Like every other young child in America, I was encouraged to play sports all throughout elementary school.  It was no secret to me that I wasn’t an athlete—and after five straight years of limited success in recreational soccer, my parents picked up on it too.  To compensate for my lack of athletic ability, I diverted my attention and interest to electronics, something my family wasn’t particularly fond of at first.  Too many times was I told, “Get off the video games and go outside like a normal person!” or “You’re wasting your life on these games all day!  This will never get you anywhere!”  Little did my parents know, they would be proven very wrong, and what began with a Game Boy Color in first grade would end up taking me much further than any so-called “normal” activity.
	I was introduced to video games fairly late compared to most people my age.  Fortunately, I had a friend whose brother was heavily involved with them, and it was through him that I learned about Internet sites devoted to gaming.  I located a message board for Super Smash Bros. Melee, a game that had earned a spot as one of my favorites from playing with the neighborhood kids, and started reading every post made there.  One of the posts in particular caught my eye—it linked to a YouTube page with videos of matches from tournaments for the game.  Upon seeing this, my life was changed.  The way the players moved about the screen was swift and graceful, unlike anything I had ever seen before while playing with my friends.  My interest sparked, I looked further into the tournaments and found out that every weekend in multiple locations all over the country, bringing in the best players around to compete for money and fame.  Instantly I knew that I had to go to one and began looking for one in my area.
	My search brought me to Smashboards.com, the largest competitive Smash hub on the entire World Wide Web.  Every player, professional or newcomer, had an account and read or posted on the forums.  I signed up under the name “Doom”, using part of the email address I had created as a little kid, and found the tournament listings section.  Much to my amazement, there was an event near me happening in just a few days.  I attended the event with a local friend, and as expected, we were both eliminated very easily.  That didn’t stop me from having a great time, though.  The hype behind matches between top players was incredible.  No sporting event even came close to making me feel as tense and excited as each hit was exchanged; it was truly magical.  To add to that, I had befriended a few tournament regulars, finding the extremely diverse crowd to be very warm and accepting despite my lack of experience.  I felt a sense of belonging and happiness like never before, and was inspired to rise to the top as a player, involving myself in this community.  One thing was for sure—this was only the beginning of an amazing journey that I’m still traveling on today.
	Fast forward to the present—nearly three years from my first tournament.  What was just becoming a hobby has become a lifestyle.  I’ve been to practically every state on the East Coast for Smash and plan to travel to many more new places.  I’m ranked seventh in the state of New Jersey now and turned “Doom” into somewhat of a household name when discussing talented players; a result of my competitive nature and desire to excel at what I do.  I began hosting tournaments of my own, and have earned the high honor of being recognized as a certified host on both AllisBrawl.com and Smashboards.com, the two largest Smash-related websites.  I have also developed a partnership with a branch of GameStop, a large corporation, and ran three events for them with great success.  Lastly, I have been noticed on tournament live streams online for my commentary skills, enough so that I am regarded as one of, if not the best commentators around.  In fact, I was even requested personally by Major League Gaming, currently the largest competitive video game circuit in the world, to announce in front of a live audience during the finals at their 50th anniversary event in Raleigh, North Carolina this past August—and even better, have a high chance of getting hired by them for an official paid commentary spot.
Following my heart and straying from what my parents considered to be normal has brought me a lot in life.  I now have an impressive and rare talent for public speaking, have formed powerful leadership skills and strong connections with reputable companies, and I am proficient at working with others.  I am very well-traveled and much better cultured compared to most people my age, as I have spent time with many different kinds of people in countless places.  My prowess in actual competition is merely icing on the cake compared to these valuable skills I’ve developed and the uniqueness that I carry with them.  I’m nothing less than pleased with the outcome and don’t regret a single second of my involvement in this wonderful community.  The only question left is, “What would have happened if I did get off the games and go outside?”
I assure you the answer would not be nearly as exciting.