Noah DeRossi-Goldberg '22 — More than just fun and games

Show Notes

Today we speak with senior Noah DeRossi-Goldberg '22, a history and political science double major. We dive into his involvement on campus as a resident assistant, a member of the Department of History's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Task Force, and president of the eSports club. He also previews the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Debate Society, the oldest club on campus, in the spring.

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Creators & Guests

Host

Chris Judge

Multimedia and Live Event Producer

Producer

Chris Judge

Multimedia and Live Event Producer

What is Providence College Podcast?

The Providence College Podcast features interviews with interesting members of the Friar Family. These in-depth conversations with PC students, Dominicans, faculty, staff, and alumni provide a rich look into the lives of noteworthy Friars. Occasionally we will also bring you on-campus lectures and presentations. Go Friars!

00;00;01;03 - 00;00;13;05
Chris Judge
Hello and welcome to the Providence College podcast, I'm your host, Chris Judge, class of 2005, and I'm joined today by Noah Djerassi Goldberg, a senior and member of the Class of 2022. Noah, thanks for joining.

00;00;14;05 - 00;00;15;23
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
Thank you, Chris. Thank you for inviting me.

00;00;16;25 - 00;00;29;14
Chris Judge
So I'm going to go through a not so quick list of things you're involved in and you might have more to add. But first off, you're a member of the History Honor Society, the political science Honor Society. You're an R.A. member.

00;00;29;15 - 00;00;36;05
Chris Judge
The Diversity Equity Inclusion Task Force president of the Debate Club and president of EA Sports Club. Did I miss anything.

00;00;36;24 - 00;00;44;04
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
That that sounds that sounds all about right? It's a quite a full plate, but yeah, all things that I absolutely love to do.

00;00;45;13 - 00;00;56;06
Chris Judge
So I want to start at the beginning of your journey here to Providence, and your mom is a graduate of the class of 1993. Gina de Rossi. Did you know you're always coming a PC?

00;00;57;00 - 00;01;13;19
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
Oh, yes. I went away in high school my either sophomore junior year. I went away during the summer for a summer camp. I came back without knowing my entire room was redecorated. Black and white fryer stuff. I have a sign to sign photos.

00;01;13;19 - 00;01;28;23
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
one of Ernie D, one of Marvin Barns on my wall, have a photo of me with Coach Cooley on my wall. And this was like junior of high school. I hadn't even thought of applying to colleges yet. So since I was little, I've had season tickets to the basketball game.

00;01;28;23 - 00;01;41;19
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
Since I was two, I have been coming embracing the fryer family for so long. I applied to one college, which is province college, to a single other school. I knew this is going to be my place for four years.

00;01;41;26 - 00;01;56;10
Chris Judge
Let's get into when you got here, did you? You're active in a lot of stuff as we went through. Was that was that a goal when you got here is to try as much stuff as you can and try and figure out what you want to do or if you had a plan all along?

00;01;57;04 - 00;02;03;03
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
Yeah, absolutely. Like I was in high school, I was very active in my high school community.

00;02;04;09 - 00;02;05;12
Chris Judge
And that's in Dartmouth.

00;02;05;18 - 00;02;17;20
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
That's in Germany, at Dartmouth High. So I knew coming here that I wanted to be involved, but I knew because I did, I did it in high school, so I knew that I was going to do that in college, but I didn't.

00;02;17;20 - 00;02;30;03
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
There wasn't really anything else that transferred appropriately to the college atmosphere. So I think a lot of the time I was searching for what to do and I'm, you know, obviously going to get down the road to talking about e-sports.

00;02;30;21 - 00;02;47;28
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
But that was one of the first things I found when I got to Providence College. But I think that's probably what been one of my favorite parts about my experience here is that, you know, I've been able to I've had the honor and privilege to get involved in so many programs and programs that have not just been

00;02;47;28 - 00;03;08;28
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
things to do, you know, after classes or on the weekends, but it's it's things to do that actually affect my life that that I can, you know, seek passionate and can develop skills in leadership and responsibility. So, yeah, no, I coming in, I knew I was going to be involved.

