LATROBE, PA – When Mr. David Safin, Associate Professor of Communication, began working at Saint Vincent College (SVC), he met Mr. Ed Saxton, C’05, a communication major, in one of the first classes he taught.
A commuter, Saxton could have spent most of his downtime in the Commuter Lounge, but instead, he preferred the Mac Lab. The Lab became Saxton’s de facto commuter lounge, and since Safin’s former office is one of the spaces adjoined to the Lab, the two ended up seeing a lot of each other and ultimately formed a friendship that has lasted more than 15 years.
Although Saxton has since graduated, he still returns to SVC to speak with the graduating communication majors regarding his journey after college; when speaking to them this spring semester, he had some exciting news to share with the class.
On Dec. 7th, 2022, Saxton was recently appointed the new Chief Product Officer (CPO) of Schell Games, a “full-service game development company” based in Pittsburgh. Having previously worked as the Vice President of Production, in his seven years of working for the company, Saxton has slowly found a love for creating products that will bring joy to the company’sconsumers. Saxton, however, didn’t always know what career he wished to pursue, and he, like many college students, simply graduated with hopeful visions of the future.
“I couldn’t put into words what I wanted to do when I left school,” Saxton said. He went on to explain that he only knew that “the thing that makes [him] happy at work is making great things with great people.” For most advisors, an answer that didn’t end in a career would have turned them away, but SVC gave Saxton the drive to push for what made him happiest, even if the idea didn’t first appear feasible.
From Idlewild to Schell Games, in the years since Saxton has graduated, he has slowly moved into a position that he deeply enjoys. As the CPO of a major gaming company, Saxton continues his dream of “making great things with great people,” and though he could never share his true wish with his advisors, he’s slowly made his dream come true.
“Those things do exist,” he continued. “There’s [always] something deep down that you want to do, and sometimes it’s a weird road to get there,” but that doesn’t mean students shouldn’t follow that road.
Over the years, Saxton has aided in the creation of the I Expect You to Die series of virtual reality games; Among Us in VR; and Mission: Deep Discovery, which is available in SeaWorld San Diego. With so many new projects on the rise, we’re excited to see Mr. Ed Saxton continue to further his career and look forward to the great things he’ll make next.
-Madison Kozera, English major, of Abingdon, MD