I have been and still am a gamer. My name is Alvin and I am currently a PhD student under full scholarship in pursuit of my studies. I have received two scholarships throughout my life and I was the team captain for various clubs. I was also team captain for my state swimming team. However, this has not always been the case as I was addicted to computer games.

As an addict of computer games, my longest stint for gaming was 12 hours. I started playing with my friends from dawn till dusk. My eyes screamed at me from all the focus but at that time I thought it was worth it. I spent a majority of my school life playing the likes of Red alert, Diablo, Starcraft and countless other games. So in this post today, my hope is to share my journey and perhaps to encourage any parents or teachers out there who are trying to get a child out of this. I understand that everyone is different, but I hope that this post gives you some insight into perhaps guiding that child.

I grew up in a highly competitive environment. I was given a lot of opportunities from an early age, this include learning at least three languages and being groomed to compete in at least two sports. Furthermore, I was also made to learn at least one musical instrument. The thing is, despite the many opportunities given to me, I felt defeated. I felt that no matter what I did, someone was better than me at it. I felt that even if I tried my very best, it was not good enough as being first was all that mattered and being second is as good as being last. As such, I withdrew from the countless opportunities my parents gave me and settled for something more winnable. I settled for gaming.

In games, I felt wanted, needed and accepted. It did not matter even if it was a false sense of achievement most of the time, nonetheless, I felt good and powerful in the game, unlike in real life. It wasn't long before I gave up on everything else, much to my parents' dismay.

My parents tried their best to get me interested again to no avail. They were at a loss. They tried being nice and they tried being harsh. Neither methods worked. After awhile, they too gave up on me. However, they made this known to me and claimed that it did not matter what I do, they will leave me be. Even if I were to end up gaming my whole life, they would not care.

Something in my stirred when I saw that. It was as if I have woken up from a daze but by that time, years have passed and now I had to get back on track with my studies and sports. So I toiled and worked hard, often sacrificing sleep for my training and studies. It took a while and lots of sweat, but I managed to get my grades back up.

The funny thing is that, over time I lost interest in games. Ever since I had a goal to work towards, gaming did not seem as important anymore and I am glad for that.

So about my achievements earlier on about getting a scholarship and being captain of various teams. I talk about those achievements not because I am able, but because I want you to know that your child can achieve the same results. while your child may seem beyond help now, there is hope. I want you to know that if they were guided towards a purpose and given a chance to excel at something other than just games, they would take it. So in other words, don't give up dear teacher or parent.

As for those who may be addicted at games, I still play games by the way. I believe not being addicted is not giving up on games completely, but finding that balance between life and games. There is so much that you can do with your talent and now that you are good with games, why not give something else a try? I wish you well and if you would excuse me, Overwatch awaits me.