What Growing Up With Video Games Taught Me

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GTY_video_game_playing_jef_131211_16x9_992 I've played video games my entire life. My brother and I have always been fans of them, dating back to our original Nintendo and Super Nintendo all the way to the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. While I haven't been playing video games nearly as much these days, they still encompass a big part of my life. I was thinking recently what a life playing video games has given me, and I must say they have shaped me for the better.

Some of my favorite games over the years have been the Mass Effect trilogy, several of the Final Fantasy games, Heavy Rain, LA Noire, Bioshock, The Last of Us, Grand Theft Auto 4, Call of Duty, Halo, and a plethora of fighting games which I enjoyed (and still do enjoy) playing with my brother. There are many other games I've enjoyed but for the sake of brevity, I'll cut myself off.

Video games have taught me many things, some may seem unexpected or odd but nevertheless I value the contributions this medium of entertainment has given to my life.

Vocabulary

Especially back when I had to read all the dialogue from older Final Fantasy games, video games helped me learn new words and have an appreciation for understanding what they mean through context clues. Reading is important for everyone at all points in our lives and I happened to do a lot of it through video games. It doesn't matter what you're reading, as long as you are reading and are comprehending what is being said.

Problem Solving Skills

A lot of games have different puzzles and mysteries to solve, encouraging you to not just solve them, but rewarding you for solving them well and quickly. Critical thinking is a highly important skill for all people, and nurturing this through video games is a fun and effective way to build this skill. Especially a game like LA Noire, where there is groundbreaking motion capture for the characters in the game which allow for nonverbal ticks when interrogating people as well as in depth crime cases to solve with a myriad of possible outcomes. I enjoyed this game greatly and appreciated how it encouraged critical thought throughout the game.

Teamwork

I tend to prefer playing games on my own, but me and my brother always liked to play our fair share of them together. We'd have to communicate and take different roles to succeed. I tend to play a support role or (in World of Warcraft for example) I'd be the tank or defensive player that helped take the heat for my team so they could all do the real damage. If we had a team of tanks or people who didn't communicate, we'd never win. We each need to know our role and do it well. It's a super satisfying thing when you can work with others to achieve greater success than any of you could do alone.

Social Skills

While most think playing too many video games will make you into an anti-social loner (it can, but not always), I venture to say that it can help build bonds with others about something they are passionate about. Nowadays especially (far more so than when I was playing them) with the advent of online gaming, we are playing video games mostly with and connected to each other. If we're not teaming up or playing against each other, we're sharing resources, tips, tricks, guides, and generally coming together around what we love.

Video games will always be a big part of my life and I'm thankful for it. They've given me a lot and I hope others can realize what they've been given and what they could get from exploring this uniquely interactive entertainment medium.

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Book Review: Without Their Permission

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31bQE-GAJCL This 2013 book, Without Their Permission: How the 21st Century Will Be Made, Not Managed from reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian explores his story creating the front page of the Internet as well as stories of how the Internet is reshaping society for the better. Ohanian also gives tips for budding entrepreneurs who want to succeed in this brave new world where people can make millions off a cool app they created on their own from a dorm room. Even more so, no one has to wait for someone else's permission to make that app, make a change, or do some good. With the Internet, so much more is at so many more people's fingertips. The Internet is a great equalizer in terms of access and it allows for more good stuff to get the attention it deserves.

I enjoyed this book a lot. It had a very casual tone while still containing some great perspectives on Internet culture, how it is changing our society, and how to maximize the potential it offers. Ohanian obviously knows this subject well as he made his life being plugged in to the vast community of the Internet. While it is something I feel pretty understanding of, I enjoyed how he talked about it and I hope others can gleam some important morsels of wisdom from this book.

I've been a fan of Ohanian and the work he has done to ensure a free and open Internet. He goes into some of that journey in the book as well. This segment felt especially poignant as the FCC just recently made sure that the work Ohanian did was not in vain. The stories he tells about the amazing positive impact the Internet has had on so many different people in all sorts of ways furthers my commitment to embrace it as a tool for good.

Without Their Permission is an engaging, fun, personal, quick read that is great for anyone interested in entrepreneurship and the greater Internet community. It will preach to the choir for many but I hope it may reach some out there that might not fully realize the good this brave new world is doing for so many people.

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What I'm Geeking Out About This Week - 03/13/15

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Geek-and-proud

Hey there! Here's what is going on in my world:

  • Spring Break

This week has been Spring Break for my institution, which has meant having a quieter campus and more free time coming off the whirlwind weekend of ACPA. I've been able to sleep in a bit, catch up on work, and spend time with my partner. I appreciate this time before the race to the end of the semester in less than two months, which is wild. The end of my first academic year as a full-time professional is near!

  • Lost

My partner and I have been watching this show (mostly) together. I've seen it all many times but she was watching the entire series for the first time. It's one of my favorite shows of all time and it's been really nice to share it with her. I can share something I'm passionate about with her and we can bond over the show, which is a huge thing for me. We'll have to start on another show here soon but in the meantime, we'll still have our other shows that are currently on the air like The Walking Dead, Agent Carter, and Agents of SHIELD.

