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This summer as I will be attending UCLA and the coming quarters as a transfer student.
My Major?
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/r7XG3Mw.jpg)
You can already guess, right?
Alright, I won't exactly be Indiana Jones or that guy from Temple Run running away from demon monkeys, but it's pretty close.
My major is Anthropology with a focus in archaeology. I know that archaeology is its own discipline for some states in Europe, but in America, it's rare that archaeology would be taught solely on its own, excluding graduate school. I plan to focus my studies in the Ancient Near East (Middle East) and hopefully be able to develop some undergraduate research. This is off tangent, but I also want to make it clear that ARCHAEOLOGISTS DON’T DIG DINOSAURS!
Job prospects for archaeology are down in the dirt, so why did I choose it? I’m someone who wants to work in the field and lab, writing reports, classifying, and piecing together history. Archaeology fulfills my interest in both science and history. Plain and simple. I want to pursue something I can see myself doing in the future and that I have a passion for, rather than, following job market trends. I will be poor, but hey that isn’t even a concern for me anymore! My main career path would probably be a professor, but I’ll take whatever opportunity that is available or that I make available. I would talk about my plans for graduate school, but maybe I'll save it for when I'm actually doing it.
Despite my overwhelming happiness, it’s a little troublesome to be attending UCLA. You see...I have lived in a rented room for the past 2 (3?) years and it has been an extremely annoying place to live. I won’t go too far into my personal life, but the house I previously lived in went into foreclosure and I ended up renting a room in house that belonged to a “friend” of my mom. So, once I leave, I won’t be able to come back. What makes it more troubling is that I don’t have a license, which is pretty necessary in Southern Cali because public transportation sucks!! All the stuff I leave behind will probably be put into storage. It’s still something I need to figure out, but I’ve been busy with other things. On the plus side, UCLA is about 2 hours away from where I live currently.
With so much hard work ahead of me, I decided it would be a good time to depart from my beloved PC games: Broodwar, Skyrim, Natural Selection 2, Chivalry.
I’ve been a gamer ever since I was a 4 year old attempting to find all the secrets in Super Metroid and being scared as hell by the intro to Resident Evil: Director's Cut
Why do I see it necessary to uninstall all these games that I’ve poured hundreds of hours into? Undoubtedly, I’ve played video games for most of my life to cope with stress and anger. With all the crap I dealt with in childhood and throughout my life, I’m glad I turned out normal for the most part. I became addicted to gaming because I just wanted to ignore the problems in my family and my life in general. But, now I feel like I can do so much more with my life than waste time trying to chase down a Lurk as a jetpack marine (hopefully someone knows what I’m talking about.)
Don’t get me wrong though, I also played video games because they are fun as hell and my friends play them. I know I will be tempted to re-install Steam, but also I know that I need to do this to become more disciplined. Growing up, my parents didn’t care what I did with my time. I would play games all day and night and do homework and study for tests in the morning (a habit that I need to get taken care of immediately.) I got decent grades in high school, but I could have done way better if I applied myself, especially in Math. I really have no one to blame, but myself. I can’t change the decisions my parents made throughout my life, but I can only move forward.
Anyways, with the time not spent on gaming I hope to continue to learn and study German, get in shape, get my goddamn license, travel at least once before I attend UCLA, and most of all, stay motivated.
I feel like this blog has gone on long enough, so shoutouts to my friends who got me to play Broodwar, NS2, and Chivalry. We've had hilarious and memorable experiences on these games that shouldn't be forgotten.
Shoutouts to my chingus at UCSD! (Stay cheesy ChoDing!)
Also, shoutouts to ArvickHero, Fold, Harem (chinguu), Gao Xi, Trozz (hyung-byung), pie (we will never have that re), snipin_panda, Bakuryu, Lumix, and whoever else I played or talked Broodwar. All gosu w/ the exception of Fold throwing games away left and right. 
Here’s in hopes of shovelbumming my way through life! Cheers!
