Hello avid reader, if you’ve made it in here, I’ve piqued your curiosity enough that you want to know a little bit more about me.
As I mentioned in A little about VTTCLoud and Me I’m an ex-cook, journalism dropout, current computer science student and massive TTRPG Tech nerd. The story is a bit on the long side and there are bits that aren’t as fun telling, but seeing as you’re here, I’m assuming you’re curious.
Let’s start with something lighthearted! I’m currently as Comp Sci student at the Universidad del Sagrado Corazón in Puerto Rico. My passion for technology has existed from my childhood and is heavily rooted in Video Games. I’ve been an avid “gamer” for close to as long as I can remember. I had the privilege of owning a Super Nintendo (where it all started) and currently own a Switch as well as a custom-built PC. Somewhere along the lines of owning a PlayStation 2 I discovered the power of personal computers, first, for gaming, and later, for productivity.
At that time it was just a hobby, I fell down the loophole of piecing together computers quickly and dabbled lightly in software. Mostly game modding tools at the time. Then college came, except Computer Science wasn’t in the cards yet. My second love is story-telling (Hence my fixation with TTRPGs…) and in high school a “not-quite-so-good” school counselor suggested I study journalism. Her words were “Literature won’t get you anything. Journalism is the only thing that can make you SOME money”. I’ll leave it at saying that she was wrong on many accounts.
To summarize the rest of the bits, I quickly realized that I would need an income if I truly wanted to live the “young adult” life. Searching for work is when I discover I can cook, first in small chain restaurants, then larger chains and, somehow, eventually at hotels and some rather expensive restaurants.
This was also, coincidentally, where discovered my love for TTRPGs. One of my closest friends and I started a conversation with, “Hey… have you ever heard of this D&D thing?”; it did not take very much for things to progress from there. This was also where things take a darker turn in the story. Hurricane Maria strikes the island and I dive headfirst into work, restaurants became some of the few sources for food around the island and this jettisoned me into many new opportunities purely on the merit of my skill. The problem is that it all comes at a cost.
I won’t remain too much on the more somber parts of my story, but it didn’t take long for me to begin to feel the negative impacts of the industry on my physical and mental health. Watch or read almost any documentary on the food industry, and you will quickly find that it is an often toxic world full of drugs, labor abuse, mental abuse and extreme crunch culture. That’s not to say these things aren’t avoidable, but my experience of growth were filled with aches, sleeplessness and anxiety. Games, family and friends were often the only light at the end of the tunnel. Especially the creative outlet that is Game Mastering a TTRPG.
Then, FINALLY, I said enough is enough and here we are, back in college. I’m taking that love for tech, story-telling and productivity and putting it out there. It’s a new chapter of my life. I hope you can follow along with me and take this opportunity to learn something alongside me.
Here’s a little video of a flying Spelljammer with some Baileywiki assets for fun!
VTTCloud 
Leave a comment