My name is Reynaldo Cabral, I am eighteen years old, I moved to the United States of America when I was seven years old, and now I am going to college. The major I am studying for is Computer Engineering. What I am going to talk about is time. It has always been an interest of mine. I am always thinking about it. My head is always in the future. Just being able to see an event and having the ability to change it or just look up to it. We all think about time and the ability to change it, but most just say “yea that would be cool” and that is the end of it, but not me. In my thoughts I remind my self of my past and the experiences I have gained from it, and look up to the future to set my destination. Thinking about my past and my future, imagining it and losing my head in the clouds because of it made me the person who I am today. I am a person that looks up to the future and prepares for it. I am also a person that looks back to the past as something that forged me for what the future has in stored for me. A person that looks at the present and gets through the obstacles that faces me. A person that may not be able to fix my past, but still makes a better future for himself and anyone around him. This is what thinking about my past and future has made me today.

My past may be full of mistakes, Embarrassing moments, regretful choices, and unforgettable moments, but it is what made me. No matter how bad my past was I would not change it. In my past, I have been homeless, seen my father hit my mother, got bullied in school, and got into many fights at school. The events that happened in my past shaped me to be a better person. Seeing my father hit my mother when I was in middle school taught me to respect women, I saw the reaction of my mother and how she felt, needles to say she threw the house phone at him and kicked him out the house, after words I saw how sad she was and crying, I felt bad and cried with her, this taught me that women should be treated with respect because no women should cry or feel sad because of what the man she picked to be with did to her. Being homeless was not the best experience in my life but I learned to cherish things, I found life to not be that easy, while I was homeless I lived in a shelter, in the shelter we didn’t have much to eat and we didn’t have anything to entertain ourselves with in the weekends, I was still going to school while this happened, I was in the 8^th grade, and most of the food I ate was there, but those tough time and running out of food in the shelter taught me that life is not easy but anyone can make it better. Getting bullied in school taught me how to be strong, I got bullied in school twice in my life, once when I was in primary school in Dominican Republic For having long hair and when I moved to the United States of America for not knowing English. This taught me to be strong, not to judge other people. Looking back at my past I ensure that the decisions I make now prevent it from repeating. These experience has given me knowledge to advise or help a friend who needs the guidance or is felling down, I may not be able to ensure a great guide but being able to just point to the right path that might help get them back in track and feel better. With these events from my past I learned to be a better person.

In my past there was not only bad times but also times that inspired me to pursue a Carrera for Computer Engineering. In my past, before I moved to the United States of America, I was about five years old when it happened, I got gum stuck in the disc drive of my home computer because I figured the gum would take shape of a CD in the drive and create a bubble gum game. When my dad opened up the desktop case to remove the CD Drive that had gum I stuck there, I was able to see the inside of a computer for the first time; I was amazed by all of the different parts of a computer. Ever since that day, I loved taking apart anything I could find and trying to figure out how it worked. My mom would have to hide the screwdrivers from me because I wanted to take things apart. Even though I loved to take things apart I could never be able to put them back together with is one of the reason she hid the tools away from me. Ever since that day I loved computers and the parts inside. I always wanted to make my own computer get all hands on and feel an accomplished when I completed it. I think it is cool the way every piece can not work with out the other, for me it representing the human body in someway, even though we have endless storage in our brain and the computer has a limited amount. This has motivated me to be a Computer Engineer when I grow up and end up being the best next thing like Bill Gates or Steve Jobs.

The future is now where I focus my gaze. The future can have many outcomes. The future is not a set destination unless you make it one, and it is not a set goal until you make it one. The decisions we make create our path that leads to one of the many outcomes and possibilities that can take place. With these things in mind I lay out the possibilities and choose which once could lead to the best outcome. I always make sure to keep a positive mind of what could happen. I took the computer engineering as my major because I want to use my vision of the future to create electrical devices or computers that can help humanity advance even further than what we have so far. As we all know the future does not always goes as planned but I exploit my surroundings and see if I could shape it to be as I want or at least close to it. The future as we know is always passing by as the present. Once the future starts to pass by as the present it comes with obstacles we have to overcome and make it the way we planned it to be. The future can be any given distance, it all depends what we are preparing for.

