<p>Recount an incident or time when you experienced failure. How did it affect you, and what lessons did you learn?</p>
<p>-at age 8 i started playing a online game in which you interact with other players/level up your character
-at around age 10-11 set myself the goal to "beat" the game
-spent 16,000 in-game hours on the game from age 8-16
-towards the end of my time on the game, as i neared completion ("beating" the game), i broke in-game rules to gain ------hasten the process. i scripted and bought computer programs that automated in-game tasks, leveling up my character for me.
-literally the day before i planned to receive my "trimmed completionist cape" (the in-game item which designates character completion), my account was permanently banned (all my character progress was effectively gone) for the use of my automated third party software.
-i enter a limbo. i had made many online friends, experienced a lot, and made a lot of progress. now it was all gone.
-in retrospect, i don't regret my time playing the game. i may have "missed" out on receiving straight A's or spending more time with friends from school, etc., but my time playing the game has made me who i am today.
-although i enjoyed most of my time playing the game, my only regret is to not have enjoyed more. I became obsessed with the concept of winning, and even cheated to hasten my character completion. for periods of time, i had stopped appreciating the moment and started focusing only on the goal.
-i learned that to be successful in life, or in game, you have to enjoy the time spent, not only the reward at the end. Sure, one can spend their whole life rushing towards some big goal (character completion, money, etc.), but in the end you die. just like being permanently banned, it's over.
-so, i failed the goal that I had set years prior. however, from this event i learned that to be happy/successful i need to appreciate the moment, the act. that's how i would define myself - appreciative. </p>
<p>i believe that with a little work i can make this topic entertaining/concise/insightful into who i am. but, is the topic good? I spent an unhealthy amount of time in front of a computer screen, sacrificing real life friendships/grades/clubs etc. My interests are now more balanced, but is mentioning a past addiction a turn-off? </p>
<p>Anyways ... thanks for any input you have :)</p>
<p>Haha, RuneScape is quite consuming. I don’t have much experience with essays that talk about “antisocial” type of things, so I can’t say if you should or should not write about it. </p>
<p>I admit I am generally negative about ‘the gaming essay’. Not that there isn’t a possibility, but all you can say about it is pretty uniform from person to person. I guess it will really depend on the writing. You have to realize that there is a lot of negatives here. You say you sacrificed your schoolwork for it is really bad. You sacrificed interacting in your community–pretty negative. It didn’t bother you to break TOU and use 3rd party software (where does that disregard end, at plagiarism or not?) There is a lot of negative stuff here to make a negative impression. It makes me so glad I didn’t have my kid doing it and reminds me of my vid addicted nephews which I just hate how they can’t stay away like they are addicted and their schoolwork is not too great, ug. So it pushes buttons too.</p>
<p>But it has a funny story of you being blocked from your addiction. I would be more interested to see what you then did with your time. You say it taught you something so you talk the talk, do you walk the walk and can you demonstrate that? Or is it just ‘and they lived happily ever after’ with no clue’. I think that would make it better. </p>
<p>I’m also not sure what you mean when you say the game made you who you are. That needs explaining.</p>
<p>I’m not sure how many video game essays they are getting these days, I have a feeling it is played out, but your story is a bit different. If you were applying Ivies I would say definitely no.</p>
<p>@BrownParent But I am now getting good grades. I’m now volunteering in my community, learning a new instrument, continuing sports. Those negatives are not who I am, but rather who I was, what I experienced, and how that affected me. I’m enjoying learning, volunteering, and spending more time exercising. I’m appreciating being a highschooler and having the opportunity to do those things. The experience has helped me become more appreciative. The “walk” you speak of would be my new-found volunteering, instrument, varsity soccer, course load, and strong upward GPA trend. One of the reasons why I chose this topic would be to give an account for why my application is weak until partway through junior year. As far as the game molding me into who I am - well, including time scripting/researching/making guides/leveling side accounts, I probably spent over 20,000 hours doing activities somehow involved with the game over the time period that spanned half of my existence. Throughout those activities I’ve had many high and low experiences and met many people who have certainly molded me. I won’t have time to go through everything of course (650 words isn’t that much). I mostly listed that line in my post to give context to the situation.</p>
<p>I’m not too bothered if there are a lot of video game essays. There are probably a lot of a lot of essays, but I’ll try my best to make it unique. </p>
<p>As far as the TOS goes …I did mentioned how I regret not appreciating the moment (hastening my progress through the use of bots). At the time, I didn’t mind much. Is breaking a simple TOS a big no-no in applications? I don’t think it begs the question as to whether I would steal the work of another, but if anyone has thoughts on the TOS break, I’d appreciate it. </p>
<p>I’m trying to highlight the change that has occurred - the “lessons” I learned. </p>
<p>Thanks for the in-depth post.</p>
<p>e: I’m not applying to anything near Ivies. A rank 50 small liberal arts college would be a reach because of my fresh/soph grades and lack of EC’s.</p>
<p>I think this could be a neat essay if you frame it properly. I would focus on the “after” and not the “before”. You’ll need to set the stage and explain that you were overly invested in the video game, but don’t romanticize it, I wouldn’t tell the reader you spent 8 years wrapped up in it. That makes me imagine you never left your basement. But say you let it overwhelm you freshman and sophomore year (explains your grades). I would similarly downplay the violation of TOS. And definitely acknowledge that you screwed up and deserved to be banned. If you try to argue otherwise I would wonder if you might feel justified to cheat or plagiarize at school. Make the essay really start from the point where your access was cut off. You had to find new goals, friends and activities in the real world and how much better you are because of it. </p>
<p>I like the general outline of your essay. Sounds like it might initially cause some gasps, but as long as you talk about how the experience made you a better person, I think it could work. If you want me to read it after you’re done, PM me.</p>