Some people want to make their own world and be in their own world, and some people achieve that by playing or developing their own video games.

I have been gaming for a number of years now and have come to find deep comfort in the activity. I was playing for an unhealthy amount of time per session and was probably at the height of my “addiction” in 2020. Now I was not the only person to have played video games for an unreasonable amount of time during that year, but at the time I had nothing else to do.

I had been homeschooled until high school, so I became a video game connoisseur. I had a bunch of knowledge and friends that made gaming a really fun hobby, but a few months ago when the school year started, I  faded away from the gaming scene, but I still try to stay in contact with the community.

Unlike myself, many people who go to Lakeland High School are avid gamers and well-connected to the community.

From games as chill as Mario Kart to fast-paced games like Call of Duty, the gaming industry will continue evolving and progressing either very fast or at an even pace Derrick Clement and Ethan Scott stated. Derrick has been playing games for as long as he can remember starting with family games, then getting introduced to shooter games through his father. Ethan has been playing games since the ripe old age of six and has explored the platform as a whole. Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege and ULTRAKILL are their favorite games, respectively.

I envy the people that are still gaming whenever I try to boot up an old game I used to play daily; it just doesn’t keep my interest anymore. I’m betraying my game console because I’m neglecting it. I’m letting it just collect dust even though that thing saved me from boredom and helped me develop social skills that I wouldn’t have had if I didn’t have my poor little jet engine sounding machine.

I will preserve my console for as long as I live because I owe it that much, some people may think I’m exaggerating, but it’s true. It is the least I can do.

Just because you do not see someone face-to-face does not mean you can not make fantastic lifelong friends, such as the ones I made over voice chat. The arguments and tangents we all shared will be engraved into my memory for a long time.