I look into the future for answers and I look into the past to help me make decisions. While the past shapes me, the present challenges me. Looking to the future inspires me to design the next best thing in this century. It may not be now but it could be tomorrow. What we do in the present is our cause, and it effects what we will become in our future. Our failure, bad times, our good times, and our experiences are fragments of a bigger picture and they are what made you today and for the future.

My name is Pooran Nardeo, and I’m a student at The New York City College of Technology. At this moment I’m only eighteen years old, just starting out my life as an adult. My major is electrical engineering. Automobiles reflect my past, my present, and my future, it is something that for me went from a hobby to an obsession. Automobiles reflect on who I am because of my obsession with it. There are several reasons why automobiles have become such an important part of my life. This includes, the fact that I grew up with automobile. Another reason is that I wanted to be a car designer, which would be my dream job if I had to pick. Growing up, I started to realize that there is more to automobiles than just the fancy car, that’s why in high school I decided to join the automotive program, something that I would never regret doing. This wasn’t just a hobby to me this was where I met some of my best friends, people that share the same interest as me and someone I could ask for help if I needed. Finally now after high school, after knowing all about how cars work, things that I didn’t know before, I would like to design and build my own car. Automobile is the one thing that has the most impact on my life and it will stay this way as long as my obsession for car is still there.

If there is one thing that I could remember since I was a child, it was the fact that I had a collection of model cars. This is what starts off my long love for automobiles. There is one person I have to thank for this and that person is my dad. He was the one that got me my first model car. At that point in my life all that was to me was a square box that could roll. As time goes on these square boxes that could roll got more interesting. I realized that they’re everywhere, big and small. That’s when it hit me, these machines are very important in our everyday lives and from there on my curiosity had push me to learn more of it. I would be asking questions everywhere and anywhere I go, questions like, how does this work, what makes that part move, why is that there, and how important is that. By doing that it helped me learn a lot, because I didn’t know any of the parts. That was a great way of full in up my knowledge bank, because now I could name almost all the parts in a typical everyday car and know how most of the parts work. This was an experience in my life that was worth every second. This is because I didn’t lose interest in it, I only grew more, of it and it’s something that will stay with me throughout my life. Automobile was the building block of my childhood. It is number one on my list of things that make my childhood so interesting and amazing.

Designing cars is something I wanted to do since I was introduced into the world of cars. It would be consider, my dream job if I had to pick one. Designing cars is not something I just talk about, this is something that I actually do. I’m not very good at it yet, but I’m trying. I realized I have ability one day when I was bored in class. I had nothing to, so I took my pencil and started to sketch. At first I was just a bunch of scribble and then an image pop in my head, it was one of my favorite car. It was a Ford GT40. Now that I’m getting good at it I started to sketch my own creation. My favorite way of sketching now is what I call mix and match, it is pretty simple I take parts from different car and put them together to come up with my own design. The stage right now is mostly trial and error because not all of the sketch comes out the way you have it in your head. Sometimes you find that one rare occasion were it comes out looking perfect, even better than the picture in your head. Now that I’m so accustomed to sketching cars I do it everywhere. Especially when I’m bored in class, for some reason this actually works in my favor because although I don’t pay attention in class a lot I still remember the stuff. I even think about car while walking, I’ll be looking at cars and see in my mind is there a way to make it better or what need to be added to it to make it look better. I’ll be picturing it in a whole new way. This is how my view on automobile changes how I see the world both visually and on paper.

