I remember the day I got home, and I told my dad to sit down
and I told him I want to switch from a career of banking to a career of video games
I had to calm him down a bit.
It took him a good few months to really come to terms with this decision
How did you tell your family you wanted to work in video games?
It's a good question
Ah man
I didn't know I had to tell my parents
So I didn't tell my parents
It's very hard for me to tell my family what it is that I actually do
They somehow in their mind think I play computer games all day
I was taking my studies in computer engineering
and I told my dad I really wanted to go to school as a animator
and he said no way, you're not doing that, you're finishing your studies
I was in my third year of law school
when I told my parents I wanted to work at Ubisoft
And they are like, whats that? Is that a law firm?
and I say, no, it's a video game company
and they were like, oh, I've never heard of it
they were really kind of shocked
'cause this is not a real, let's say, job
They didn't think it was a thing
My dad was afraid
They are cambodian's civil war refugees
Their only goal was to earn money, enough money to have better life
He told me, honestly I didn't believe in you at all
but today I'm proud of you
My mother started me making video games when I was about 8 years old
She learned how to program herself and taught me how to do it
So I was making video games ever since I was a little kid
My house burned down when I was 9 years old
and we were left nothing-no toys, nothing between the 3 brothers
and we would use catalogues, and basically bring to life a role playing game
using, you know, pen and paper, and our own imagination
From there, my mom kind of knew I was gonna explore some things from that creative side
She has always been super supportive for that endeavor
My mom was super supportive
She just gave me a thumbs up and say, go for it
My dad was supportive as well, but he think this is super childish
and I'm gonna grow out of it one day
so now I'm 37 and I'm still haven't grown out of it
and I thinks he's very happy for me since how happy I am
You know sometimes she will try to tell her friends
"Oh my daughter writes for video games"
and they'll say, oh what's that like
and she'll say, uh, I think she make the words come out of the character's mouth
so you know, bless her
She supports me, and that's all that matters
Now he's happy for me,
so I'm glad I did and didn't hide it
Don't hide it
Explain to them that being in the video game industry
isn't just about sitting all day long playing video games
If your parents support you, then it's great for you
but if your parents does not support you, you should just tell them anyway
because I think having your dream job is worth the risk
Just be honest, I think, let them know you're passionate about it
let them know why you want to go into this
Don’t choose your career with your brain,
but choose something that your heart tells you to do
even though it sounds very cheesey