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Finding friends and fun through esports

Truman Godsey plans to follow in the footsteps of his dad and become a software engineer.��

Along the way, this computer science major from Hilliard, Ohio, is making friends and having fun by participating in Ohio Northern University’s esports program.

“I joined the esports program because people told me it was a great opportunity to make lifelong friends who share similar interests with you,” he says. “That has certainly been true. I am meeting a ton of people from different colleges and majors whom I probably would not have met if it wasn’t for esports.”

Truman competes in Valorant, a team-based, first-person tactical hero video game developed by Riot Games. He typically practices for several hours most evenings, then competes in tournaments on Wednesdays and the weekends. He recently took first place in a $750 prize pool gaming fest LAN, and also traveled to Columbus to participate in an LAN competition with his teammates.

“I enjoyed this experience because it allowed me to make friends from other colleges around the U.S., including from schools in New Jersey, West Virginia and Michigan,” he says.

Academically, Truman is excelling in the T.J. Smull College of Engineering. He enjoys learning about how computers function internally, and he knows his degree will set him up for excellent job prospects after graduation.

“I am also proud to be an �������Ƶ student because of the relationships I am able to build here,” he says. “It feels like everyone is part of a family.”

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