Zynab Makki, ’20 Trailblazer of Champlain College Esports

This Shout Out goes to Zynab Makki, ’20, a Business Administration major and former President of Champlain College Esports.

“When I was in high school, I wanted to code. I thought I wanted to be a software engineer. When I came to Champlain, I was in computer science classes and enjoyed finding out how things work. As I got involved with esports, I realized that was where my heart was. It was where I wanted to take my career.

CNN says esports are an “explosive billion-dollar industry,” consisting of multiplayer video-gaming competitions that draw millions of spectators. As the industry as a whole is growing on the global scale, college-level esports programs are growing in prominence as well. Varsity esports is so big, Makki and Champlain College Esports team (CCE) were featured last year in The New York Times: “An N.C.A.A. for Esports?”

Champlain has teams for League of Legends, Overwatch, CS:GO, Rainbow 6 Siege, Hearthstone, Rocket League, and Smash. As President, Makki organized and advised the rest of CCE’s management team, and worked with campus staff and the community to forge partnerships and acquire sponsorships.

“I held and directed the vision for CCE, figured out what it was going to take to get there, and onboarded people and assigned projects to get us as close to our vision as we could.”

We wanted to know how she and CCE as a whole have grown during her time with the organization.

“I have grown as a person and as a professional by leaps and bounds from leading CCE. There is no other position I could have had on this campus that would have allowed me to grow in the same way. I had to learn how to trust my own opinion and my own gut to lead an organization with giant potential. I had to learn how to make tough decisions and focus on what was best for the organization.

When I took over in my sophomore year (December 2016), there wasn’t really a precedent or much guidance available for growing a college esports organization, so I had to research other student organizations and other schools. I’ve learned how to advocate for myself as a professional, with help from the Career Collaborative and my experiences representing the organization. I could go on forever, but the bottom line is that this was such a unique opportunity for me and I’m so glad to have stepped up to the plate here at Champlain.”

On November 3, 2018 CCE held their 5th annual Extra Life, a 24-hour gaming event that raises money for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. CCE has raised more than $13,000 over the past five years for UVM Medical Center and aimed to raise another $3,000 in 2018. Teams from UVM, Middlebury, and SUNY Plattsburgh also participated this year.

Extra Life started at Champlain in 2013 when Callie Browning, ’16 // International Business, the past coordinator of the club, wanted to grow the gaming community and bring people together for a good cause. A long-time volunteer with Extra Life, Browning is now a Recruitment Coordinator at Vicarious Visions.

“Since then, it’s continued on as a tradition for a great cause that so many students look forward to attending. I mean, it’s a giant LAN [local area network] event where you can play games for 24 hours and encourage your friends and family to donate to help kids in hospitals. I think that sounds like a pretty awesome time!”

Want to get involved with Champlain College Esports? Get in touch and make sure to follow them on social media!