He recalls, “I know that I loved NPCing at a young age, like being the Hulk and Goku for Folkestone questing. But hands down my favorite memory was when Midget and I won the line battle of North South War against Owen and Makhta. When I got Owen in the chest with my last arrow and everyone ran out and picked us up...I don't think I could ever forget that feeling.”
Another special moment I recall is when Rob Scarlett presented him with one of the first fireballs the KoEF give out. Rob said “even though he was young/new to the game he had passion for all aspects of it. I wanted to help keep that spark alive”.
Jake is currently studying Aerospace Engineering at Syracuse University in New York, where he was selected as a Dean’s Scholar. When asked about his career he responded “Right now I'm just a student, though I do make a kick-ass dining hall employee”. While he didn’t mention it in this conversation, I do know since his days in Realms he has also served in AmeriCorps, where he was a disaster services rep for FEMA which means he went out to the homes of disaster survivors and helped them get registered for services. He worked the tornadoes in Illinois in nov of 2013 and the huge arkansas tornado last spring. He was stationed in Mississippi but was deployed to Illinois, Chicago, DC, and Arkansas… In his spare time he’s taken up playing guitar (my favorite artist being Ed Sheeran).According to Jake we can look forward to seeing him soon as he said “I fully intend on coming to events this summer, I'd love to see what my favorite fantasy world has become, and to see the people that shaped my life.”
When asked for other thoughts, Jake shared the following that has made me, as someone who has had the honor of watching him grow-up tear up every time I’ve read it. “I would just like to say that the Realms was more than just a game for me. Just because Goku hasn't been around in a long time doesn't mean that I've forgotten everyone. I want to thank everyone that was there for giving me a fuller childhood than I could ever have asked for. It may have just been my mother and I in real life, but I had a great family in the Realms.”