@furrydog
Wait…Pokemon battles don’t count???
DS was slightly too old when Pokemon became popular. But he was darn good at its counterpart (I think), Magic the Gathering. Not sure if it helped. (Maybe it helped a little bit on his SAT verbal at least.) Oh…he was pretty good at Nintendo games and some Arcade games too. Does it count?
;
Such an attitude is utter nonsense.
^ t-t-t-r-o oh, never mind
Both my kids played a lot of Magic, including going into NYC to play in tournaments when they were in high school, but I don’t think either of them mentioned it in applications. OTOH my oldest spent a lot of time working on a mod for Civ 4. It got named the best mod of that year for a game, so that did end up on the application. Some people make a lot of money playing Magic.
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Some people make a lot of money playing Magic.
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Cool - there may yet be hope for my kids. :o)
I am a bit worried that they will be in my basement for the rest of their lives.
(as I type, they are giggling and laughing playing Splatoon right now. For crying out loud, it is midnight now and my dear wife is cooking some snacks for them while they are playing - we are such loser parents)
You laugh, but there’s a decent number of people who make good money off of being Wifi Pokemon show battlers on Youtube or professional Let’s Players (people who commentate themselves playing video games. Tbh, when I have the free time (ha!), I’d love to do a study on the effects of watching Let’s Plays on depressive symptoms, simply because I’ve seen so many people online credit them directly and explicitly with helping them get through depression, etc. And I can see why–there’s a very “intimate” feeling to commentary because the viewer is sharing the experience with the commentator, and I could see how that could have ameliorative effects. Plus, a few years ago, two big name Let’s Players literally fulfilled a dying six year old’s final wish by playing a game with him. So, if an applicant could tell me that they made $50,000+ off their youtube channel (and a few probably make in the six digits each year), that they produced 100s of hours of video, and that each video was watched by tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of people, I’d be interested.
And Pokemon Wifi battling is about 70% psychology (predicting your opponent predicting you predicting him, etc) , 10% math, and 20% knowing the actual game. It can be fascinating to watch, especially when you hear the entire thought process behind the decision-making.
The last part of this thread has made me chuckle. My son–an avid Magic player for many years–wrote his Common App essay about his love for Magic the Gathering. It was very humorous. He got into his reach school early decision. I do hope, however, that he does not end up trying to make a living at it–or even attaining “world class” status…
“, I was thinking of world class athletes, musicians, mathematicians etc. They all had to start early.”
But why would I want as my goal for my child to have them be a world-class musician or mathematician? I want them happy, healthy and self sufficient, not doing something to feed my ego.
My son used to play enough of a relatively new indie game that they asked him to be a forum moderator and guide for newbies and famous YouTubers doing reviews. He got to be in a game with Pewdiepie (who has some crazy number of millions of YouTube subscribers). He got special privs, a t-shirt, and in-game stuff. His team was made up of people from all over the world and they were 1st or 2nd in tournaments for awhile. It got to be too much time. I don’t think it’s going on the college app, but it was fun for him.
This thread has chased a lot of rabbits. Fun to read, however.
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Furrydog
I just got back from a pizza run to PapaJohns for my kid and three of his buddies who have been playing Magic all afternoon. All four will be going to NYC in August to play in a Magic tournament as well (mathmon post #44). If it isn’t Magic its Pokémon or Mario. Is this problem for my wife and I? Not in the least. My son just graduated with honors from UMIch (4 years) majoring in Electrical and Computer Engineering and will be attending grad school this coming fall. His three buddies, all will be senior engineering students (Material Science, Computer Science, and Chemical Engineering) and all will be graduating in four years. My only grip it that I have to watch this afternoon’s baseball game on our kitchen’s 17" TV
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you are correct, @pizzagirl - if they become world class b/c they love it and do it often, then great, but if not, as long as they are happy…
This is actually called being a well-rounded person with varying interests. Superstardom not required.
I have absolutely zero interest in my kids becoming world-class anything. I would have had zero interest in making them future Olympians, too. Remember how people always oohed over how Tiger Woods’ father prepared him for golf success? That kind of prepping leaves me cold. It’s quite possible I could have had children with talent to become tops in (x,y,z) and I would have left it on the table. Oh well.
…not to mention, people who follow what they love often end up excelling at the activity because they simply spend so much time voluntarily doing it, and the emotional engagement often strengthens the achievement.
I too could have children with talent to become tops(x, y,z) but that egg has not been fertilized yet. In my next life, yes.
Mariano Rivera began pitching at the age of 23. He’s a Hall of Famer. If he needed 10,000 hours of practice before becoming a Major Leaguer, he never would have pitched for the Yankees.
Desire + hard work + vision = success.
Talent obviously can fuel desire, but in the end, desire trump talent.
I don’t think this is true for all pursuits.
I am an amazingly clumsy person. I trip. I drop things. My handwriting is illegible. I consider it a success if I can get through the day without spilling food on my clothes. I once broke my leg falling down the two steps between my house and my garage. You get the idea.
No amount of desire could even have enabled me to be an athlete or a dancer. I simply don’t have what it takes.
If you don’t have a certain amount of ability in a field, trying to excel in that field is like bashing your head against a wall.