"pationate" ?

I've been working my ass off in school trying to get straight a's for the past 16 years. And now that I'm almost done I can honestly say that the one thing that really taught me how to work hard and improve myself as an individual was playing brood war competitively. Sure, being a pro gamer is a pipe dream for most people, but the people who get there don't do it through luck or talent, they do it through devastating, grueling hard work. And they do it because they love to do it.

That's the secret to being successful in any area of life. Find what you love to do and give it your all. I don't think I would have learned that if it weren't for starcraft.

Gaming all day isn't smart for most people. But if somebody spent all day gaming, improving themselves and working as hard as they possibly can, I will say go for it. If you can lose over and over and over again, and keep playing until you start winning, you've got a stronger spirit than 99% of the people who slide by in high school and end up working dead-end jobs, and you'll probably end up more successful than those people because of it.

Took the words right out of my mouth. Thanks for being awesome.

chobopeon

United States7342 Posts

November 18 2010 05:06 GMT

#185

You do not want to be learning history from the history channel. Really, it's fun sometimes but it's just a terrible source most of the time.

fainez

United States91 Posts

November 18 2010 05:08 GMT

#186

On November 18 2010 13:44 EternalFishY wrote:

Show nested quote +

On November 18 2010 08:00 teamsolid wrote:

On November 18 2010 06:14 EternalFishY wrote:

On November 18 2010 05:32 LastUnicorn wrote:

On November 18 2010 05:26 ShadezOwnage wrote:
Can I ask about your "unschooling" ?

Sounds interesting. Brief history of your years 5-x please?

I'm interested in this as well. As someone who was extremely moved by D9D#100 I think it's awesome that it's getting notoriety even among people who aren't avid gamers.

That being said, I think your mom is crazy bro. This quote in particular bothers me: "He learned by gaming, watching television, and figuring things out on his own. My job was to trust his true Self to do the job–to lead him to whatever he needed or would need in life."

This in reference to you (OP), how does this sort of approach fare in developing you for integration into society?

it wasn't ALL from television and gaming, but I did learn a lot from those things. I learned economics from playing World of Warcraft (auctionhouse 101) spelling / vocab / grammar from typing during games, any time I didn't know a word I would look it up because I didn't want to sound dumb. science/history have there respective channels on TV. I still did some work with math books, read some literature etc. but it was rare, and I was still able to graduate highschool 2 years early. The thing that being unschooled has taught me more then anything, is that I can learn something if I WANT to, extremely easily. When I wanted my GED I had no problem studying and getting it.

To answer your main question though, I have basic knowledge in all subjects that are applicable to society, the rest is all about finding what I love to do (which for the time being is cooking) and figuring out the best source of knowledge available to me. I'm applying for a culinary apprenticeship in April, wish me luck! :D

That sounds pretty awesome. TBH, not that much that I learned from high school I'll ever use now or in the future. Most learning really does happen outside of school. The only question I have is, are you still eligible to apply for university/college? Because not having a degree of some sort actually closes off a lot of potential career opportunities out there in today's society.

Thanks for having such an open mind, I really enjoyed it growing up. Yes I am eligible to apply for colleges, I have a full blown highschool diploma from a school in Massachusetts that I've never even seen in my life.

you actually got a hs diploma? nice, i took the GED because I actually didnt have an option because current PA law is kinda messed up for homeschoolers, but either way the GED was so easy and colleges dont care, its all the GPA / SAT (or whatever your area has) scores. I actually did some math 'classes' but it was just a textbook that i would go through whenever i felt like it. did you do anything like that or just completely life experience learning?
people tend to overlook how much learning you do outside of the classroom, I learned so much in boy scouts that even i didnt notice until later in life.

As for the harder 'subjects' like i said i worked on math, as it was part of the reason i left public school in sixth grade because I struggled with it. still not great at math but passed what i need already for my college degree. took biology already, got like a B+ didnt think it was that hard. I hate chem so just not taking that. not needed for my field. always been amazing at history, english, anything to do with writing.

side question, if you have applied to colleges yet what do they tell you to do for grades / GPA? we didnt do any formal grading and the college ACTUALLY told us to just make something up... lol.

BisuDagger

Bisutopia19333 Posts

November 18 2010 05:10 GMT

#187

Thats awesome. Great to have gamers appreciated!

CrazyF1r3f0x

United States2120 Posts

November 18 2010 05:13 GMT

#188

Dude that article really tugged some emotional strings, like seriously, the fact that I could be so emotionally effected by the story of some nerd who I knew nothing of (at least at the time) really took me off guard.

Randomaccount#77123

United States5003 Posts

November 18 2010 05:19 GMT

#189

--- Nuked ---

CrazyF1r3f0x

United States2120 Posts

November 18 2010 05:23 GMT

#190

Go day[9], and go fishy's mom!

Licmyobelisk

Philippines3682 Posts

November 18 2010 05:28 GMT

#191

Yeah man we have passion in what we do and that's what is important!

Serendipityx

United States595 Posts

November 18 2010 05:38 GMT

#192

Loved daily number 100 and loved your mom's take on it, good job

zerglingsfolife

United States1694 Posts

November 18 2010 05:44 GMT

#193

I can't believe nobody has mentioned this.

He recounted a tournament where he played a kid he called the happiest player alive.

I don't think I've ever heard anyone call Artosis the happiest player alive hahahaha

Serendipicus

United States90 Posts

November 18 2010 05:52 GMT

#194

My first time watching #100 my eyes got so teared up I had to pause until I was able to watch again.

Reading your mothers article brought that memory back.

Thank you.

.Aar

2177 Posts

November 18 2010 06:05 GMT

#195

Very awesome, especially in a time when older people are always jumping on the "video games corrupt minds!" train.

FunkyLich

United States107 Posts

November 18 2010 06:28 GMT

#196

That was a great article. Loved it. And by the way, its "metaphysics" with a 't'.

Zzoram

Canada7115 Posts

November 18 2010 06:49 GMT

#197

I liked the article but this guy's mother is pretty far out there. If you read the rest of her site, she says something about how freeing her mind healed her body and she believes that people only get phsyically sick because of the way they think.

frequency

Australia1901 Posts

November 18 2010 06:57 GMT

#198

Despite vomiting after reading the first paragraph, I'm glad to see your mum understands the mentality and can appreciate it.