The Hub: Esports and Gaming Living Learning Community (LLC)

Alexander Almacky

Alexander Almacky is an interactive designer specializing in game design with an additional interest in digital marketing and project management. In particular, he has a deep passion for building community through purposeful media while having fun along the way. Throughout his time at TCNJ, Alex has applied his skills and interests in a variety of different forms including class projects, hackathons, and working as a Community Advisor (CA) for the College. In the future, Alex is gripped on working in industries involving games and social media.

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Email: almacka1@tcnj.edu

What is “The Hub”?

How cool would it be if we could elevate gaming EVEN MORE onto a college campus? To make things feel more natural, lively, and connected. As a college student and someone who tends to play a lot of video games (and I mean a lot), I couldn’t help but let my mind wander how we could do so. Currently, TCNJ has offered a decent amount of gaming-related opportunities including game design classes, clubs such as LIONS Gaming, and the occasional guest speaker. However, it still feels like there is lack of these experiences that could be approached from a different angle to foster a stronger community at the College. For a lot of people (including myself), gaming has always been a sort of home, being able to sit back, relax, and play in a welcoming environment that one can learn from. I think a lot of gamers — both casual and competitive — would appreciate it if we could bring that same feeling of home to the forefront.

That being said, I decided to write a proposal that suggests ideas on how we could create that atmosphere based on the aspects of living and learning as a fellow college resident and student. Similar to its definition, The Hub would serve as the area, or in this case, community for gamers to come together and access all “levels” of their game.

What is a Living Learning Community?

For clarification, a Living Learning Community (LLC) is a specialized living environment that helps students explore a common interest or academic pursuit with each other. From topics of Culture to Global Health, LLCs are essentially a place for students to participate in programs that cater to their academic, social, and personal needs; each centered on a distinctive theme.

***Below is the proposal itself, a brief writing of my ideas for The Hub: Esports and Gaming LLC***

The Hub: Esports and Gaming LLC

About

The Esports and Gaming living-learning community (LLC) was originally created to be a unique living opportunity that will help peers find a sense of belonging through their love for gaming and desire to take their game to a higher level – be it competitively, a career goal, or making friends who simply enjoy playing games. Through participation within this community, students will gain an increased knowledge of topics related to gaming and gaming-related careers, as well as gain access to programming, resources, and support for those wishing to learn more about the opportunities in the world of gaming.

*All residential students, regardless of major, are invited to participate in this community. Must maintain a cumulative GPA of 2.5 or better, a semester GPA of 2.0 and good disciplinary standing with the College.

The Hub: Esports and Gaming LLC is located in Townhouses East. Residents of the LLC will be placed together, totaling up to 10 possible residents maximum in each Townhouse. How many dedicated Townhouses for the The Hub will be dependent on the amount of students that decide to apply and enroll in the LLC.

*Residents are highly encouraged to bring in their own gaming equipment (e.g. console, PC, monitor, headset, etc.) to play comfortably within their own space. However, one console with supporting equipment (such as controllers, monitor, and headset) will be provided within each house lounge for everyone to share.

Programs/Events

Highlights include: Faculty and special guest visits, tournaments, career panels, and skill-building workshops.

Some more in-depth examples of such events include:

• Test Your Might - Play against professional Esports players/streamers to test your skill, learn something new, and have a good time with the best of best.

• Game Dev Panel - Drop by and listen to a panel of amazing creators as they elaborate on the design and technical process behind their team’s most highly acclaimed games.

• Meet & Greet - Socialize with some of your favorite gaming icons and get the chance to ask them any burning questions that you’ve been dying to have answered since the very beginning.

• The Hub Retreat - Bond with your fellow Hub community and enjoy getting some sun at a trip to the Jersey Shore.

Required Courses

Build on your love for games and leadership skills by enrolling in IMM 270 - Special Topic: Game Studies and Design and IMM 270 - Special Topic: Speaking with Confidence. Although notably different, both courses will challenge one to think outside the box through problem solving and strategy in their own unique way. Overcoming one obstacle over another, students will be able to learn from failure, embrace their creativity and personality, and gain a deeper appreciation for games and people as a whole.

IMM 270 - Special Topic: Game Studies and Design — “Game Studies and Design aims to show you some ways to read games more deeply as cultural products that give meaning, and allow meaning to be formed through play. In practice, this means that we'll have discussions, debates, play sessions, and readings selected to give you the opportunity to have informed, intelligent reasons for liking or disliking a game and to write clearly and persuasively about what you've played and created. You'll also design, create, playtest, and iterate on games designed to address a theme, issue, or idea”.

IMM 270 - Special Topic: Speaking with Confidence — “Speaking with Confidence is a public speaking and leadership development course designed to give college students an edge during job interviews, internships and entry-level working opportunities. The course employs interactive public speaking activities, two personality assessments and leadership training exercises to enhance self-confidence, mindful communication and service-oriented work ethic. Course materials are derived from Toastmasters International, Dale Carnegie, Myers-Briggs, John Wooden and Stephen Covey”.

*Permission to take both of these courses will be granted by the instructor for fellow LLC students. Recommended to enroll within Sophomore year.

Learning (Academic Experience)

Goal: Students should be able to develop a stronger sense of community through their shared passion for games and accompanied resources, as well as a better understanding of playing and making games as a career.

As a result of being part of The Hub a resident demonstrates the capacity to: 

• Recognize new perspectives about games

• Cooperatively function on a team and take leadership

• Balance good sportsmanship with a competitive spirit

• Think critically and make well thought-out decisions

• Adapt when a sudden problem arises

• Manage resources and expenditures

My Process

It wasn’t just my love for games that lead me to write this proposal but also my job as a Community Advisor (CA) at the College. Being a CA, I had responsibilities in fostering a healthy and lively community so it was a no brainer to combine that same mindset with my passion for gaming. With that in mind, to get a more professional viewpoint from the Residential Education and Housing space, I met with my Resident Director and supervisor, Brenelle Tyus from time to time for guidance. Through these meetings, I was able to see what a LLC really consists of in terms of writing style, structure, and the legitimacy of implementing such a community.

I began this project by writing down ideas and visualizing the kind of gaming community that I would want to live in and be a part of. However, I found myself forming an administrative document that was overly detailed and not something I was very excited about at first. So, instead of including the logistic information (selection process, implementation timeline, ResEd roles, budget, etc.), I decided to leave that out and keep it more conceptual and minimal by writing a brief overview of my LLC. Looking at it now, I think it gives the reader a solid grasp of my vision which was my goal to begin with. Overall, I enjoyed letting my mind venture as coming up with program/event ideas, conceptualizing a logo, and collaborating with my supervisor proved to be a great learning experience and a lot of fun.