What this Blog is about

Okay. So, I had the idea for this blog after starting to construct my resume. As I was attempting to pin down my various skills, I realized that a lot of them were from gaming, a source that has little credit in the professional world. My years of gaming skills--resource (time, money, people) management from RPG's (role playing games), planning ahead, critical thinking, and more resource management from FPS (first-person shooters), and social networking and leadership skills from MMO's--would all be completely useless if I couldn't find a way to validate them on a one page piece of paper. It would be a misrepresentation of my person to leave off such a large part of my life.

Unsure of how to break this hurdle, I went to my University's Career Counselor. We worked on my resume, but I was still under the social bias that my gaming skills were unnecessary in the workplace or that they were made up entirely. Working on my resume just frustrated me. Now, understand that I have good things to put on my resume. I've been working since I was 16. I recently began tutoring in the Writing Center at Lenoir-Rhyne. I show my ability to communicate effectively. I show my ability to work with people,to be trusted, to analyze texts. I had all of these traits, but there was more that was being omitted.

Luckily, I was bored.

I was messing around on my Xbox, browsing the advertisements for new games, the news, upcoming events, when I stumbled upon a video of Dr. Jane McGonigal. She talked about the recent changes gaming was making in the world. My heart jumped a little. I went to find out more about her, about the Institution for the Future, and about gaming's up-and-coming role in society.

My life was changed.

Though not widespread, gaming was beginning to make its debut as a credible resource. Dr. McGonigal explained in her 2010 TED talk
(http://www.ted.com/talks/jane_mcgonigal_gaming_can_make_a_better_world.html) how gaming affects us all. As I listened to her talk, the pieces started coming together. She was talking about me! She was explaining the skills I learned from games! She was explaining me!

I could hardly believe it.

At my next meeting with my career counselor, I began to spill my guts about what I'd found, how excited I was, and how much I wanted to be a part of this revolution. She was surprised, but not as skeptical as I thought. She remarked on my visible transformation. Before I was...plain. I was a normal student looking for a normal job. I just wanted to pay the bills. But I was different now. It was because I'd found something meaningful.

We started brainstorming. I wanted to know what I could do to join this gaming revolution. I'm doing as much research as I can. I'll be applying to an internship at The Institute for the Future soon. I'm reading Jane McGonigal's book. In discussing all of these things, blogging came up. I needed a way to explain what I was doing in games and how that taught me skills that I felt unable to prove I possessed. Blogging would allow me to do that. I wasn't sure quite how to accomplish this task. I could just be making everything up. Luckily, Call of Duty recently started letting players upload clips of their games to Youtube. So, that's when I decided I would start this. I'm going to be linking bits of my game play and explaining what they mean to me and how they improve so many skills I have.

Unfortunately, I can only upload thirty seconds at a time, and the quality is pretty poor. But, I think that if you really want to learn about how I learn and what games are teaching me, we can make this project work. I'm doing what I can to get this information out. All I can do is hope that you will put in a little bit of effort as well. :D

I'm going to try my best to explain every aspect of the clips, setting up the situation, explaining my thought processes, and filling in where the video is unclear. I'm going to do my best to be un-biased. I'm not going to say things like "Oh that guy just got lucky" or "The game made me die here". I'm not going to just be posting clips that show me winning every time. That isn't learning. I want to show some clips that don't even have much combat. A lot of Call of Duty is setup, movement, and coordination. None of those things have to do with how well you can aim. Fortunately, most of the time, if you are aware of the situation as it unfolds, supporting teammates, and thinking critically about how the match is progressing, you should have an advantage over your foes.

So. Wrapping this intro-blog up, I want to say thank you for taking the time to look at this page. It means so much to me. I hope it helps you understand a little bit about why I enjoy gaming, why I enjoy learning, and how those things can translate (and should be translated) to the working world.

Here's to moving forward.