Just to make it clear, I’m not leaving TL. I'm just quitting gaming for good! Yes, I'm this serious to make a blog about it! I know quitting gaming may not seem like a huge deal to everyone, but it did impact my life a lot.
- Kororo
 
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I admire your determination, but I seriously doubt it will last. Nostalgia has a way of getting to you.
Best of luck with archaeology!
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As a part of your major, do you have to study some languages related to the Middle East region?
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I'm glad that you have found something that you enjoy that you can turn into a profession. Work to live, don't live to work.
I'm just wondering, why do you feel that it's necessary to uninstall all games? Most of the time you won't be successful trying to just stop doing things that fall into the "leisure" category. You need to make time for things in the leisure category as you see necessary, trying to just ignore things that relax you and that you enjoy never really works or it will work for a bit and then you will end up spending like a week in your room playing Brood War. If you choose to instead play BW for an hour a day then you will be able to work without feeling completely exhausted and you will be able to easier get through the more sluggish parts of school because you have a tangible, almost instant gratification reward.
Oh, and why don't you get your drivers license?
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How do you survive without a car in LA?
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I admire your determination, but I seriously doubt it will last. Nostalgia has a way of getting to you.
Best of luck with archaeology!
Thanks! Every time I quit Broodwar I have the tendency to re-install it on my computer haha. But, no more! I've been very inactive these past few months, so I got that going for me.
As a part of your major, do you have to study some languages related to the Middle East region?
It's not exactly part of my major, but I'm going to attempt to study and learn Akkadian, which is an ancient Babylonian language. This language is vital as it closely ties in with Near Eastern archaeology and very necessary to interpret writings, artifacts, and features. I might attempt to pick up some Hebrew or Arabic, but I'm still uncertain. This is all in preparation for graduate school, which is extremely competitive in selecting their candidates.
I'm glad that you have found something that you enjoy that you can turn into a profession. Work to live, don't live to work.
I'm just wondering, why do you feel that it's necessary to uninstall all games? Most of the time you won't be successful trying to just stop doing things that fall into the "leisure" category. You need to make time for things in the leisure category as you see necessary, trying to just ignore things that relax you and that you enjoy never really works or it will work for a bit and then you will end up spending like a week in your room playing Brood War. If you choose to instead play BW for an hour a day then you will be able to work without feeling completely exhausted and you will be able to easier get through the more sluggish parts of school because you have a tangible, almost instant gratification reward.
I'm going to try and fill in my leisure time with more productive activities available at UCLA, like the gym, or a part-time job or a course in rock climbing. But, I understand what you're saying because my friends share the same sentiments. However, playing games was more than a leisure time activity for me. Truly I've played games all my life, and I feel like I've spent enough time playing them that I don't need to spend anymore time. Even in community college I put off work to just play games, saying "just one more game!" Although I would finish all my work somehow, I can't afford to even attempt this at a university because I'll get screwed. This is why I just want to stay away from games. It's really a fear that I might revert back to the "just one more game" attitude.
Oh, and why don't you get your drivers license? How do you survive without a car in LA?
This goes back to high school where I was having family problems. Both of my parents were unwilling to teach me how to drive or pay for driving lessons. I couldn't afford a car and my parents couldn't afford another car (I have 2 other siblings.) So, I never had the incentive to want to learn how to drive. Now, I've got my driver's permit twice and both times I've never taken the driving test because I would most certainly fail w/o practice. Only my brother has been willing to help me learn how to drive, but he has his own busy life of work and intensive studying. I would need to get another driving permit, get a driving instructor, somehow buy a car, and afford gas prices. Luckily I'll be living on campus, so surviving won't be that big of a deal unless I'm required to go somewhere far. Getting a license is still a huge objective I need to complete.
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If you decided to go to ucsd instead i'd teach you how to drive -n-
:p hahah, in all seriousness, again congrats w/ the UCLA admission, and I support your decision to quit games (as I have done myself .. unintentionally ;p). Good luck, and GG!! Let's all meet up sometime ^^
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