From the Drawing Board to the Esports Arena
Breaking a long family
tradition, Jom Thaipejr left
civil engineering behind
for a career in esports.
His father and grandfather both notable civil engineers, Jom
Thaipejr had a plan for his life mapped out from an early age.
It was always assumed that he would follow their footsteps
and carry on the family tradition.
Jom never really questioned it. He graduated from Cal Baptist
University, and then launched his professional career at
AECOM, a global giant in infrastructure design. His work ethic
and determination positioned him for a successful career
there, until one day Jom realized he had to make a change.
Engineering wasn't sparking his passion for work.
“It was just understood that I'd become a civil engineer,” Jom
said. “For example, my dad would take me to construction
sites when I was a kid and say things like, ‘Someday you'll be
building a bridge just like that one.’ I never questioned it. But
every morning I'd have to push myself to do the work, and I
wanted to work on something that excited me.”
So on the advice of a friend, he enrolled in the Division of
Continuing Education's Esports Management specialized
studies program. Soon after, he landed a position with iBUYPOWER,
a leading custom gaming-computer company, where
he works as a marketing content specialist, event planner, and
on partnership activations. One of his duties is to organize
large esports events — something he loves every minute of.
“It stems from when I was in high school and took a multimedia
class,” he said. “That was right about when YouTube
started getting really popular. My teacher saw potential in me,
and it was something that I liked and was passionate about.
That's how I wanted to feel about my career.”
Armed with his DCE education, Jom found an exciting new
life in esports, but he's still close with his old crew at AECOM.
In fact, on a day he set aside to visit former coworkers, Jom
found time to chat with us about his journey, and the family
tradition that was so hard to break.