Who Am I?
Me playing hockey.
I'm not exactly one for describing myself so i will do the best i can to let you know more about me. I grew up in a small farming town called Smithville where i currently reside. At a young age I was always active and very focused academically. I played competitive baseball for 9 years and hockey for 8 years where i learned many important lessons such as teamwork, sportsmanship, and the rewards of hard work. One of my prouder accomplishments during these years was being the recipient of the Corey Bufo Award for the most sportsmanlike player voted on by the entire league. Not only did I learn lessons throughout extra curricular activities I also learned several academic lessons as I obtained several awards and graduated with honours from St. Martins Elementary school.
My mother Lydia and I at graduation.
The next phase which was high school brought on a whole new set of challenges for myself. During high school i really started to learn the importance of time management and organization. My hard work and focus payed off during my four years at Blessed Trinity Catholic Secondary School as I graduated with Honours and an 88% average with a reward in Technical Design. These accomplishments allowed me acceptance to the University of Ontario Institute of Technology to pursue a Bachelors of Information Technology (Honours) specializing in Game Development and Entrepreneurship. To help with this process I was the recipient of the Queen Elizabeth's Reach For the Top Scholarship and an entry bursary from the university.
My time spent in university was a very rewarding experience that allowed me to leave with a successful education and many life lessons. The journey to begin my stay in university was very difficult as my father Scott Pentz had fallen deathly ill with a brain tumour just prior to my first year of university. My father had been my main influence to pursue graphic art as a career as he had been the one who introduced me to computers and the wonderful world of video games. Despite this setback I went full step forward into my degree which brought many rewards and lessons. Some of the most important things I learned during this period was how to be resourceful in an independent environment as well as how to contribute most efficiently in varying group environments. The road to success was very difficult and trying as I was constantly pushing my creative and critical thinking to its limits, but In the end I was able to succeed with my degree and graduate.
Hobbies Interests & More
My interest in graphic art began during my later years in elementary school. I have always been interested in drawing and art but the introduction of computers and computer based games from my father allowed me to start expanding my horizon. In the early years i used to do a lot of experimenting with games by editing textures and changing parameters in the code. These early experiments sparked my ambition to pursue graphical art as a career. A lot of my early knowledge was learn from first hand experience and the aid of the internet. One of my earlier projects was a multiplayer map that i developed using the Call of Duty radiant engine. Although it was an extremely difficult learning curve it was a very rewarding experience as it solidified what i wished to pursue as a career.
One thing that is important to me is having passions such as hobbies or interests. Some of my passions are cars, scuba diving, golfing, photography, digital art, and the outdoors. Scuba diving has become one of my main passions as I started to learn the sport two summers ago. Since then I have obtained my PADI open water certification, advanced certification, Nitrox certification, and also my Nautical Archeological Society (NAS 1) certification. This is a great interest of mine because i find it fascinating exploring worlds that most people never get the chance to see or experience. There's a lot of beauty that's right in front of our eyes that we never get to see and almost forget exists. This is also a passion of mine because I get to combine another interest of mine which is photography. Below is one of my favourite photographs i have taken which was from Catalina Ilse in the pacific next to Guanacaste, Costa Rica. One of my future aspirations for diving is to obtain my teaching certifications so I may spread my passion for diving with other explorers.
Another one of my passions which was adopted from my father was my love for cars. When I was young I was always around my fathers race cars and demolition derby cars so I had an interest in cars since I was very young. In my latter years in high school my father purchased a 1973 mustang convertible which was very similar to a car he owned as a teenager. We had a lot of fun modifying the car and driving to car shows and cruise nights. About one year before my father passed away he had given me the mustang as he wanted me to own the car. Although he had given me the car I always told him it was still his, but I knew it brought him joy to tell everyone who asked that the car belonged to me so he could see the smile on my face. Although my father is no longer around the memories and attachment that I have with my mustang will last forever as will my passion for cars.
Although I have many more hobbies and interests I will leave them for a later time in the blog for the sake of keeping this page to a reasonable length. Some of my future ambitions are to enquire a professional and challenging job in the digital art industry. Whether it be pursuing my passion for graphic design or following a path towards 2D or 3D art in the game industry or a corporate environment I plan to apply my best abilities to achieve my goals. I believe I have the passion, drive, desire, dedication, and ability to achieve my goals and become a successful graphics artist.