University of Advancing Technology's Official Technology Blog

Hailing from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Alayna Lecrone is a new student at UAT who is studying Game Design with a secondary focus in Game Art and Animation.

Alayna has loved gaming since the Atari days. Luckily, this love led to great skill and success as a professional esports player. Wanting to experience the other side of the industry, Alayna decided to pursue an online degree in Game Design.

Advances in online schooling allowed Alayna to live her longtime dream of attending UAT — originally intended to come in the late 2000s after graduating high school.

From designing a level for Unreal Tournament to making her own game in Unity Engine, Alayna has already accomplished things in gaming that she never dreamed of doing. “I loved gaming as a player,” Alayna says, “but there really is something magical about designing and building games from nothing.”

While she is no longer working in the industry, Alayna still really enjoys esports and watching competitions. In fact, she is the president of the UAT Esports Club. Outside of gaming, Alayna is a fan of cars, fashion and hockey.

Alayna finds creative inspiration from Andy Warhol and Alexander McQueen, whose artistic expressions have left an impact on this world. Alayna is also inspired by her grandma, who was caring, kind and helped shape Alayna into the person she is today by pushing her to do anything she put her mind to.

Alayna is a strong supporter of various change movements in the areas she is passionate about and states, “Being a transgender woman in this field isn’t necessarily uncommon in 2021, but I have to acknowledge the ones that came before me and dealt with adversity and discrimination and strived forward so I could be here today. I am proud of how far we have come and there is still so much more to do.”

Check out more game degrees at UAT!