00;03;08;28 - 00;03;31;22
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
I didn't realize that this involved. I didn't. I didn't expect to be spending my senior year, you know, filled play head to toe. But I'm so thankful that I that I decided to join so many programs. Also part of that is thanks to the incredible activity expo that we do at the beginning of the year, because that

00;03;31;22 - 00;03;41;22
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
was an opportunity to see so many different things like, Oh, that seems fun. Oh, that that's interesting. So I was able to, you know, experience things hands-on and then dove right in.

00;03;42;14 - 00;03;52;22
Chris Judge
You talked about leadership in growing. You've been in NHRA for a few years. Tell me about that experience and mentoring students and being a leader in that respect.

00;03;53;02 - 00;04;11;24
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
I don't think that there's anything. In my life, that gives me as much pride as being in Iraq for the past three years. It has been an experience that I would not trade for the world. I have grown so much as an individual by being around people.

00;04;12;29 - 00;04;30;05
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
I think being in Iraq is is an interesting role because, you know, in movies and TV, you see them as like the school cops, the homeowners. But that the the reality is, is that is the most minuscule part of your job.

00;04;30;18 - 00;04;44;29
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
When I remember my sophomore year, I just went home when I had my first resident come up to me and asked like personal questions and asked for assistance. It just made my heart warm. I tell that story all the time.

00;04;45;06 - 00;05;02;07
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
With the very first night of then one of the first year students came up to me. I was in a towel and he said, Oh, is it OK if I go to the show and that that like beat that was like, of course, in the moment I was like, Oh yeah, I'm not your parent.

00;05;02;07 - 00;05;17;26
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
I don't tell you when showers, no rules. But but over time, I realized that you know this. This individual, you know, is in a new environment is has no idea, has never been away from their family, has never experienced living on their own.

00;05;18;11 - 00;05;34;10
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
So they don't know if there are rules, you know? So they actually did feel the need to act to ask me. It felt good that they came to me if they could shower because they truly didn't know. So, you know, that's a story I tell all the time because I.

00;05;35;11 - 00;05;52;04
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
So the ability to help people to help individuals, especially first year students, because they're in such a vulnerable place in their lives. Everything's changing around them, you know, trying to balance a new type of workload as well as like social atmosphere.

00;05;52;23 - 00;06;07;19
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
It's not an easy thing. It's a very difficult, difficult thing. So I think being able to assist in any way I can has definitely brought me a lot of pride and I'm honored to have been selected for this role for three years now.

00;06;09;02 - 00;06;21;25
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
And even as I look forward to the future, I am going to attempt in where, wherever I may go to try and emulate some of the the mentoring and assistance that I've given to others in different.

00;06;22;04 - 00;06;45;29
Chris Judge
Different atmospheres and that kind of Segways to your role on the diversity, equity and inclusion task force that you're on, your ability to help other people who are not being treated like they should be and being able to see how people are treated as living in the Reds halls every day and see how people react to how

00;06;45;29 - 00;06;50;19
Chris Judge
things are going. Please tell me about your experience on that task force.

00;06;51;02 - 00;07;12;23
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
Yeah, absolutely. So for the past year, I guess, especially in the history department, we have a diversity equity inclusion task force. And basically our our focus is on adjusting, you know, not just curriculum but adjusting, you know, how we see diversity and inclusion on campus.

00;07;12;24 - 00;07;29;14
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
And you know, I think that we all understand that over the past year, we've we've seen that things need to change, that there needs to be better attention given to how people are one represented in their community, to how people are supported in their community.

00;07;30;14 - 00;07;51;22
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
And three, what what changes can we actually make? So I think that being on being on this task force and being able to be around, you know, some incredible professors, students and faculty to really, really get to the bottom of these issues, I'm really thankful for the opportunity to do.

00;07;52;12 - 00;08;09;12
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
I think that, you know, especially in the history department, it's something where I think we've always assumed history to be this like stagnant thing. That is there's one word written in that in a history book, and that's what we use for the next few centuries.

00;08;09;24 - 00;08;30;24
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
But I think we were starting to come to terms with now. That that's not necessarily the case, is that all forms of history that we've engaged, we have engaged in in the past have had different lenses. So what does it mean when somebody of a ruling majority class is the person writing the history?

