Alumni Focus - Jared Joyal ('17)

Jared Joyal (‘17) is a recent graduate who has taken his creativity, attention to detail, and gaming hobby to the next level by landing a job at Epic Games where he helps develop the popular online video game Fortnite. He shares about his love of music and theater while at SCLA, his college and career path, and his June marriage to Sophie. 

What is your favorite SCLA memory?
I had so many good times throughout my high school years at St. Croix, especially involving classmates from theatre and choirs. I fondly recall a time the Croixaliers were scheduled to sing early Sunday morning at a church over an hour away from the school. A senior Croixalier at the time lived very near the church and invited us all to spend the night so we could rest up without the long morning drive. After a few too many cans of soda, late-night conversations, and all-around good times, however, the roughly 2:00 a.m. bedtime we all managed to get was arguably counter-productive. We came together well, though, and landed an ever-joyful "Abide With Me" by the end of the service.

Did any specific SCLA teacher make a positive impact on you?
I had the pleasure to be in my first year of concert band at the same time as Mr. John Fenske's first year conducting concert band. Over my four years under Mr. Fenske in concert band, pep band, and Oakdale Avenue Jazz, I developed my skills as a trumpeter and a performer. Mr. Fenske guided me to come out of my shell and express myself, growing in self-confidence and improving my social skills. He also got us pizza on a few occasions, so no complaints there.

Could you tell us a bit about your family?
My mother (Patti (Bloom) Joyal ‘78) and brother (Caleb Joyal ‘15) are SCLA alumni as well, and my father (Thomas Joyal) has been known to show up as an honorary alumnus during sports events and other alum-hosted projects. Both my parents are enjoying their empty-nested lives in Minnesota, touring breweries, and going camping. 

My brother went to Michigan Technological University after SCLA, using that education to land a job at Great Lakes Sound & Vibration. He does incredible work there like taking a 360-degree camera, mounting it to a boat, and trying to get the camera to render to a virtual reality device to pilot the boat remotely.

Beyond that, my wedding to the lovely Sophie (Olson) Joyal on June 4 was fantastic! It was wonderful seeing a lot of family and friends from in and out of town, and the catered food and live music was very pleasant. We are looking into an anniversary honeymoon to travel to various countries in Europe.

Tell us about your job at Epic Games and what led you there. 
My college years at DigiPen Institute of Technology gave me a huge leg up when career-hunting in the games industry. DigiPen is a well-known name across many employers, known for producing talented graduates with fundamental knowledge about game development. DigiPen also arranges frequent Company Days, where representatives and recruiters from various companies come to DigiPen to present about their career opportunities, talk with students, and potentially even review resumés.

When folks from Epic Games (including someone who would soon become my boss) came to DigiPen my junior year, I heard their presentation and went to talk one-on-one with the university recruiters in the café. They liked hearing from me, the techies apparently appreciated my programming test answers, and I got an interview followed by an internship! After a bit of a scare when COVID-19 hit, I learned my internship would "seamlessly" move to remote work, and after working closely with coworkers over my three-month internship, I got interviewed for full-time conversion. They let me head back to round off my DigiPen education, and the rest is history.

As a UI Programmer, my work is essential yet often glossed over. I spend most of my days in the frontend, namely everything in Fortnite that doesn't consist of actually playing the game. I've done work on the Battle Pass, the Item Shop, the Locker, and the Lobby. My team is known for taking care in their work, making well-defined solutions to problems and doing it slowly and right the first time instead of having to redo it later.

What do you like to do for fun?
I play Fortnite! It's fun to think that by the time I graduated SCLA, my job didn't exist; Fortnite had yet to be released, but now it's one of the largest games on the market.