As I grew up, I started to realize that there’s more to automobile than just the fancy cars. I started to see how important they are to our everyday life. How without these marveling technologies, the world wouldn’t be the same. The development of automobile in the early 1900s, redesigned the way we live. This is due to the fact that because of cars and the easy access to transportation, we started to build urban communities. This meant that we stared to move out from the heavily polluted city and have a much better and healthier life style. For this major change in our life style and even our history, we all have to thank Henry Ford and hid model T. The first mass produced car at that time. Because of all this history that I learn about automobile, in high school I finally decide to join the automotive program. Those four years would be an experience that I would never forget and wouldn’t want to forget too, because of all the wonderful thing that I learned. It would definitely be consider a defining moment in my life. During those years, I found myself? I learn some very important life lesson that I would always remember. I found out who I am and what I want to do with my life. At this age this was pretty amazing. Although I know things never goes to plan is still kept it. During these four years I learn a lot about cars and how they function. I learn that it may look like a simple piece of machinery but it is pretty complicated. For one, it moves and they’re hundreds of different components and parts that are making that ability possible. During this course, I didn’t just learn about cars that we are using right now I also learn about car in the past and the one that are said to be release in the future. Like humans cars also evolve. They keep getting better and better as time goes by. This is one of the major problems in the automobile field, the changes. In our time Technology changes pretty fast and we have to keep up with it so that we don’t fall of the loop. With the help of today technology automobile can do pretty amazing thing. One of which blow my mine was the ability to drive itself. I knew this would be possible but I didn’t know it would be this fast. The only thing I’m waiting now on is the flying car, something that is yet to be possible. Those years would be something that I would never regret doing, this to due to the fact how great of an impact it have on my life.

Now that I’m out of high school and starting college, my love for automobile started to become my hobby. My love for automobile has helped me a lot throughout my hardest decision in life. One of these decisions was what my career job should be. Since I was always fascinated with the electrical and technology part of the car I decide to make that my lifelong career job. So far it’s going great, I decided to go in the field of electrical engineering, which is pretty similar to the electrical and technology part of the car. Up to today I don’t regret making this decision. I didn’t pick automotive to be my career job because of one simple reason. I don’t want to lose interest in it. This might sound stupid, but for me I don’t want my career job to be my hobby. I want my hobby to just be my hobby, something I could use to pass the time or even just do when life gets me down. I want this to be my motivation, so that I could get back up in life. Automobile have always peak my interest and now that it have became my hobby I am even more obsessive with it. My favorite part of this hobby is going to car shows. This is what makes this hobby such a wonderful thing, getting to meet people that share the same interest as you and even share ideas. These ideas could go a long way, with helping yourself or event other with making your car better and faster, something car fanatics like myself live for. Another thing I learn by attend this car show are the new technology and gadget that are been added to these cars today. These gadgets are not just to make our car look fancy, these gadget help up in more way that you could count. They also make our life driving a car much better and safer and in some cases even luxurious. This to me is a hobby because of how interesting I am with and all the life lesson I have learn from it. This would be one hobby that would definitely stay with me throughout my life.

My obsession with automobile had done a lot for me but the one thing I have to thank it for are my friends. Throughout my life I have made friends and lose friends, but when it comes to these guys it was different. The one thing that we all share it our love for automobile and that’s the same reason we still keep contact with each other. These connections all happen throughout my high school years. At first it did look like it was going to last, it seems as if it was going to be another fail friendship but because of our love for cars we keep meeting and as time goes on we started our own little car group. These are friend worth keeping because of the simple fact that they know the way you think, also because they there when you needed them the most, even through tuff time.

Throughout the years I have learn a lot and those are the life experiences that molded me into the person I am today. Now that I know so much about automobile, I don’t just want to learn it anymore. I actually want to start my own project building my own car. This to me is every guy fancy, having they own custom build car. At some point in my life I don’t want this to be a fancy anymore. I already have a few ideas on what I want my own car to be like. Most of these technology are already out, like for example cars that could drive them self without human input. With these technologies in my car it would make life so much better and even safer. Two of the world major cause for accident will be eliminate, texting while driving and intoxicated while driving. Your car will be able to take care of you. Although I want my car to be all futuristic, I still want it to have that vintage race car look and that look would be my all time favorite car the 1966 Ford GT40. Throughout my eighteen years of being alive I have learn a lot and even forgot a lot but the one thing that would always stick with me would be my love for automobiles.

My name is Ryan Karran and I am a first year student college student studying Computer Information Systems at New York City College of Technology. One factor that has really shaped me into the person I have become is the internet. The internet has impacted not only myself but all of society in both positive and negative ways. Some believe that the internet has made users lazy and very dependent. Others believe that the internet gives people resources that help to ease their daily lives. I find it to be both an interesting and useful tool that should have its limitations. Most tasks that people perform using the internet that impacts me are browsing social media, watching movies/playing games, and simply researching topics.