00;08;31;01 - 00;08;53;20
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
You know, the famous quote, the history is for the victors. I think that that's something that we as a history department, diversity and inclusion are coming to terms with in trying to address those differences, trying to give more voice an agency to groups that have been underrepresented and under voiced throughout history.

00;08;54;20 - 00;09;12;13
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
So, you know, I'm very thankful to be on this on this committee are very thankful to be working specifically in the Providence College, you know, area, making sure that, you know, school that I may be leaving soon, but in the future it will.

00;09;12;13 - 00;09;19;05
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
It will hopefully improve in terms of representation and in culture.

00;09;20;03 - 00;09;35;07
Chris Judge
So how do you see the college has moved towards this goal of being a more beloved community over your four years while you've been here? Minus that, those few months that you guys had to go home for, which I mean, we're still a community, even when you go.

00;09;35;08 - 00;09;47;09
Chris Judge
Even when everyone went home in March of 2020, we were still having these conversations and so growth was still being made during the pandemic. So what have you seen and in your four years here?

00;09;48;01 - 00;10;02;05
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
Absolutely. I think the biggest thing that I've seen and what I'm so thankful for and which I hope Adobe moves further, is the adjustment to the the safe curriculum. It still is remaining true to the development of Western Civ.

00;10;02;20 - 00;10;22;00
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
It still is remaining true to what it is attempting to do, but it's also giving more light to to underrepresented groups. It's no longer a class learning about, you know, the same ten white philosophers from ancient Greece and the medieval ages.

00;10;22;01 - 00;10;46;18
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
You know, we're we're reading stories from, you know, black authors. We're reading stories from female authors all throughout history. That is that has really changed my perspective. Because I remember even my first year here being in honor of having a specific team, I was learning very different things from some of my friends in other cities.

00;10;48;04 - 00;11;09;23
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
Well, I was I was reading like very interesting stories of, you know, slave stories from a slave perspective. I was reading, you know, female perspectives of Middle Ages and all these things. Other people were were reading, you know, Plato and, you know, other basic basic writing.

00;11;09;24 - 00;11;25;06
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
So I think what's really important to me is that, you know, this change is further, you know, more and more classes. There's almost a standard that needs to be set up to make sure that representation is seen in our curriculum, but I'm very happy with the changes that have been made so far.

00;11;25;15 - 00;11;33;22
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
And I. I really do expect expect the future to hold those more changes as well.

00;11;33;29 - 00;11;51;29
Chris Judge
I also mentioned earlier that you are the president of the debate club and it is, as you told me before we started in its 100th year as the longest running club on campus. So just outpacing the college by the colleges, outpacing the backlog by about seven years.

00;11;52;24 - 00;11;59;25
Chris Judge
So what's that been like? You started when you were a freshman and what have you? Where have you taken the club since?

00;12;00;23 - 00;12;19;00
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
Absolutely. So, yeah, say site is 100 years old this year, longer than Student Congress, surprisingly longer than Friars Club. We are the longest running consecutive club on campus. So first of all, I didn't know this when I came into the presidency this year.

00;12;19;20 - 00;12;31;18
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
I got an email from the Hills Memorial Library saying, Oh, it seems like we have an anniversary for you this year. Do you have any materials? And I said, Oh, what an anniversary. He said, Oh, it's your 100th year.

00;12;32;01 - 00;12;45;16
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
I said, Oh, OK, so I have to be president of debate during its 100th year. That's that's no pressure at all. No pressure. But, you know, so I started my first year. I was a big debater in high school.

00;12;45;24 - 00;13;04;14
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
Big, big. I went to like state tournaments and stuff. So I love doing a game to PC. And I just fell in love with the even more. I think the debate at PC is very interesting. It's a very interesting environment because it's not like the traditional debating styles, not one person going out there yelling about a topic

00;13;04;14 - 00;13;20;01
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
. It's, you know, teams of two competing against other schools in high school. I was competing against like other like public schools and a few private schools. I in the past four years, I've competed against Brown, Harvard, Yale. You know, the bigwigs, really?

00;13;21;20 - 00;13;36;16
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
So being in debate has been has been such a joy. Being able to travel is so incredible. That's like part of the debate site is for tournaments. We have to travel on weekends. You know, I've been to Boston multiple times.

