It’s that time of year. Temperatures are rising, classes are winding down, and freshmen are selling swipes at prices that would bring Maruchan to shame. For most, it’s a time of relaxation. Of fun. The calm before the storm of finals.
For graduating seniors, however, the end of the year strikes a bittersweet note. It marks the culmination of a lengthy academic commitment—one filled with hard classes, good memories, and Anteater pride. For UCI’s class of 2019, finals week really is the final week.
That said, we’d like to take a moment to acknowledge our graduating staff and their contributions to UCI Esports. Each and every one of them has played an important role in making the program what it is today, from overseeing our scholarship teams to managing the Arena in its day-to-day operations.
UCI Esports Arena Staff
Top left: Joshua, Angie
Bottom left: Patrick Tran, Willy, Damian
Damian Rosiak
Damian started at UCI Esports as an intern during the summer of 2016. Within five months, he’d earned a promotion to Stream Lead, where he managed and produced streams for the program’s Twitch account.
Damian graduates with a degree in sociology.
Patrick Tran
Patrick has worked with UCI Esports since 2016, entering the program as a member of the UCI Esports Arena floor staff. After a year of exceptional work, he took on the role of Student Supervisor.
When he’s not overseeing the Arena, Patrick is applying the skills he’s acquired as an Informatics major to problems in UX and UI.
Patrick Mok
Like Patrick Tran, Patrick Mok has been a member of the UCI Esports Arena floor staff since 2016. As a Student Supervisor, Patrick trains junior staff and keeps the Arena running smoothly.
In his spare time, Patrick studies business economics and manages money as The Association of Gamers at UCI’s Resource and Finance Director.
Jeffrey Huang
Jeffrey is an aerospace engineering major with experience in 3D modeling and information technology. He’s been working with UCI Esports since fall quarter as part of the Arena’s floor staff.
Joshua Coss
Joshua joined UC Irvine as a transfer student in 2017, where he quickly found his place as a staff member at the UCI Esports Arena. Now, soon to be equipped with a Bachelor’s in psychology, Joshua aims to secure a career as an esports psychologist.
Lance Chi
Lance has worked as a member of the UCI Esports Arena staff since 2018. As a student of business economics, his interests include supply chain operations and financial management.
In addition to his work with UCI Esports, Lance has served as a peer advisor for the School of Social Sciences since 2018, guiding fellow undergrads to success in their chosen fields.
Katherine Jiang
Katherine has worked diligently as a member of the UCI Esports Arena floor staff since 2018. On the side, she’s pursued a degree in business economics (and, on the side of that, a minor in accounting).
Willy Saronamihardja
Willy is a software engineering major with a penchant for Spotify and cheap boba.
An avid gamer (there’s a non-zero chance you’ll find him in the Arena playing Fortnite when he’s off shift), Willy plans to spend the year after his graduation enjoying his favorite titles as he hunts for jobs in the tech sector.
Overwatch Team
Angie Batth
As the manager of UCI’s Overwatch team, Angie Batth knows what it means to keep an operation running smoothly. From organizing training sessions to setting up interviews for the players she oversees, Angie is always on the move—it’s just a testament to her stellar work ethic that she’s managed to balance the workload of a business economics major with the responsibilities of supervising the Overwatch team.
Shoutcasters
Anthony casting at NASEF’s inaugural year as the Orange County High School Esports League’s League of Legends finals in 2018.
Anthony “The Last Mehican” Ortega
For the majority of the 2018-2019 academic year, Anthony has casted League of Legends play-by-plays for UCI Esports.
After wrapping up a successful undergraduate career with a degree in business economics—and playing plenty of Magic: the Gathering in the meantime—Anthony plans to return to UCI next year to pursue his Master’s in finance.
Daniel Barke
Daniel has worked professionally as a shoutcaster since 2018, when Team Liquid recruited him to cast for the NALCS Academy Summer Split. His knack for gaming commentary led him to his current role with UCI Esports; you might recognize him as the personality behind our popular League of Legends streams.
Content Creators
Nathan Dhami
For much of the year, Nathan has put his skills as an English major to the test creating written content for UCI Esports’ blog. In his spare time, Nathan games–like many undergraduates, he’s obsessed with Smash Ultimate and other fighting games.
Whatever their role, every one of our graduating staff has been vital in upholding UCI Esports’ mission of nurturing a strong, inclusive on-campus gaming community. Though words are insufficient to describe the gratitude we hold for our departing staff, Marke Deppe, the program’s director, voices our collective sentiment well:
“Since our founding, UCI Esports has relied on the passion and talent of our students to help us build the program into what it is today. I cannot be more thankful for the efforts of our graduating seniors as they take the next steps in their life journeys. We will miss them greatly and will be cheering them on as they join our alumni family.”
We wish you only the best in your future endeavors—from all of us in the UCI Esports family, GL HF!