Social media has been really active in my life when it comes to consuming time. Social media has given people, like myself, a way to make friends easily and has opened up new opportunities for people that are socially or physically impaired to build relationships. I always found myself to be quite antisocial or nervous around people so social media has been a big role in my social life. It didn’t really help me to actually make friends but it really helped me with my communication skills. An example of this is when I use Facebook to comment under posts or even privately message them.

Unfortunately social media has also made me grammatically illiterate. I noticed that as I began writing essays or taking notes, I started to spell things wrong such as the way I would normally write things to my friends. For example when I would write “I’m” it changed into “im” or my “because” became “cuz.” I also noticed that my handwriting had really begun to degrade since I was used to typing and texting. I was so used to keeping my phone around me that I didn’t notice when I shouldn’t be using it. It was made known to me when my mom pointed it out while I was eating dinner at the table. From then on I decided not to give it social media the attention I craved for but to limit it to only two hours a day. In our society today, most of us teenagers put in a large amount of time browsing through Instagram or texting friends. Instead we can be doing something productive like learning to cook or exercising.

One form the internet took that really impacted me is entertainment through apps such as Candy Crush, Flappy Birds, Talking Tom, and Piano Tiles. They were meant for amusement or something to do with your free time but some people play it too often which ends up at their disadvantage. Every morning when I woke up, the first thing I would do is unlock my phone and play a quick game of Hearthstone. I also later became a Netflix addict in which I didn’t want to leave the house to do anything. This caused me to become a really lazy couch potato. Although it kept me entertained, I felt as if my days were getting shorter so I decided to try and take up some new hobbies. Today I learned to reduce my Netflix time to at most 3 hours a day.

Even though it proved to be a big distraction, I don’t regret it. I would only resort to watching Netflix or playing games when I have nothing else to do so it was the only way to spend my time at that moment. I wouldn’t go as far as to say that TV shows and games are educational or beneficial but they certainly are relaxing and require little effort. They help me to relax and sometimes even help me to fall asleep. Most nights I usually can’t even fall asleep without watching TV. Some games such as Hearthstone or Clash of Clans introduce needs for strategy and patience. For example, in Hearthstone you are required to beat your opponent using a specific set of cards you have. Perhaps some cards work better with others or perhaps you should wait another turn to play a card that you have in your hand. Playing games such as Hearthstone helped me to develop my analytical and problem solving skills along with learning not to be so hasty.

The last and most important role the internet has played in my life is for education purposes. Throughout my high school and junior high experience, I’ve been assigned research papers, online readings, and even educational videos so the browsing the internet was a must for me along with most other students. The internet consist of most if not all the information in the world. I find this to be the most useful resource provided to us because it not only saves us time and money but simplifies terms in a way that even elementary school students can understand. The use of internet is being implemented everywhere even in classrooms so I believe I will continue to use the internet as a source of information throughout my college experience as well as my professional career.

Although the internet was proven to be a great and reliable source of information for me, I found myself reluctant to pick up a book and read. Things were always much easier to just read it from a monitor or my phone so I never found a need to actually pick up a book. Today, most things come in a digital form so it saves the need to have to walk around with a physical copy. This way you can read from any device an open it from wherever you are whether it be your phone, tablet, or computer. In my opinion, this is a double sided blade meaning that it’s both beneficial and in a way harmful. I do prefer reading articles online rather than reading the newspaper or magazines, however staring at my monitor or even phone for long hours is unhealthy and has caused me a lot of my eyesight. Some have negative opinions while some have positive. Either way, if society today is implementing it into their lives, you’d better get used to it because eventually it will become common.

Stephen Hawking once said, “We are all now connected by the Internet, like neurons in a giant brain.” This really caught my attention because after reading this, I began to notice how dependent society is on the internet today. This problem may not seem so bad at first but the more I think about it, the more I realize the possible problems that could occur. Not only I but most of our society rely on the internet so heavily that if something were to happen in which we would have to rely on the old ways, it would be quite very difficult. The only solution that I could think of was to not be so reliant on technology itself which can also prove to be challenging in our society today.

