Senior Spotlight: Jackson Boyd – Sooner Esports

Aside from the fact that Boyd has participated in all six leadership pillars of the Gaming Club, he shared how proud he was that most of the competitive teams he started are still around.

“Out of the three I started, two are still going strong today,” he said, “They don’t look like they’re going anywhere.”

Another source of pride for Boyd is the venue’s grand opening. “For five years, I’ve been hearing that we’re going to have a physical space, and only in the last year and a half did we get it. Seeing it now, finally, after…having that teaser in your mind for so long—all the different places it could’ve been, where it should’ve been, I can’t imagine it anywhere else but here now. As it is right now, it’s a perfect spot.”

Boyd shared that one of his fondest memories through these years was hosting his first big event, the Beat Saber Showdown, in 2022. “That was a two-week event that was a lot of fun,” he said. “For Stream Team, probably my favorite memory with that was OU Giving Day 2022. I had a little running bit with the taser, and it blew up on my hand in the livestream, so you just see myself getting electrocuted in the Giving Day livestream,” he laughed.

As for his experience in competitive teams, Boyd shared, “There’s nothing like getting your first win. You’re working your butt off, you’re training. Your entire life, you’ve never played competitive…you think of yourself as the run-of-the-mill, and then you…smoke them 3-0. Nothing can beat that.”

Boyd explained how, as the team’s coach, he valued the little events between team members. “[I have] never been prouder in my life than Halo’s first team get-together. [It was a] weekly thing after our…meetings—we’d go to Buffalo Wild Wings every Thursday night. We’d be there until, like, one o’clock in the morning just talking, hanging out, having a great time.”