  • Reflections from ACPA 2015

I mentioned ACPA before, and while I've shared some thoughts on my podcast, I wanted to write some additional thoughts here. I'm planning on writing a more thorough post on conferences in general, but I'm still conflicted at times with how I feel about these big conferences. There is value in the connections and networking but the costs can be exorbitant for professionals and especially for students. It is hard to justify for me and maybe I'm just at a different point in my life having just started working full-time and not being willing to pay for a conference as I try to build a foundation for my life. I have a lot of other thoughts on this in relation to how sessions are handled for example. I look forward to getting that out for you all to read.

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What I Was Geeking Out About: February 2015

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Geek-and-proud

Hey there! Here's what was going on in my world last month:

There so much to geek out about last month, and to help you sift through it all, here's my monthly wrap up of all the stuff that was on my mind in February.

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What I Was Geeking Out About This Week - 03/06/15

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Geek-and-proud

Hey there! Here's what is going on in my world:

  • Tampa

So I am officially in Tampa today for ACPA 2015. This city is gorgeous and it was nice to get to my hotel, clean myself up, and walk outside in shorts in 80 degree weather! The area here around the convention center is very nice and I'm looking forward to exploring a bit more this weekend. I've taken a few photos already and I'll take a bunch more. I'll post them on my Facebook and some on my Instagram (check my "About" page if we aren't connected already!).

  • Changemakers

I recently wrote a post surrounding the topic of my presentation here at ACPA, and I am very grateful for the opportunity to talk about this subject matter that I am very invested in. I just want to give specific thanks to Krista Kohlmann for being a big part of making this happen in the first place and making the presentation a success (it hasn't happened yet technically as of writing this post but I know it will be awesome!). Check us out if you're at the convention and check out the #ACPA15 and #RUChangemakers hashtags on Twitter to follow along on the discussion.

  • Travel

I had a very long day yesterday with traveling down here to Tampa from Maine. My day started at 3am when I had to drive two hours to the airport in Portland, ME (only place I could get good flights out of), then take two connecting flights totaling around 4+ hours, and then once I got here, the convention kicked off already and everything was happening. Thankfully I had some time to check into my room, shower, and then go check in for the conference and bump into some lovely people right as I was getting in, which was serendipitously welcoming for me as I just got in. I don't mind travel too much, but I just wish I could have gotten a direct flight down here. I'm not a fan of connecting myself.

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On One Year of Podcasting

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SAC Podcast Today marks one year ago exactly to when the first episode of The Student Affairs Spectacular Podcast (let's call it SA Podcast for short) premiered. Since then, we've had almost 50 awesome episodes with student affairs professionals all over the country (and even abroad in Canada). I've learned a lot from these great people about our work with college students, and have also learned a lot about myself. I wanted to share with you all some of my reflections and lessons learned from this first year.

Preparation

A big lesson I've learned after a year of producing, hosting, and editing this podcast has been the value of preparation. When we started this endeavor, we had just began sourcing guests and kept pace well with our weekly episodes. However, there were certain times last year (especially when I was in full fledged job search mode or our team was away at conferences) that we had to scramble to get episodes. We also had some technical issues get in the way of keeping up with our weekly schedule. It was nice to take a break for the winter holidays as it allowed me to reset and get ahead of the schedule to where now I have episodes lined up for weeks in advance already recorded. The whole process has been far more enjoyable and less stressful this year due to my intentional effort put in to preparing ahead of time.

Conversation

The whole premise of the SA Podcast is fun, engaging, and relevant conversations with and for student affairs folks. I would not have ever considered myself a conversationalist but this show has made me into one more and more with each week. The quality of the show hinges on my asking of good questions, validating answers, and keeping a good flow going with each dialogue. I like to think I've done an alright job with this, and nevertheless, I've seen the benefits start to spill over into my non-podcasting life. I talk to students and colleagues all the time in my day job as well as my partner at home and I know the universal skills I mentioned before have come in handy. I listened more intently and I ask questions more purposefully. While I still have a lot of room for growth, I've seen a positive impact already in terms of how I talk to people, am I'm very grateful for that.

Collaboration

The SA Podcast couldn't happen without the help of my fellow team members. Tom and I have hosted together as well as hosted our own episodes of the show, and I've interviewed some amazing people in our field that I look up to solely based on connections through Tom or the confidence I've built to reach out to people on my own. Sabina also is the community manager extraordinaire who helps get the episodes out every week and promoted to our audience. I'm very grateful to have their support and assistance as well as the opportunity the do this. It is a dream come true and I'm excited to do every episode. I couldn't do it alone so both Tom and Sabina deserve a big shout out.

I hope to keep providing engaging content and to keep learning about myself from the SA Podcast for years to come. Thanks to all those that listen and if you haven't checked it out yet, go do it now!

Thanks for stopping by!