I find myself relying on the internet because I use it so often. It’s part of my daily routine and may continue to be for a long time. I also plan to use it throughout my professional life as I’m sitting in front of a computer all day. I can conclude that the internet impacts me in both positive and negative ways but I’ve found a way to limit myself in the time consuming aspects of the negative ways. I’ve grown very dependent on the internet in that it makes my life easier especially when it comes to research and my social life. I also find it to be a huge time consumer but also a necessary stress reliever in the form of entertainment. Through the internet people can now find jobs, purchase items without leaving the comfort of their homes, and even socialize. This creates new opportunities for all of us and inspires a sense innovation.

My Name is Ryan DeJesus and I am an ASAP student that attends NYCTT and this essay will show you what I am passionate about. My primary passion if anything would be Poetry and Dystopian Fictions. Poetry, like books, can speak to a person in many ways and allows a person to view things from a different angle other than their own point of view. Poetry can range from telling a story to painting a picture in just a few lines. Poetry is something soothing because you can express what you feel, and the tone and rhythm adds up to your expression. Poetry has taught me that everyone is defined by their language; as in our words or our silence define who/what we are. A simple one stanza poem about clouds can convey things such as happiness, loneliness or even fear; this freedom of language allows anything to be seen differently. As with Dystopian Fictions, they allow what life can be like in the future, An alternate future if you will.

Seeing things with only one set of eyes is said to be wasted potential. Poetry is one of the ways to reflect beauty in our own language, and express art with the arrangement of words.  Poetry can be crafted. Poetry has no rules. Poetry is more than just expressing one’s feelings; it is a different viewpoint on a subject. Like any great writing it can open your mind to new ideas. For example, clouds, some may call it something peaceful to look at while others may just call them floating water bags. While another viewpoint of clouds may be a mood setter as in they can become “angry” and turn grey and cry; or they can be peacefully floating near the sun making the sky look as beautiful as ever. These views are easily interchangeable for any person.  A view of clouds can be changed with just some personification. It shows how it can convey complex thoughts and emotions in a neat and orderly environment, while maintaining a sense of beauty.

If we can see life in a different perspective, we can change our own life. Society has taught me, like a simple game of Tetris that fitting in will make me disappear. So instead of disappearing, I get lost inside of another world. It sounds corny because it is corny. That doesn’t mean we should separate ourselves from society; it means we should be wary of our actions in this society as one mistake could haunt you for life. Escaping into poetry is only a temporary solution to real world problems like studying for a test, or when you want peace and quiet. That’s another reason why poetry is good; It usually doesn’t take long to read definitely compared to a book and since they are short they use more complicated words and can improve our vocabulary.

Poetry can tell a whole story, a whole life time in just a few words; or may say some aspects of it. In the first paragraph I said I like poetry and that may lean in the direction of myself seeming like a loner type person. The way we talk, the way we communicate through body language, the way you look at other people all define who we are. Which shows what we do, Is what we are. A few lines such as these don’t seem like much , but many things have an ultimate goal that isn’t seen.

Both my interest of poetry and Dystopian fictions both arrived in my senior year of high school. My teacher (Mr. Key) has taught many classes that humans can easily become the equivalent of sheep. In the Book “Fahrenheit 451” by Ray Bradbury the government basically controls everyone through television. The protagonist is a Fireman; but not one that combats fires but burns books as they involve “free thinking.” When I read this book, I was surprised how a book from 1953 can predict how people can be glued to their televisions and a possible future. This really showed me that I shouldn’t adapt and become one with how society is rolling. In another book “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley it shows how people can be nothing but a number and a job. With this the citizens don’t care and influenced that change is the best possible thing which means getting rid of clothes that are 2 days old and taking a feel good drug known as “Soma.”  This interests me because in a normal life such as ours, we can only view that as a fiction novel and that’s it while others can see this as a wake up call. You may be asking yourself, “Where are you going with this?” or The answers are that fiction can become nonfiction at some point in the future , However if this were to come true, I really don’t plan to become another statistic to live life the same everyday but that plan crumbles when you realize that money controls the world.

