Dear Donors,

When I first walked up the steps of the Vassar College dorms where I would be living for the next two weeks, butterflies flew around in my stomach. My anxiety wasn't caused by the idea of living in a dorm; I was really having second thoughts about whether or not these two weeks would be fun. More questions flew around in my head. "Will I learn something here?" "What if I just suck at game development?"

I am happy to say that all those thoughts were cleared away as I settled in with the other members of the iD Game Design and Development Academy. The great part is, all of the other kids there were also caught up with the latest news in technology, video games, and game development.

My first day at iD was great. We all arrived in the evening, and after saying goodbye to our parents we got to know each other. Our instructors, given codenames such as "Flash" and "Rushmore," introduced themselves to us. Then we headed down to a cafeteria to eat dinner and play fun games.

The next day, however, everyone gathered in the "common room" around 8:30 AM. We all headed to the cafeteria for breakfast. Then we entered the computer labs specifically set up for iD. I was surprised to say the least. The laptops there were very high quality. Each had the ability to support even the most technically advanced video games in the market today.

Everyone was split up into different groups depending on which class they were taking. My instructor, Cherno, gathered the others in my class: "Game Studios 101." He explained to us in depth about what we would learn and practice in the two weeks.

From there, I took off with the help of Cherno. For the first time, I set foot into 3d modeling. I started off with playing around with the tools available in the software, AutoDesk Maya. Then I did different challenges that Cherno gave me. He answered all of my questions and guided me through achieving certain designs. Over time, I made a robot and started animating it to walk. Then I started doing more complex challenges, such as making a model of a chair from a single cube. Something that was once a remote and complex concept to me became so much easier within the span of a few days.

Other than 3d-modeling, Cherno taught me how to use a game development engine known as the Unreal Engine. With Unreal Engine, I was able to make small 3d mini games. I learned how to program different concepts into games with the engine. Best of all, I learned how to put the 3d models I made into my games.

Each day, I had almost seven hours to program, develop, and learn. It was an incredible experience. As any programmer or developer knows, making a program, especially a game, guarantees that you will run into frustrating bugs. As the other campers and I laughed over our creations and attempted to assist each other with bugs, we all bonded more.

I am glad to say that, in the end, I learned a great deal from iD Game Design. My two weeks there gave me an incredible knowledge that would not be possible without you donors. I am so grateful to everyone who helped me get to this point. I thank you all from the bottom of my heart. Because of all I have learned, I am entering a game development competition. My game will be made out of my experiences from iD as well as hours of debugging programs. But most of all, it will be made out of the generosity that donors like you have.

Sincerely,
Ahnaf Taha

P.S. I have attached a few screenshots of the 3d models I am working on for my game, as well as a working logo I made for it.

I want to start by thanking everyone who has helped fund my campaign.

Thanks to all of you, I will be taking the "iD Game Studios 101" course at iD Game Design and Development Academy in less than a week. The program is two weeks long and will cover all aspects of designing video games -- from getting the idea for a game to having a playable version on a computer or console.

I chose this program because game development is a field I have been very interested in. For the past two years, my interests in designing video games has led to experiments with different game development software. At one point, I had demos of a mobile game working on my phone. However, I need the knowledge of professionals at iD Game Design and Development Academy to make sure that I can make a successful mobile game-and possible pursue a career further in game development.

There are so many parts of this summer program that I am excited about. From staying overnight at Vassar College to working with the software that real game developers use, everything willl be so amazing. Of all of these aspects, I am most excited to use professional game development software at the course. A lot of game development software can be large, technical, and difficult to learn. My course at iD Tech, however, will teach me to use software such as Unreal Engine.

With everything that the iD Game Studios 101 course has to offer, I am incredibly excited to go. None of this would be possible without the support of wonderful donors and Wishbone. Once again, thank you so much for everything.