Streamers Valkyrae and Squeex announced the Squeex Scholarship at New York University’s Game Center during a guest lecture filmed for Valkyrae’s “Touching Grass” YouTube series, published in February.

The Squeex Scholarship will provide professional development funding to students at the NYU Game Center. Funding areas include travel stipends for students to attend conferences and festivals, opportunities to present their games to potential publishers, and support for professional networking. The scholarship also covers internship funding and mentorship opportunities connecting students with industry professionals for career advice and creative feedback.

The Lecture

Squeex, a variety streamer who began streaming in 2013 and holds an economics degree from the University of California, Davis, delivered the lecture to approximately 50 students, the majority of whom were enrolled at the NYU Game Center. He previously taught speech and debate before his streaming career.

Squeex structured his talk around four core principles: the role of luck in streaming success, developing a genuine perspective, understanding one’s strengths, and filtering feedback. On the subject of luck, he told students, “It’s like listening to someone who won the lottery saying, ‘Buy lotto tickets.'”

On the subject of creative motivation, Squeex said, “If you don’t like doing it to nobody, then why the hell would someone want to watch or experience something that you’ve created?” He also cautioned against over-indexing on vocal audience feedback, noting that most content consumers do not publicly voice their opinions and that catering to a vocal minority can weaken a creator’s identity over time.

Squeex pivoted his presentation mid-lecture upon learning the audience was composed primarily of game design students, applying his streaming framework to game development. “The goal isn’t to be like your favorite streamers, but to be recognizably yourself,” he said.

Background

Valkyrae has been a live streamer for 11 years across Twitch and YouTube. In the “Touching Grass” series she participates in activities outside her comfort zone alongside guests. Streamer Foolish Gamers also attended as a surprise guest during the event, unbeknown to Squeex.

Following the lecture, Valkyrae and Squeex held a meet-and-greet with students in attendance and toured the NYU Game Center.

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