Books and poetry at first glance seemed really boring.  I have always been less than enthusiastic about picking up a book before senior year of high school. Honestly, I’m not really sure where or when I managed to pick up this skill, but at some point in my high school life, I became very adept at understanding the tone of a book within 5 sentences. 5 sentences or at the minimum of 5 words is all it takes on where a book is leading onto. The same can be said with poetry as they are generally short and somewhat leading to a point. During senior year in high school, my teacher made us read books that generally had a theme of a dystopia or an imminent revolution. These books were just a foundation or a Kickstarter for my fondness of dystopian fictions. The same happened when I was introduced to Plato’s Allegory in which the main point is that people are afraid of what they are not used to. This does not mean that it is a bad thing as there is always something new to someone, such as when a  person is naturally afraid of centipedes or millipedes as some don’t know even know the difference in appearance . Back to books, they often have characters that are more relatable then most people today. A character in a book may have a fondness for walking long distances like some people do. A non-relatable character would have a fondness to sleep only with a headband on. Even small things like owning a dog or really enjoying the warm season of autumn can make you enjoy one simple character. Being a notorious daydreamer it helps to create scenarios in which you can or even put yourself in their shoes. Reading is an important skill for one to acquire, for kids, teenagers and adults. The more you read, the more you gain. It definitely has the power to give a new life.

Without my high school English teacher, I probably would have never discovered a life beyond reddit. A book may only show 1000 words on paper but it can say alot more outside of the book .Ever since I’ve read tons of poetry and created my own, I have seen new perspectives on many things such as how life goes on and how much people can differ.  Even with a book like 1984 by George Orwell, It shows how not everyone can be a part of a hive mind. Every pair of eyes belongs to their own person , each with their own  perspective.

                                                My Personal essay

            My name is Shamach Campbell and ever since I was young I always had this interest for art and graphic design. I loved how there were different styles of art and the ways they were used to create amazing pictures, games, and cinematography. Then one day I wondered about two things, how hard is it to learn about and pickup, and if I was able to learn it how far could I take it. So from then on I made it a mission of mine to learn as much as possible about arts and graphic design, and become one of the world’s next top artists. I needed to get in gear and I felt that as I went off to high I would be able to get a lot of more practice and exposure.

During my freshman year of high school I was required to take an art class, the only problem was that I didn’t know to how to properly draw things like people, buildings, and environments. I wanted to just rush in and get right to the advanced level of art as if there were some sort of shortcut. I tried to draw a picture of myself, and every time I tried to get it done as fast as possible it would always come out terrible. Eventually, I stopped and then thought to myself not every artist became famous overnight, it took some of them days, weeks, months, even years to perfect their craft and even longer to be recognized by society. So that’s when I decided to practice patience and also improve my perception. I would learn how to sketch whenever I could, I would go online and look up tutorials for symbols, scenes and characters, and I would even have people challenge me just to find new techniques to improve my skills. After some time, I was able to be good at what I did some of my work was featured all throughout the school and even other kids requested art commissions and guidance to improve themselves. But I didn’t stop there; about two years later I decide to take my skill to the next level and challenged myself to something a little more advanced.

During summer I had gotten bored and wanted to do more art but didn’t know where to take it, I tried and do painting, sculpting and other forms of art but nothing worked. Until one day I got so bored with and had no games to play, I decided I wanted to make a game and maybe do some digital art and animation. That’s when I found out about the program I still use today known as blender a 3d modeling application. When I first started to use blender I had no idea what I was doing, I didn’t know how to move around or spawn objects. If I was going to learn how to make a digital art I needed to learn all about lighting, compositing, texture, sculpting, rendering, and a whole bunch of different techniques that I learned to master. It was complex at first but I said to myself, if I’m going to make amazing things I not only need to learn as many of these techniques and styles as possible, but I also needed to learn how to be committed to learning it no matter how difficult it may be. If anyone .So I made a plan to practice as much as possible, so that by the end of my first year, I could make a picture then I can learn to animate and eventually I would learn to create a game. So far I haven’t created the game yet, however, during the time I have spent with this program I have made tons of art and even learned to make an animation. It had helped me learn patience and commitment along the way and I am grateful for it but there was one issue, since they were all digital I couldn’t just show my friends what I did without a computer so I eventually found the next best thing.

Nearing the end of 11^th grade I didn’t know how I could show people what I did and I didn’t want to join Facebook just to show a few friends some pictures, so around that time I found out about a site called Deviantart.com. It is a site dedicated to other artist like myself, a site where no matter how good or bad you drew wrote or created, there was always someone that wants to see you make it. After I learned more about Deviant art I decided to take my existing picture and put them to uses, a few days later some of the art I made I was getting likes and even being featured in groups and galleries. Ultimately I started uploading on the regular and about a month or two later I gained an audience who not only liked my art but was also willing to give me creative advice. Not to mention I even got people to give donations and feature some of it on YouTube recently. But there were some people he hated my designs, they would say things like, “it’s too bright,” “it’s to blurry,” “you should come back when learn how to draw like me.” While there were some really hateful comments, I said to myself that not everyone has the time and patients to learn I learned to what I know. So that’s when I decided to take advantage of those comments to improve my designs and those same people who wrote those comments ended up following and encouraging me to do better. I learned a lot of different art styles, found out about a lot of new fandom’s I can use for my designs, but most importantly I found a community of people who not only share an interest in what I did, but who are willing to help me grow as an artist.

In conclusion, I love art and design and appreciate how there were different art styles and all the different ways they are used to create some amazing things. So I won’t give up on my mission learn everything about art and graphic design and be the next top artist. Over the course of the next few years, I will worked hard to learn how to draw even better than I do know. I will create even better designs and maybe even helped people who want to learn how to become better artists and may want to learn more about what I do. I had the opportunity to properly learn all about lighting, compositing, texture, sculpting, and rendering. But most importantly I learned how to be more patient and make better commitments. I had a community he that not only believed in me but were also willing to help me get further and even give me money for doing what I loved. While I am here at city tech I am learning even more about it through communication design, both the necessary techniques that help me increase my artistic skill, but the different aspects of being a professional artist like being open to criticism. In the future I hope to implement the things I learned and will learn into what I do when I work as a professional artist, it can help me get more clients, make more money than I do now, and could even teach those who want to be taught.

And here are some pictures i made

My name is Edinsson Pena and I am an Immigrant. I migrated from the Dominican Republic with my mother and brother to the U.S.A when I was ten. I did not know what kind of future would be in store for me if I left my country. Now that I am 19 years old and a legal citizen of the United States of America, now I understand life a little better. I currently attend to the New York City college of technology and my major is Electromechanical Engineering Technology. I wanted to talk about change and how it allows to me to overcome many obstacles. Some might argue that leaving family,items they own and comfort, would be a great start for new experience.I can truly say there are a couple of key points that lead me to where I stand now. The impact American society had on my life and some of the struggles I faced was very challenging yet thrilling.Years in high school and the great turning points in my academic life. My time as athlete during  high school shaped me in many different places in my life.

I will never forget why immigrated to America. All my family, old friends and a decent stable home all left behind. Americans might wonder , why would anyone leave behind everything they own ? My mother brought me to America to obtain more opportunities and to have a better education. However, in order to do that she had to spend a great amount of money. In addition to leaving her career and dreams behind for me. She knew that a great sacrifice needed to be done to achieve an extraordinary change in my life. The dream took course once the plane from the dominican  republic touched American soil. The effects of American society impacted my life during the time that I was enroll in the fifth grade in elementary school in brooklyn New York. I was the new kid and everything that I knew was about to change. When the first day of  school arrived that morning I was very excited. My elementary was not that far from my  apartment. During the walked to my destination I was very nervous , my palms were sweaty and  my heart was beating fast. Little did I know that more events were to come. When I got to the school’s lobby I was confused about where to go. I could not speak or understand English. Then someone came and helped me get to my class. My class was bilingual and everyone was hispanic, just like me. In middle of class some kids were being rude to me and even threw pencils at my head. When I was in my country other kids did not treat me with such disrespect. I did get along with kid in my county because they were interested in me and they want to form friendships or play around. Seeing how the other kids in the class who were just like me picked on me, I then realize this country was not just for the generous and humble but for scrafty

