Where are our scholars now? Anna Cooley, who received sound design and GDC scholarships, is now a Technical Audio Designer at Epic Games! How have GADA opportunities, mentorship, and support helped Anna thrive in #GameAudio? 🎧
“GADA has had an incredibly positive impact on the trajectory of my career through their continued sharing of knowledge, resources, and support. Through the scholarship to SoVGA I received, I learned a great deal about sound design and implementation. This opened a new world to me as someone coming from a primarily musical background. It allowed me to discover I had an interest in coding. When meeting one of my clients at GDC (which I was able to attend thanks to GADA’s 2024 GDC Scholarship) I was able to use this newfound passion and skill to become their lead technical audio designer, creating their audio framework in Unreal with C++.
Through their mentorship program and personal investment in their scholars, I was able to further hone my knowledge of sound design, mixing, and presenting myself as a professional. These experiences ultimately lead me to where I am now, as a Technical Audio Designer for Epic Games. My background and identity has shaped who I felt I could be and limited the opportunity of who I could become, especially in game audio. GADA’s work has helped me to overcome both the financial and social barriers I faced for these reasons, and empowered me to push myself past these obstacles. I now feel that I am on the path to become who I dreamed I could be. Thank you, GADA!”
Connect with Anna online here: