Sam "Kobe" Hartman-Kenzler walks through various stories from his past that helped lead him to his current passion, casting esports. When he was younger, he didn't have access to games of his own, so he played at his friends' houses and at his neighborhood game store. That eventually led him to compete, discover League of Legends in college, and ultimately quit his engineering career to pursue his passion.
"Growing up in Oakland definitely shaped me a bit differently. It definitely formed my view on the world a bit... I had a lot of friends pass away early on in life, so I kind of grew accustomed to those sorts of things... It's really crazy when you expeerience someone dying so young. You always have this reaction of 'It's not fair.' Humans have this idea of fairness that isn't really applicable to the real world. Stuff like that does happen. And maybe I've gotten more prepared for it, but this year has been shocking."
Hear him talk about the pain during the death of his idol this Spring, but his resilience. And hear how his connection to the community drives him.
Watch the full interview here:
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