Renée DeVivo
"The most rewarding thing about my major is that it has allowed me to discover what I want to do when I grow up."
Hometown
Anthem, Arizona
To me, the InfoSci experience means...
Oh my gosh, so much. It's how I've made a ton of friends, with faculty, students, staff and advisors. It has let me explore who I am as a person and has granted me so many amazing opportunities. I love the College of Information Science because it has let me be flexible in what I want to do with the rest of my life and has been supportive along the way.
More about me:
I am studying Games and Behavior after transitioning over from Game Design and Development. I found that a career in games was something I wanted, just not the coding and technical aspect of it. Games and Behavior has taught me so many things about what I want to do in the future just out of the one class I've taken for it so far. I've learned that I want to go into a field that incorporates "fun" and "play" into its ethos, especially if those two things are its focus.
Currently I work at the Omnes Disability Student Space running TTRPGs (tabletop roleplaying games) and building community around those games! In the future, I hope to work as a play therapist, TTRPG designer or just somewhere that will let me be fully myself.
Making sure every member of a community can share their voice, story and opinion is my passion, as well as playing and making new games. Some of my favorites include Hide and Seek, the Cyberpunk Red TTRPG, Minecraft, Overwatch and my favorite game of all time: Fallout: New Vegas. Making original characters and stories, new games with absurd premises, and collecting data that no one has thought to collect before are my hobbies.
My advice for new InfoSci students is...
If you're an incoming student, I'd highly recommend joining clubs that align with your interests! I joined the Game Developers Club my first year, and now I'm an officer! Also trust in yourself that you know how to make good friends. It's okay if those people you met at Destination Arizona don't turn out to be your besties.
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