University of Idaho senior D.J. Walker looks like an average undergraduate student, but the lizard sleeping under the collar of his shirt begs to differ.
“This guy is named Lazarus, he likes to sleep under my shirt,” Walker said. “He”s one of the smartest lizards in the world.”
Walker, a Virtual Technology and Design senior, said he often brings one or two of his 10 reptiles to his classes.
“Lots of my pets end up coming to class with me,” Walker said. “Everyone in the VTD classes have their own laptops and they like to cuddle up by the spot where the laptops blow out warm air.”
Walker said his love for reptiles, which stemmed from a childhood fascination with dinosaurs, parallels his passion for virtual design.
The Cottonwood native first came to UI to pursue a Mechanical Engineering degree, but later switched to VTD. He is in his fourth year of Virtual Technology and Design and in his fifth year at the university.
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D.J. Walker, a VTD student, works on a personal project of his, a turret gun for the digital model of a star destroyer while his pet tegus named
Lazarus relaxes on his shoulder. Walker came to UI as a mechanical engineering major and later switched to VTD.
“In high school, I was always making cool, futuristic things in shop class and that”s why I joined Mechanical Engineering,” Walker said. “My first year, I learned engineering was more math than design and it was really boring, so I decided to change majors.”
After deciding to forgo engineering, Walker said he chose the VTD program after reading about it on UI”s website.
“I”ve always loved video games, but I never really thought I wanted to make them,” Walker said. “I thought it”d be kind of cool to give VTD a shot and it was exactly what I was looking for.”
Although there are multiple creative avenues in VTD, Walker said his favorite thing to design is landscapes.
“I personally like environmental design in video games and making the levels of virtual environments,” Walker said. “It means building trees, waterfalls, all of the surroundings.
Walker, who is currently working on art for a new show pending production on the Syfy channel, said he also enjoys 3D modeling spaceships.
While Walker is pursuing his passion through design, he said one of the most challenging parts of studying VTD is how time intensive projects can be.
“You don”t get much sleep, especially when you have a project that takes 20 hours to make a cool model set,” he said.
Despite the challenge of carving out time for class projects, Walker said he also volunteers to tutor struggling VTD students and helps the Virtual Design Society.
Blayze Conley, president of the Virtual Design Society, said Walker helps new students become engaged with the program.
“D.J. helps us out with a lot of things,” Conley said. “He really helps represent the program.”
Conley said the goal of VDS is to offer resources that will help students grow and become more engaged in the VTD program.
“We try to arrange workshops and events that will cater to the needs of the program”s students,” Conley said.
Walker said the VTD program is great for students who, like him, have a wild imagination.
He said when it comes to being a VTD major, imagination is key and that his own imagination, “nerdy” history and childhood inspirations help foster his creativity whenever he designs landscapes.
“When I design environments, I want them to feel like they”re part of a world that is actually lived in, not just a background made up for a story,” Walker said.
Corrin Bond can be reached at [email protected]