00;13;37;06 - 00;13;58;23
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
You know, we've had local trips. Personally, my favorite is always go to Georgetown, which is a fun experience going down to D.C.. So, yeah, but but over the past four years, we've definitely seen we've seen change debate. I think that over time, we've grown and become stronger in our capabilities as debaters.

00;13;59;27 - 00;14;15;20
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
I know I've had Nick Rebello, who's who's my vice president, but I've been in debate with past four years. The two of us have grown so much in in debating over this time. So I think that I'm very thankful I plan on going to law school next year.

00;14;15;20 - 00;14;38;17
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
So I'm very thankful that I have, you know, gotten some of my arguing skills up to up to par in debate. But yeah, and looking forward to our to the rest of our 100th year, we plan on having multiple events to celebrate the legacy of debate at Providence College because it's also something that coincides so greatly with

00;14;38;17 - 00;14;56;24
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
the mission of the college. I think that, you know, Veritas search for truth is is integral to the debate, the idea of the parliamentary debate. So I think I think that it'll be a very fun time in the spring to kind of celebrate the legacy of Providence College.

00;14;57;04 - 00;15;01;14
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
Well, you know, coinciding it with the Providence College Mission.

00;15;02;14 - 00;15;16;06
Chris Judge
And some would say we've kind of lost that art of debate in politics nowadays. Is everybody just yelling to their own echo chambers and screaming and telling someone that they're lying when and facts get thrown to the side?

00;15;16;20 - 00;15;29;20
Chris Judge
Is there something still authentic and traditional about these debate competitions that we don't see in the real world when we're talking about our elections and our politics nowadays?

00;15;30;27 - 00;15;51;02
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
Absolutely. Like the first thing that comes to mind for me is is the inherent structure. You know, the structure of the debate not only helps to, you know, make it standardized, but it also makes sure that everyone has, you know, the ability to speak in the time to speak, which I think a lot of time in American

00;15;51;02 - 00;16;06;20
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
politics we haven't seen. We have to people, like you said, two sides that are yelling to their own echo chambers, but yet they're not giving each other time to try to be heard. Typekit time to speak. You know, there is no filibuster in in debate, in parliamentary debate.

00;16;07;04 - 00;16;27;14
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
Everyone's voices are heard and decisions are made. I think another part is it's there are a lot of like safeguards in parliamentary debate. You know, to respecting your competitors, you know, you go into the debates shaking hands, saying, hi, talking about your classes, talking about.

00;16;27;27 - 00;16;49;29
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
You're after graduation things plans. Then you debate and it gets sometimes it gets not necessarily heated, but you know, people get into it and it gets exciting and gritty and you know, you hit those final words, you have that passion, that impassioned closing argument and then you end.

00;16;50;26 - 00;17;10;02
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
And then you go back to joking and laughing and talking about those those after college plans. So I think that that's something that that we're missing a lot to is remembering that even when we have these, these political and policy arguments beforehand and after hand, we need to know that we're we're peers.

00;17;10;21 - 00;17;24;10
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
We engage in the same space. You know, we're still we're all American citizens. So I think that that's that's something that's really important and debate is, you know, coming together and like respecting your fellow peers. And I think that's something that we're we're not seeing.

00;17;24;10 - 00;17;34;00
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
Maybe there's a few people that I can I can think of that need to go to a few debate camps to learn a few things. But but yeah, no, that's that's what I see from from debate.

00;17;34;29 - 00;17;57;17
Chris Judge
So we've talked about a little more of the serious, heavy topics that I wanted to cover with you. So let's move on to a little more of the the fun stuff, and that's games. You are the current president of the e-sports club on campus, and we featured the sports club in the fall 2019 magazine and then we

00;17;57;17 - 00;18;13;25
Chris Judge
did an episode of the podcast in February of 2020. So we're about 21 months later. What can you give us? A quick update on the e-sports club doesn't have to be quick. We've got all the time in the world.

00;18;14;23 - 00;18;31;08
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
Absolutely. So the esports is is my pride and joy, and I love it and I spend every waking moment that isn't doing debate or of my other engagements or classes. We're obviously dedicated to esports and growing our program.

00;18;31;24 - 00;18;44;18
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
So definitely a lot has changed since then. We now have nine active teams, which is something that we did not have. We had like four or five. Maybe we have nine active teams, most of whom have qualified for playoffs.

