Elijah Wickerham has combined his love of art and technology into a career in game development, made possible by the university's innovative programs.
"I've been making comic books and animations since fourth grade," Wickerham recalls. "I've always been an artist, but I also love technical projects. I had no idea I could combine the two until I went to Shawnee State."
At Shawnee State, Wickerham found the game programming degree and his niche. Collaborating daily with peers, he developed skills through labs, game jams and their capstone, Gnomad, a hand-drawn exploration platformer. "Gnomad is the most rewarding project I've done because it combined everything we learned." he says.
After graduation, Wickerham and his team joined the Shawnee XP Game Accelerator, supported by the Kricker Innovation Hub. Shawnee XP gave them mentorship, funding, and state-of-the-art labs and connections that helped them launch their studio, Jollyware.
"The accelerator wasn't just for building games," he says. "We worked with passionate developers, attended conferences, gathered feedback and formed lasting friendships. When we weren’t developing, we hiked, solved escape rooms, threw axes, and hosted movie and game nights. It was some of the most fun I’ve had."
For Wickerham, Shawnee State University is more than a place to learn — it's where futures begin. "Shawnee is where developers build their future. That's what we're doing now, and we're just getting started."
