Paul Vaughan, a former Boise State University esports athlete, is now the current esports coordinator at Oklahoma City University. Both Boise State University and Oklahoma City University are current members of the National Association of Collegiate Esports (NACE). In the linked interview below, Vaughan discusses the benefits of participating in collegiate esports.

Vaughan became the President of the esports club at Boise State University after the club had previously disbanded and was left without leadership. Upon transferring to Boise State, Vaughan re-established the club and was elected president. He was surprised to find that a program was starting “I got a message from one of my friends saying ‘Hey someone’s starting an esports team at your school.’ A few emails later, I’m in the office of Doc Haskell, who was talking about starting an esports program.”

Vaughan’s education in technology management and his experience in esports complimented each other nicely when participating in the program and in his later career at Oklahoma City University. “We’re currently working on building out our arena space, but I can already say that my education was really helpful for managing this space. At Boise State I was always running down the line of our team making sure all of their equipment was working, so having an IT mindset really helped with that a lot.”

Vaughan hasn’t always been interested in a career in esports, however. When he graduated from Boise State University, he saw the career path as a way to give back to the gaming community. “I figured since I had learned so much in the space, that I’d like to contribute back to it. So I started looking for jobs as esports coordinators, coaches, director positions at other Universities. I started in January of 2020,”

Follow OCU Esports at https://twitter.com/OCUEsports. Watch the video below to hear more about Vaughan’s experiences as a NACE member and esports coordinator.