00;18;44;18 - 00;19;06;06
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
Playoffs actually start next week, which is really exciting. We have, you know, but more focus on developing the facility that we have in Slavin. We've given him a name, so it's now called the G.R. stands for gaming room, but you know, it's colloquially known, colloquially known as the G.R., and that's something we're trying to trying to push

00;19;06;06 - 00;19;25;20
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
. We're going to try and get signage to have that be the official title. But but yeah, no. So we've developed not only have we added the amount of games in our catalog at our program, we also have been competing far beyond the expectations we have.

00;19;25;29 - 00;19;42;00
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
You know, so many talented players that just happen to be at Providence College, which is which is we're so thankful for, you know, we have players that are really talented. And Nick Facilita on the Overwatch team is one of one of the best Overwatch players in the country.

00;19;42;23 - 00;19;49;19
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
Max Tnal and Nathan Cause in the Valorant team, they're they're both phenomenal, phenomenal, high ranked players.

00;19;49;28 - 00;19;59;00
Chris Judge
All right. Well, I'm going to cut you off because you're not going to toot your own horn, but I will for you and that you were named the 2021 ECAC Valorant Player of the Year.

00;19;59;01 - 00;20;12;10
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
I saw that that that is true. I was I was named Valorant Player of the Year, but it would not have been possible. This is an Oscar speech, but that would not have been possible without my teammates supporting me.

00;20;13;12 - 00;20;20;11
Chris Judge
It's just a just like an MVP in any other sport. You've got to have teammates to to win these titles.

00;20;20;27 - 00;20;46;21
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
Absolutely. But yeah, no. So so we're developing the amount of games. We're putting more work into the facility itself. As I mentioned, we did a full redecorating and remodeling. Changing, changing around the space. As of today, we finally have an EA Sports store where people can purchase jerseys.

00;20;48;17 - 00;21;12;13
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
Jerseys, hoodies, mouse pads, flags, polos, hats and all that, all that good stuff, which is very, very exciting. So so yeah, we definitely come a lot in 20 and in 21 months. I will say that when I came in here freshman year, I was I was present for the put the setting up of the room.

00;21;13;04 - 00;21;31;08
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
I was I was putting together chairs and monitors and computers. So going from that my freshman year to now watching my teams compete at the highest level in playoffs, beating some of the highest ranked teams is one of the proudest joys I've had in my life.

00;21;31;16 - 00;21;41;17
Chris Judge
For those who might not go back and listen to the 2020 podcast, what are some of the games that we compete in and the leagues and conferences that we compete in?

00;21;42;04 - 00;22;00;22
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
Absolutely. So we compete in two major conferences the ECAC Eastern Coast Athletic Conference and the Big East, you know, which obviously everyone knows is the big name in the Big East. We compete in a league of legends, which is arguably the biggest sport in the world.

00;22;01;00 - 00;22;16;05
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
They have like the highest viewership and things like that. Viewership for for the league legends world finals for the professionals is higher than the NBA Finals and at the World Series, it is. It is massive globally in terms of the ECAC.

00;22;16;05 - 00;22;43;20
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
We compete in Overwatch, Valorant. We actually have two teams competing in Valorant, ECAC, FIFA and then Super Smash Bros. So very different games. We have games that are, you know, tactical tactical games, first person shooter for those where we have Boba games, which are more strategic games and then we have fighting games as well.

00;22;44;16 - 00;23;01;16
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
So we're really trying to encompass all aspects of gaming to make sure that every student wants to test their skill in their game is is recognized. We actually have three or four teams prepared for the spring semester to enter competition.

00;23;02;19 - 00;23;19;27
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
We have Counter-Strike, NHL, Rainbow six Siege Rocket League prepared to begin their run. So I think that the key thing is making sure that we have enough games where everyone wants to compete competitively can do so. I remember my freshman year.

00;23;20;10 - 00;23;43;11
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
League of Legends was really the only quote unquote competitive game. Everyone else was kind of just labeled as like a a fun team. We've we've definitely changed our perspective on that and made sure that all teams are treated equally and seen equally as competitors for under the Friars Friar's tag.

