Full Sail Stories
Published Mar 12, 2021
Sportscasting Grad's Portfolio Reflects Work with Full Sail Armada
Stephen "Ayyy_Steve" Pare gained valuable experience in esports through his role as a caster and player for Full Sail’s esports program.
A recent graduate of Full Sail's Sportscasting degree program, Stephen "Ayyy_Steve" Pare was able to gain valuable experience in esports through his role as a caster and player for Full Sail Armada.
After several years pursuing a variety of degrees and career paths, Stephen found himself working at a debt collection agency, a career that left much to be desired for the grad.
"I called Full Sail and they asked me, 'What do you want to do,'" Stephen recalls. "And I'm like, 'I want to talk about the things that I enjoy with people for a living. [I want] the opposite of what I was doing before, instead of bringing horrific news, bringing actual good feelings to people.'"
That's when an admissions representative not only told Stephen about the Dan Patrick School of Sportscasting at Full Sail University, but also about Full Sail's esports community. "The fact that they had esports and the casting and production stuff, l was like, 'Okay, I can get the actual skills needed and then I already have knowledge of esports and there's already an esports program,' so it just kind of all came together," he says.
During his time as a sportscasting student, Stephen was able to focus his development on casting for esports, specifically his favorite title, League of Legends. "I wanted to be involved somehow, whether that was a player or as a caster. It was always the sort of situation, well if I'm not doing one I would like to do the other," says Stephen.
Though luckily for him, he didn't have to choose. While pursuing his degree at Full Sail, Stephen was able to participate as a player in several Full Sail Armada events including Worlds Collide and Battle for the Boulevard, as well as casting matches for the Armada Stream Team on Twitch.
"I think that my presentation has definitely gotten more confident," says the grad. "They always talk in the Dan Patrick School about getting reps and making content, doing stuff, whether it's on-camera work or editing or anything. It's about practice, practice, practice, and the more I've casted, the more comfortable I've gotten. It's definitely a thing I've learned from both casting and the program."
For incoming students and future Armada community members, Stephen's advice is simple, "Just get involved," he says. "If there's something that you want in the community, just ask and just see like, 'Hey, is anyone interested in setting up X or Y?' And there are enough people that there's bound to be at least a couple people that might be into what you're into as well."