Nikki
“Hi Sweetheart, it’s just Grandma here. You enjoy your new adventure in Pennsylvania, I’m sure you’re gonna love Susquehanna U. And knowing you, you’re gonna have one heck of a terrific time there getting a great education and everything you love and enjoy. Good luck sweetheart, I love you and I’m thinking bout you all the time.”
Audio of You Better Don’t by Apache Tomcat fades up after voicemail starts, plays throughout as ambience for first half
“When I was 7 I distinctly remember sitting at the dell desktop computer in my Grandma’s little apartment in Clifton, playing the original PC games with Barbie and Rapunzel. Intently following along the story and playing games and selecting outfits to continue. Grandma always made little finger sandwiches and then my brother and I would go outside and ride our bikes all around her apartment complex. I can still hear her bell like laugh when I would race faster than the boys cutting across grass and hills. She used to tell me when I was older I would be driving a Jeep wrangler down the shore and would give all the boys a run for their money.
Car engine starts of a 2004 jeep wrangler
“Well, she was right guys. Now as a senior at Susky I make my 3 and a half hour drive from the coast of New Jersey to Selinsgrove PA in my 2004 Black Jeep Wrangler that I call Millie, after her.”
Better you don’t by Apache Tomcat fades out
Red Racer by Atomicos fades in softly in background
“My family jokes that I was raised by the ocean county library because I spent every waking minute there as a kid. I used to check out 12 books at a timewhile my brother would take out movies and computer games like the ones we played at Grandma Millie’s. My brother was the tech kid and I was the book nerd. We used to be told we were polar opposites, that our fields of study were so vastly different, him going off to NJIT to study computer science and learning to draw to pursue a career in the Video Game realm and me, well I’m here at Susky following my love of books. Constantly being asked by my family if, since I’m studying Creative Writing and Publishing & Editing, my only career goal was to write a book.”
Dramatic annoyed pause
“Well I’m here to finally put those baby boomers in their place. No I’m not writing a book. I’m not going to be a New York Times Best selling author. Big things are coming, but not within your expectations, in mine. We are Digital people!!!”
Computer keyboard clacking sound effect plays at “types”
“While my brother types away at his personalized and personally built PC in his dungeon of a basement decked out in Led lights he programmed to flash certain colors correlated to what he is doing online. I’m clacking away on my Mac on my bed tucked away in the attic, enveloped in the clouds painted on my walls and in my dreams. What you may not know is that we’re actually working together.”
“What started as an entertaining pastime at Grandma’s as kids inspired love for the digital and technological for both my brother and I. Which is exactly why I chose to major in Publishing & Editing as well as Creative writing, to get the chance to bring what we both love together.”
“beep beep” of a car horn
“Which lands me back in my jeep on my drive to school as I select a podcast to listen to, sending a quick text to my brother the name of a gaming podcast I found.”
“Who knew one woman’s love for entertaining us, two very different siblings, would set us up to work together in the future on both a gaming podcast and an interactive storytelling PC game.”
“Hey don’t you DARE steal our idea”
“So here’s to you Millie girl, and you too Ocean County Library!”
Red Racer by Atomicos fades out