00;23;44;17 - 00;23;59;16
Chris Judge
But it's also the beauty of the room is that anyone can come and play games if they want. You don't have to be this super competitive gamer. The room is welcome to anyone who plays games and wants to hang out and has an interest in games.

00;24;00;13 - 00;24;21;29
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
Absolutely. It is just as much a competitive arena as it is a social space. You know, there are people. I think the most common example is friends of those competitive gamers. You know, we have these these hyper competitive people who are like searching for the win and then their friends come in and they play, they play Minecraft

00;24;22;05 - 00;24;38;11
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
and they hang out and they chat and laugh. And that's kind of the best part of some of these sports facility is that, yes, we have those competitive gamers. But at the same time, we have a casual community that is just embracing their love of gaming at Providence College.

00;24;38;18 - 00;24;57;11
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
So that's that's why I think we're such a versatile organization, because as far as I know, we're the only one that has that, that duality of both a competitive atmosphere as well as a casual a community atmosphere. No other were designated as a club sport.

00;24;57;17 - 00;25;13;26
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
No. The Club Sport, you know, has the has the privilege that we do of of having that, that dual designation. So we're very thankful to be a space for four for all individuals that whether they are competitive or not, that share a level.

00;25;14;09 - 00;25;20;28
Chris Judge
Obviously, there's a lot of passion there. Where did that passion come from? Have you? When did you start playing games? What was your earliest memory?

00;25;22;00 - 00;25;42;03
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
I have been playing games for as long as I can remember. I remember having the original X-Box. We I, you know, I would play games with my dad, but I was always more of a casual gamer. I was never really competitive until probably halfway through high school.

00;25;42;12 - 00;26;04;23
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
A video game called Rainbow six Siege started becoming popular, and I was playing it and I was playing on the PlayStation and I was getting kind of good not going to lie. I was, I was. I was doing pretty well, but I found out that, you know, real competitive people played on the computer because the distinction there

00;26;04;23 - 00;26;20;03
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
is really great. If you have if you have a computer, you're like a higher level gamer, as they like to say. But so I decided that year for Christmas. I wanted the computer. I wanted to make the switch, start playing the game computer, so I did.

00;26;20;03 - 00;26;43;11
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
So it's rough at first. It's a hard transition. But then I started getting more added, seen I played more. I played on some casual teams. I ended up thankfully becoming friends. I s friends. I still have to this day with people who were engaged in the professional scene, whether they be pros or professional casters, some of whom

00;26;43;13 - 00;27;01;01
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
I still keep in touch with. So that really invigorated my love of sports through that game I went to. They have the World Championships in Montreal every year, so I went for two years to the World Championships, got to meet other e-sports competitors.

00;27;01;20 - 00;27;14;16
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
Um, so so that kind of invigorated my love of the sport. So when I got to Providence College, I was like, Wow, this is a new aspect of my life that I really enjoy and want to pursue. What's the scene here?

00;27;14;17 - 00;27;31;28
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
What's what's going on? Do we have any sports program found out? We did? one was being started right as I was speaking, so I came in and I was like, I need to play, succeed at it. I need, you know, I want to know, fit that, that urge that I have started playing.

00;27;33;11 - 00;27;49;10
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
Didn't go so well, we had some we had some troubles because I think that's something I realized and that has stayed with me to this day is. Not everyone is at the same level, not just of play, but also of desires.

00;27;49;14 - 00;28;01;00
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
Some people want to be more competitive, some people don't. And that's why I've emphasized this duality in our program for so long is that my freshman year I wanted to play Rainbow six Siege at a rally like I wanted to win the World Series.

00;28;01;26 - 00;28;16;09
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
My teammates wanted to have a good time know, and that's something over time that I've I have no come to. Not just respect but celebrate because I think that's that's that's really the point of gaming as a whole.

00;28;17;11 - 00;28;35;10
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
But yeah, so so I love these sports as I've been here for a very long time, a very long time. Excuse me. Thankfully, I was very lucky. I Valorant team this year. They're all very like minded to me.

00;28;35;11 - 00;28;54;07
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
They all want to win. They all they all see that that trophy in the distance acts in a way who's my fellow senior on the team? It's our last year, so we want to make it count. So I'm very excited that not only can I embrace the casual side when I speak with the general members of the

00;28;54;07 - 00;29;02;08
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
group, but then I can I can get into a game and, you know, try my heart out with my Valorant teammates, which is very exciting.

