[DMEC] Essay Finalist: Why Games Affect My Life
My name is Tochareah. I'm 16 years old and I'm writing this essay for Global Kids in the Teen Grid of the virtual world Second Life.
Before I started playing games I was a heavy drug addict. I spent all my money from my job for marijuana. I needed an escape from my family and my friends. I just needed something to just be away. I hung out with the wrong crowd and resorted to drugs that caused anger issues.
I first started gaming when I found Dance Dance Revolution( DDR). I noticed my drug habits decreased as DDR helped me to deal with my anger issues. I played DDR for close to a year and still play it. I found out that games help me. Games are my anti-drug. So I saved up my money to buy a new computer for more games.
I got my new computer and I downloaded a game called Counter-Strike. It’s a first person shooter. I played this game for a long time and noticed that my anger habits have gone down even further because the rage that I had been feeling slowly moved out as my bullets went into the others teams’ heads. Violent games do not make a person violent; the person makes him/herself violent by the people they interact with.
My other anti-drug is skateboarding. I can’t get enough of it. I skate in the winter, summer, spring, and fall. I just love being in the air like a bird. Once you’re in the air you start to see everything in slow motion and you ask yourself questions like, Why am I here? Do I have a Purpose? Then you fall to the ground and end up in the hospital for 2 weeks.
After I played Counter Strike and DDR for over a year my friend Tom introduced me to Second Life. I can’t stop playing it. It’s like everything you could hoped for in a game. It just draws you in. It reminds me of an anime (Japanese Animation) that I used to watch, .// Hack Sign. It’s about this game people play that draws in their brain; you wear a headset and you're in the game.
The main character in this show was named Tsukasa. His parents pulled the plug on his computer, trapping his mind in the game. His body was lifeless in real life, but his mind was still in the game. It went on a quest to find out who he is in real life and why he is never able to log out.
And I got to thinking I am like this Tsukasa. I eat and sleep Second life. I never log out. I can’t stop playing it. Second life turned into my new anti-drug. In Second Life you can build games with the game script to make your own creations work. I myself own a business in the game called Spider Clothing (Gothic Store). I make pretty good money most of the time and what I love best about Second Life is that you can exchange your SL money into REAL $US!! I mean how better could it get? You’re getting paid to play the game! Second Life has been a big part of my life and I love the people in this game. The people in the game respect you (most of them anyway) and no matter what you look like or what your sexuality is they all respect you.
In the game you learn to respect your fellow friends and foes. The only people I every really talk to in the games are my family (Blue Linden, Patsy Linden, Nicole Linden, Dee Linden, Mia Linden, Deana Linden, and the Love of my life who I met through SL, Kit Axon). Me and Kit met through this game and we started to date. We moved from the game to real life and found out we have a lot in common. It turns out she lived a block away from me! How better can that get?!?! I mean it’s a real small world but everyone you meet is so close you don’t even notice it. Me and Kit are now engaged to be married, in Second Life and in real life, and we love each other.
Since I started playing DDR, Counter-strike, and Second Life I have been clean and off drugs, which is why I still game to this day. I have played every single game title, like Halo, Halo 2, Diablo, Diablo 2, and Diablo Lord Of Destruction; every single Final Fantasy; Half-Life, Half-Life 2, Counter Strike, Counter Strike : SOURCE, Tetris (got to have Tetris ), Pong; all four of the Tony Hawk Pro Skates; etc. etc.
You get the point.
When you have an anti-drug you realize that new doors open up for you. The doors that opened up for me was a whole new life, the life of a gamer and a husband.
Once I was just a plain old bum who went out to get stoned and got drunk. I don't know why I ever made those choices, but they are in the past now. I am now home schooled and have no job. But I am starting over. I will be attending the Job Corp to become a chef because I love food and will be a future success.
My name is Tochareah and Second Life is my anti-drug.
Tochareah W. is a member of Teen Second Life and lives in Idaho. Stuart reports that “I'm cool. I game. I skate. There's nothing I can't do.” This essay was a Second Life Prize Winner in the 2006 Global Kids Digital Media Essay Contest. For more information, please visit GlobalKids.org.
