went by and nothing changed for me so me and my family made the decision to send me to collage to try and boost my chances of getting good GCSEs.
I was studying Art, IT, maths and English at collage for 2 years. I was naive to think that making my teachers aware of my dyslexia would enable me to gain the extra help and support I needed for me to pass my course. I tried my hardest in every subject but still I was failing to understand any of it. I had to make a choice, by dropping one of my courses I was able to concentrate purely on my other three subjects. It took all my time and energy, I gave it my all, unfortunately this was not enough. Exam day came and I only got marked on my English which I walked away with an F. My life couldn’t have felt any smaller or empty than it did then.
From the age 16 to 20 I worked in retail, warehouses, factories, agricultural work, care work, sales and painting & decorating. Not one of these jobs can come close to the buzz I get when I think of a job in the games industry. The other jobs were good, I’ve met a lot of good, kind people through my life and the main thing I’ve learned is that dyslexic people are not thick and useless. It’s the opposite in actual fact.
In every job I’ve had, I always have excelled in working as part of a team and bringing ideas forward to improve production or development.
My weakness is the basics like reading and writing. I can only improve on that but I’ve always being upfront with my employers on this matter. Lucky for me I like to talk so they gave me a chance and overlooked my poor academic background.
I saw Train2Game on the internet and filled out the form about 6 months ago. I didn’t think anything more about it after that just on the grounds that i know how many people share the same dream and ambition as me.
A few weeks ago I had the call…. my heart stopped and then restarted. We got talking and he liked my game knowledge, so he arranged for someone to see me.
The next day I had a visit from one of the Train2Game team. We were talking for about two and a half hours, and I just tried to sell myself as best I could. He told me how many people want this chance and many of them had GCSEs and higher qualifications. By the end of the visit I just hoped I had done enough and said everything I could.
Within two days I had the call that picked my life up again. I got offered a position on the Train2Game QA Tester course. The first thing I was very worried about, was will I be able to learn this time and take it all in?
So far so good; I recently passed my first TMA. How Train2Game set the work out makes it so much easier for me to understand and take in all the information required. When I read the material given to me by Train2Game, it’s like I know it already it just finds a place in my brain and stays there.
My dream and only goal is not only possibly but a reality to me now. Train2Game, what you have given me is something I couldn’t repay back. Thank You and good luck to everyone I hope my little story helps.
Daniel Parkes
Train2Game QA Tester student
T2G Student Daniel 