00;29;02;29 - 00;29;13;04
Chris Judge
And that was the answer that officially made me feel old when you said you started playing games on an original Xbox and I had an original Xbox in my sophomore dorm.

00;29;15;01 - 00;29;18;25
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
Yeah, I said, I said technology changes fast, though it's not.

00;29;19;03 - 00;29;29;29
Chris Judge
I know younger. I and I'm keeping up. I've got my series s and my 3070 at the house, so I'm still keeping up. I've got my feet in the fire, still.

00;29;31;00 - 00;29;32;08
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
It's a hear it. Good to hear it.

00;29;32;23 - 00;29;37;07
Chris Judge
So yeah, you don't have. Once you get old, you don't have to stop playing games as much as people tell you.

00;29;37;22 - 00;29;50;19
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
Yeah, I don't. I don't think that there's anything that could stop me from playing games, you know, because my, my dad, my dad still plays games nightly, which is fun. It's fun. Make it. But he doesn't have the same skill that he used to.

00;29;51;11 - 00;29;52;20
Chris Judge
None of us do. None of us did.

00;29;52;28 - 00;30;04;29
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
Although I will say I will say for the record, to this day, still beat me in any sports game. I'm the worst at any sports game. Terrible. I don't know why awful anything else I can. I can. I can kick event.

00;30;04;29 - 00;30;08;06
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
But sports games, I'm the worst, you answered.

00;30;09;02 - 00;30;18;28
Chris Judge
What games were to expand in the club and the preview of the spring? So what about what's your favorite game to just play, not compete, but just casually play?

00;30;19;14 - 00;30;38;10
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
Oh, that's that's that's a tough question. I am a sucker for story driven solo games. I am, you know, so excited for so many games coming out. Horizon zero Dawn Forbidden West is coming out soon, which is which is exciting.

00;30;39;10 - 00;30;44;11
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
I'm also a crazy Star Wars nerd, so Jedi Fallen Order was phenomenal.

00;30;44;21 - 00;30;45;15
Chris Judge
The game was so good.

00;30;45;23 - 00;31;07;12
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
You're so good. I can't wait for a sequel and any other Star Wars game now. But you know, it's funny, though, because with so much to do in my senior year, I found myself like playing casual games a lot less because any time that I have to play video games while it is fun, it's also practice practice

00;31;08;15 - 00;31;21;21
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
, which I think is something that often goes unnoticed with, like the e-sports scene, people think, Oh, they're just playing video games and then they have their matches. Well, it's like, No, when I'm playing, I'm practicing, I'm practicing my aim.

00;31;21;21 - 00;31;40;23
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
I'm learning doing all these things. So I will say my casual. My casual gaming has definitely gone down, but with the holidays coming up, very excited, I get home and rest for a bit. Deathloop is a game that's calling my name that I'm excited to play.

00;31;41;28 - 00;31;53;16
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
So, so yeah, there's there's a few games that I have on my list that I'm definitely going to grind holidays, but at the moment, it's really whatever I get my hands on. That is a good, juicy story.

00;31;53;28 - 00;31;55;23
Chris Judge
Did you get through Miles Morales last year?

00;31;56;02 - 00;31;59;29
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
Of course I got phenomenal, just like the original Spider-Man.

00;32;00;12 - 00;32;13;05
Chris Judge
They're both excellent. Yeah, I got rid of my PlayStation to get the new Xbox Series S because I'm kind of all in on Game Pass and figured, you know, Well, if I can get one of these new Xboxes, then then I'll I'll go that way.

00;32;13;23 - 00;32;29;02
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
Game Pass is just the most phenomenal thing that I've ever experienced. I know I have my X-Box here, Series X here, and I'm constantly like downloading a game, playing it for like an hour, deleting it, but then playing a new game.

00;32;29;08 - 00;32;47;06
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
It's incredible. I actually won game on a game pass. Probably my most played game at the moment is up Slay the Spire, which is just like, it's just a card based game, but I've been playing it non. Stop, because it's because with gay past, you could just like, launch into a game, play it for a little bit

00;32;47;07 - 00;33;00;25
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
, jump off like it's beautiful. So I love if you want to talk about like the future of technology. It's definitely a different different than you. You just have to discount it up. Wait ten minutes for the load screen.

