SSG Speaks: SSG Irish
SSG Theo: Hello IrishGirl! Welcome to SSG Speaks!
SSG IrishGirl: Hey, Theo!
SSG Theo: How long have you been in SSG?
SSG IrishGirl: Well, I first applied to SSG back in October of 2010. After a few weeks of apprenticeship I was inducted as a Knight in December of 2010. My husband, Grant, actually applied a couple weeks before I had but the Overlords decided to delay his membership until I was ready to be inducted. Kind of funny, but I understand why they made that choice.
SSG Theo: Ah yes SSG IamGrant. We are coming on to September 2011 soon which means that is a 11 month mark for you being involved with SSG. How has SSG changed your gaming experience thus far?
SSG IrishGirl: It has changed my experiences as gamer tremendously. Before joining SSG I had lost hope for finding suitable people to play with online. Most of the gamers I came across were rather crude and had very unpleasant things to say, especially concerning the fact that I am a girl gamer. After a while I just learned to mute everyone on Xbox Live because the constant barade of comments started getting to me. Luckily, Grant found SSG and this community has changed my perspective of online gaming completely.
SSG Theo: That actually draws upon a question that Jayman brought up to me. As you said it still draws comments being a female gamer I mean you are the first female that has been on SSG Speaks. I just want to clarify to make sure the question is answered. Is it better or worse being in a gaming community? Keeping in mind even in SSG we are mostly male.
SSG IrishGirl: Definitely better. This may be in part due to the fact that I do not game with as many “randumbs” as I did before, but I have noticed that a lot less people are so quick to spew dirty comments when you are rolling with a full party. There was a time when we had a full party of 8 rolling into BTB on Halo: Reach one night and somebody made a comment to me. It was like having a bunch of big brothers right there by my side because every one of the SSG guys came running to my defense, quickly putting the guy in his place. It was really nice and it certainly made me glad to have met a group of gamers who treat you like family.
SSG Theo: now, we do know SSG IrishGirl well. Who we don’t know is Marleighna Claunch. Can you tell us more about the girl behind the Gamertag?
SSG IrishGirl: Haha, I always find these questions hard. It’s like someone is asking you to wrap up your entire biography into one paragraph, but here it goes! I am currently a college student, earning a degree in Graphic Design & Multimedia in online college. This was not my first degree choice though. When I was 17 I moved from Maine to Springfield, Missouri to go to Baptist Bible College, earning my degree in Intercultural Studies at the time. About 2 years into my college experience at BBC I realized that I was pursuing a degree that I just wasn’t interested in. I had always been interested in art, but I never really thought I could pursue any kind of career in art or design. After thinking about it for a while I decided to make the change and switch to Graphic Design, and I am completely glad that I did. That being said, I do not regret my time at BBC because I met my amazing husband Grant there.
Since then, I spend most of my time either doing homework online or designing things on my computer. Aside from that, my interests include reading, playing games (video and board), music, cooking, tennis, and outdoor activities like camping, four-wheeling, snowmobiling and more. I am pretty diverse in my interests. Lol. Oh, and paintball.
SSG Theo: You just got a internship somewhere amI right?
SSG IrishGirl: Yes, I see you have been doing your homework. I saw an ad for a graphic design internship for a graphic design firm and the internship was described as having potential to lead to a full time position on their design staff. The internship is actually in St. Charles, Missouri, which is about 3 hours from where we live right now, but I decided to take a risk and apply anyways. The lead designer/owner took a look at my portfolio and decided to have a phone interview with me and two days later asked me to work as a graphic design intern starting Monday, August 22. Because we are 3 hours away, we worked it out so that I can do all of my work online until Grant and I move to the St. Louis area at the end of October. This is probably the biggest break I have had as a designer and I am completely ecstatic about this opportunity right now.
SSG Theo: Can you release to us the place that hired you?
SSG IrishGirl: I hope so, lol. It is a small design firm called “FreeMan Marketing.” They have a great deal of business in the St. Louis area so this should open up a few doors for me!
SSG Theo: Well rest assured that I am positive all of SSG is happy for you! We have reached a point in the interview that some people fear. It’s the random question time. I will use Toma’s question first. SSG TomaZero askes, “How do you pronounce your name?”
SSG IrishGirl: Lol, I was not expecting that as one of my random questions…It is pronounced Mar-lee-na. The part that trips people up is “leigh” but it actually comes from the British form of spelling the name Lee. My mom was very kind in giving me the name Marleighna. It is funny to watch people try to pronounce it when they read it off of something. Lol
SSG Theo: Dal would like to know, “what tastes better on toast glue or oil paint?”
SSG IrishGirl: Only Dal would ask such a question…In my experience, oil paint tastes much better. You really get the earthiness of the minerals used in the paint which compliments the toast quite well. Glue however, leaves you smacking your gums for hours on end, which is not appealing at all.
SSG Theo: We got two more here. This is from Dragoon, how long you can hold your breathe?
SSG IrishGirl: Hold up, let me count…1..2..3oihd[fougbadm f[iygfdsfdfgdusgiuahdbsougdiyagdiyfgdfgodsilagfpi8eptgfuihdguifg7e9p7aufeugyf97g
Well, I reached 3 minutes before Grant ran over and gave me mouth to mouth. Sorry, my head hit the keyboard when I passed out.
SSG Theo: haha nice. Ghost Rider would like to know, “If you had a genie and he gave you one wish. What would you wish for?”
SSG IrishGirl: Well, as shallow as this sounds, I would probably ask for a couple million dollars. Not so much that I am filthy rich and spoiled for the rest of my life, but enough to get settled somewhere so that I don’t have to worry about bills for the rest of my life. That would allolw me to pay off student loans, buy a wicked awesome house, and build a sweet “man” cave that rivals Jayman’s. Lol
SSG Theo: A very worthy cause defeating Jayman in the “Man Cave” making. Thank you for your time Irish.
SSG IrishGirl: It has been…interesting. See you around!
SSG Theo: This has been SSG Speaks with IrishGirl! See you next time.
