At first, when the idea was proposed, I was apprehensive. Then a friend of mine just asked me the simplest thing anybody has ever asked me: “Why not?” I don’t know why, but that question alone made me rethink my entire life plan. The plan I had been working so hard to complete and finish — and I had just figured it all out — was shattered.

The question then became, what do I have tying me down in Memphis? Now that I was going to be paying for school, if I were to leave, now would be the perfect time. I don’t have financial obligations tying me here to Memphis.

It’s the perfect time for me to move on.

I’m not going to lie: I’m terrified. I’m scared out of my mind. I’ll be 27 hours away from my security blanket — a city whose streets I’ve memorized, but can’t go anywhere in.  A day and three hours away from friends, my family, my childhood home, my hangouts — nothing to catch me if I fail. I knew California was my calling, but I wasn’t sure of when I was going. It’s calling me now.

Nothing can really prepare me for this, degree or not. They don’t have an undergraduate program for risk-taking, with a minor in leaving everything behind. At least, in any of the colleges I know of.

It’s the best planned-impulsive decision I’ve ever made.

I’ll be keeping updates on how it’s going, and I’ll be blogging on my roadtrip. (Mostly Twittering though.)

That’s kinda stuck with me. I think about a lot of shit when I write. I think, “How is this going to be perceived? Am I being one-sided with this?” I make sure I’m not trying to fill an agenda. I’m trying to be different.

You know, I posted this on my Twitter, but I’ll repost it here. Three years ago, GameDaily came out with this editorial about why video game journalism sucks. Even though I’m still pretty new to the industry, I saw this article when it came out. I half-heartedly agreed then, and I still do.

It’s not just that game journalists don’t spell-check or write professionally; it’s hard to see game journalists that aren’t working for IGN or GameSpot take themselves seriously. I see an abundance of gamers being video game journalists, not writers being video game journalists.

Before it went out of print, EGM was coming out with those “Take This Job” features and I can’t tell you how excited I was to see game journalism featured. I even ripped the page out and it’s still hanging on my fridge. Geoffrey Keighley’s standing in front of a large, glossy building donning the words Electronic Arts, in a spy-like pose for the article, and every time I get a Sprite or yogurt, I see him. (That’s gonna be weird if I ever meet him. I can see it now: “Hey, you’re on my fridge!”) He’s there to remind me why I got here in the first place and what I need to do to make sure I’m not a run-of-the-mill game journalist. He’s there to remind me why I wanted into this business in the first place.

I’m not speaking on behalf of the video game industry, nor am I an old veteran. Like I said, I’m still new to this. But as someone who’s been reading gaming magazines since she was a little girl, following the game journalism industry in general, and who has been writing since forever, this subject is a dear one to me.

“You don’t need a degree in journalism to write a game review,” Geoffrey says in the feature, “but one of the weaknesses of a lot of game writers is that they are gamers first and writers second. The guys who are successful … actually know how to write.”

That sticks in my mind more than anything any teacher has ever taught me. Those words come into my mind on a daily basis.

Maybe that’s a good thing.