Bloomfield College Student Nabs Video Game Scholarship

BLOOMFIELD, NJ — A Bloomfield College student has earned a scholarship that may result in the next great video game.

Maya DeJesus, a creative arts and technology (CAT) major at Bloomfield College, is one of 11 inaugural recipients of the WomenIn scholarships, which help promising developers to pursue video-game related careers at accredited four-year college and universities.

The scholarships, administered by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS), aim to increase the amount of women in the interactive entertainment industry.

"Underrepresentation of women is a salient problem not only in the game industry and similar fields, but in academia as well," said Bloomfield College faculty member Brian Chung.

Each student will get $2,500 to advance their academic career and an opportunity to attend the 2017 D.I.C.E. Summit through the AIAS mentor program

"The importance of winning this award to me is setting a statement for myself," DeJesus said. "Growing up in poverty, I never thought in a million years I would be able to obtain an award this great. The money is neat, but what it stands for is more neat. It lets me know I deserve what I have worked for."

"The lack of women in this industry is a very obvious problem, and we have a lot of work to do," added fellow faculty member, GJ Lee. "This is a positive step forward and I want to see the CAT Division continue to make our students visible, heard, and properly supported. We must be active about inclusion beyond diversity."

"Women in power shouldn't be a joke. It should be something all women should aspire to be if they so choose," said DeJesus, who transferred to Bloomfield College after hearing of its competitive CAT division. "Hopefully with me winning this award, other women in CAT will push themselves to be major characters instead of minor sideline players because of intimidation. They should push for the recognition they deserve."

Photo: Bloomfield College

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