Sid Ricard, computer science junior from Golden Meadow, hopes to one day be a designer for a major game company. In his freshman year of high school, Ricard took a computer architecture class, but was surprised by its content.

” I thought it was a class where you design building layouts on the computer,” Ricard said. “When I got there, the teacher said we were going to be building and re-building computers.”

Ricard’s interest in video gaming and the class curriculum led him to aspire to work on a video game himself. His favorite genres include first person shooters, such as Halo 3, and MMOs, or massive multiplayer online.

Although Ricard is a computer science major, he also enjoys more physical activities, including sports and dancing. Ricards parents got him involved in sports at the age of five by signing him up to play basketball, baseball and football.

He played for the following nine years. Ricard said his involvement with sports continued into his junior year of high school. This is when he began playing soccer.

Ricard’s interest in dance began at the age of 12 when he saw his cousin break dancing. Ricard said he has competed in a few breakdancing contests, or “battles,” as he calls them. In the battles, a crowd’s approval determines who wins or loses. He has only lost once in his break dancing career.

Some of the styles of dance used by Ricard include pop and lock, liquid and techno.

In addition to dancing, Ricard also enjoys performing music. Ricard said he began playing guitar after he picked up his father’s guitar. When he is not playing the guitar himself, he enjoys listening to his favorite band, Mayday Parade.

Ricard enjoys going home on the weekends, which is one reason why he came to Nicholls; it is close to his home. When he is there, Ricard enjoys reading fiction fantasy novels. While his favorite is the Harry Potter series, the most recent book he has read is the second book of the Percy Jackson series.

Ricard said one of the most unusual things about him is his obsession with a beverage. Ricard said that he loves Dr. Pepper so much, it is the background on his computer.

“Dr. Pepper is 23 flavors of greatness,” Ricard said.