00;33;01;12 - 00;33;16;08
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
I can literally press two buttons right now and be playing a game instantaneously, playing a game that once I once I've done with, I have something to do. I hop right back off and saves my spot. They've got something that I'm so thankful to be alive during this time to experience that.

00;33;16;22 - 00;33;30;14
Chris Judge
Well, and the beauty also is you can start playing these things on the phone and pick up your save on on the phone. Like I have a Game Pass app on my Android phone and I can pick that up, pair it to a controller and be picking up the same save that I played down in my basement

00;33;30;14 - 00;33;45;26
Chris Judge
on my huge 75 inch TV. Like the, this world is wild, and for those who don't know what we're talking about, Game Pass is like a Netflix of games for Xbox. It's $15 a month and you get hundreds of games you can choose from to download.

00;33;46;01 - 00;33;58;12
Chris Judge
And now they just put in a feature where you can start streaming a game right from your console or your computer, which which is a really cool feature if you have the speed and don't want to sit through a really long download.

00;34;00;02 - 00;34;18;01
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
It's it's it's incredible technology that is so impressive, and it's so much fun because like you get in those moments for you, like playing a game on your phone, sometimes you have to like be like, Hold on, I'm playing a game on my phone and not like Angry Birds, which no, no, no, no shame to Angry Birds

00;34;18;01 - 00;34;27;04
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
. Phenomenal game. You know, I think that that was very big for most of us, but that's very different from playing Cyberpunk on your phone, you know, very, very different.

00;34;28;08 - 00;34;42;04
Chris Judge
Yeah. And coming next year, you can play Flight Simulator on your phone or on an older Xbox. It's incredible. I said this a few in that last podcast we did, and my mom plays Candy Crush or bejeweled all the time.

00;34;42;05 - 00;34;50;12
Chris Judge
And you might not consider a gamer, but everyone at this point has some relation to games and can play games now wherever they are.

00;34;51;14 - 00;35;15;26
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, we've even seen like emphasis from major game development companies into mobile gaming, whether it be mobile e-sports with player in Battlegrounds Mobile is a major e-sports along with Free Fire, but also like that the casual games you know we see like Star Wars Marvel putting out other mobile games constantly.

00;35;16;03 - 00;35;32;12
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
You know, I think that that's that's so exciting because I think that that is what's helping to break the stigma about gamers. You know, it's no longer that kid who, you know, sits in his mom's basement and yells at 14 year olds on Call of Duty, right?

00;35;33;09 - 00;35;49;01
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
Gamers are everyone. If you play like you said, if you play Candy Crush or if you're playing, you know, top ranked Valorant, you are equally as much of a gamer in gaming shapes your life. It shapes your free time, which I think is exciting.

00;35;49;15 - 00;36;07;07
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
Um yeah. So I'm so thankful that there's more emphasis put on on mobile games, because even if I don't play as many as as others might, it's still an opportunity to expand the world of gaming, which I think in times where, you know, a lot of things aren't certain.

00;36;07;16 - 00;36;28;17
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
And there's a lot of animosity and anger sometimes, you know, matching three little blocks together that pop up into a candy and they explode. Sometimes that's what you need that that is what you need. And I'm thankful to, you know, do my part in trying to expand that environment to as many people as possible.

00;36;29;09 - 00;36;41;10
Chris Judge
And I don't think it can be said any better than that. So I think we'll end on that note. This has been a pleasure. It was great talking to you, obviously have a bunch in common and it was a lot of fun.

00;36;41;10 - 00;36;41;23
Chris Judge
Thank you.

00;36;42;12 - 00;36;44;26
Noah DeRossi-Goldberg
Thank you very much, Chris. I really appreciate.

00;36;44;26 - 00;37;00;12
Chris Judge
It. Thank you for listening to the Providence College podcast. You can listen to the PC podcast wherever you listen to podcasts, including your smart speaker. Feedback, including guest recommendations, is welcome by emailing podcast at Providence Dot Edu. Thanks for listening and Go Prior's.