One man-child's great journey to the magical Northwest.
I can’t mark the moment the realization took hold. Even the interview loop—made ethereal by nearly eighteen hours without sleep—seemed shrouded in fog. Reality seemed comprised only of Missouri, Iowa, South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho. States that faded away as fast as my wagon—a trusty Honda—could power me westward.
It could have clicked someplace in South Dakota, where the bleached grass was broken only by hand painted signs promising marvels in The Original 1880’s Town. Authentic set pieces from Dances with Wolves, Otis the Camel, and a Casey Tibb’s museum. They even proclaimed ownership of the “Real” General Lee. Whether or not they had the old Duke boys’ wheels stored away in an old, graying barn or the actual Civil War general, a gnarled gray visage stuffed and propped, I’ll never know. When 1880’s Town came up on the left, I didn’t take my foot off the pedal.
Because as strange as the promises offered by those hand painted signs seemed, as surreal and absurd as packing up my belongings and heading to Seattle was—the endpoint on my map was Kirkland, Washington. I had landed a gig with Bungie.
How bizarre.
I remember watching the Halo 2 E3 Demonstration (yeah, that one) and just being floored by it. The curious opening notes as the Chief’s Pelican ducked down below the cloud cover, the gravity-defying megalopolis of New Mombasa looming, and the decimated defending UNSC ground forces, left in no condition to fight.
When I walked into the interview with Bungie at eight o’clock in the morning, similar sensations coursed through me. A sense of curiosity and wonder, the looming prospect of a day packed with 11 interviewers, and the fear that the previous night, sleepless, nearly every moment spent with my laptop in the hotel room writing (and rewriting) the required submissions—an assignment that was handed over by the hotel concierge just before I begrudgingly drug my suitcase toward the elevator that carried me to my room—could've sapped my fortitude and rendered my responses senseless and unintelligible. Apparently the good burgers at Bungie thought I was wide awake.
I kept my foot on the pedal. And I filled my tank again and again, with the bitter wonder of freshly brewed and generously poured coffee.
“How do I get a job at Bungie Studios?” It’s not an uncommon question. It pops up all the time in the usual community haunts. But it might be the wrong one to ask. I did a fifteen year stint working jobs that answered the wrong questions. “How much will I earn?” ‘How long is the commute?” “Will it advance my career?” I wanted to be a writer, but words didn’t answer those questions for me. So I worked retail, and then customer service, and then Information Technology. And I can’t remember the exact moment the realization took shape for me, but sure enough, one day I allowed myself to entertain the idea that I could be a writer. Not with an eye toward working for Bungie, or any other company for that matter, but because it’s something I’m passionate about. Because my mom has a binder in the living room curio filled with stories I was conjuring up from Kindergarten on. Because I love doing it.
In the coming months I’m going to be talking to other Bungie employees, some you may already know, others who are somewhat new to the team. Though their stories probably won’t be as maudlin as my own, they should give you a great look into the diverse paths taken to land jobs at Bungie across multiple disciplines. Buckle up. I hope you’ll enjoy the ride as much as I have.