gnja (Gabriel lopez)

In my senior year of high school, I started up an Esports team trying to give students who weren’t athletically gifted a way to compete for the school. Once I graduated I thought I’d leave Esports in the dust until I got an email from @blinnesports about tryouts, I ended up making their varsity OW team coached by @KyleMurto the absolute goat, and our captain Mr @gnja2012. Kyle taught me what an Esports program should look like, he took it serious and made sure it was a priority to Blinn to recognize us. Kyle made it feel like Esports was one of your traditional sports, one where you get flown out to events, your meals are paid for, and your tuition is covered. It felt as if you were a real College Athlete while doing what you loved and competing in Esports. Thanks to Kyle, I learned how to manage competitive teams and grow a community. I eventually transferred to @tamu after a year at Blinn and was disappointed to leave but I knew that I could make a difference with A&M’s program. When I got into the club, everyone did what it took to get by, to make the club survive and thank goodness they did otherwise I may have never been able to get involved. I started out as a Social Media Junior Officer and moved on to become the Vice President and now President. Here’s what I’ve done in my 2 almost 3 years with @TAMUEsports