I struggled more ever since that day, things were just getting started. I notice that the only way I was going get out of my hell was by learning to speak, write and read the english language. The sad part is that I was horrible at those things in my own language. I started simple,  watched people have dialog and I try to repeating it. In addition, I watched television every channel was in english. The processes was long and hurtful , but it was worth it so I started to be more optimistic about my situation. The Key to succeeding anywhere in your life is to change and end the procrastination. I had to learn that in the long run during middle school.                                                           

Everyone faces a time where they have the desire to change their lives , due to an unfortunate event or situation. I had my greatest academic career during high school, but before I speak on the subject of success and great accomplishments, I will introduce my failures and struggle. The most difficult part of course is that great change comes with trial and errors. I need to see failure eye to eye in order for me to make the first step to dealing with following situation. During middle school I probably had the most terrible grades in my whole class. I notice that if I did not make changes and give the best of abilities in my academic life, I would get left behind that year. I can say it was struggle because I did not grasp  the language, so writing homework and reading books was very difficult. However, I try to the best of my ability. I manage to learned how read at a low English level , also my spelling when horrible to decently good . At the moment was serious I remember my mother coming to teacher and parent conference. I knew that the moment teacher  told I had 65’s my mother would lose it. I would get yelled at , but the worst happened at home where I would be punished. Basically, I started to seeking for help wherever I can find it. I begged professor for extra work to do. My failure and errors will come haunt me when is it time to make a life changing decision that in involves a new start. At least that is what I noticed. I had to face this truth when it was time to pick high schools. Due to my low average during middle school my options were very limited. When I received the paperwork to select my top choices of schools, I was excited about new turning point in my life and it was a turning point indeed. My top choice was lyons community school. I can still remember the day they arrived to recruiting and present their school. There were a couple good policies the high school had. The first being that the high school did not factor in your middle school grades. Second it was a small school, which was able to work with me more individually. Nevertheless, I choose that high school as my top choice and it impacted my life forever. During freshman year my English improve, But I had doubt whether I was going to be able to succeed or fail. However, I worked with a burning determination and faced challenges head on without any worries because my teacher would helped me to the very end. I was thankful that everyone wanted help and with extra support I was able to earn a honor roll certificate. I thought I was not  intelligent enough to earn such Accomplishment.  The only title I know is of “Hard worker”, I might not be the brightest student in the world ,but I can always Apply my determination and persistence where I go.  

Wrestling is an amazing sport. when students participate in sports it helps them focus on academic work and allows them to improve their time management skills. In addition sports and the different kinds  of conditioning  students need to so keeps them in excellent physical condition, so if students are in shape it would be more difficult for them to get sick . I remember when I was wrestler during high school and having a really complex scheduled. I did not having any time be to wasted. I had to do homework or projects and afterwards wrestling practice for two hours. Wrestling practice was always intense. At the end of each practice I was really tired. I just wanted to go home and take a relaxing shower, but at times I also had to focus on homework or sometimes even studying for that upcoming quiz the next morning. I can honestly say that wrestling made me more persistent, also I was able to endure more challenging events in my academic life and outside of it. There was a time where I had study for the English regents and I had practice right after that. While I was running on the treadmill I was remembering essay  layouts, thinking about how to save time and the best course of action. Furthermore, I need to Acquire at least a 65 , since the first time I took it I failed after scoring a 55. Thanks to my couch and hours of homework help I was able to score a 68, so wrestling allow me to focus on my studies more than ever before. During my senior year of school I notice that I had learned how think to more critically and work with more determination under pressure or stress.

Life is all about making changes , going through trials/errors and facing new challenges without change there would not be any growth. I always hear my generation use the phrases like  “I can’t change” or “I stay the same no matter what”. In my opinion those phrases are very Ignorant and not very edifying to their own lives or other around them. I have observed  people around me and I noticed that they hate routines, so they must make a  small change within the cycle of boredom to live life with enjoyment. This small changes can range from take a different route while going home or even one of great magnitude like becoming more social with others. While living in America, I learned that I had to become an ambitious man that is always kind-hearted, understanding and have self-confidence to not only survive but to live a successful life. In my major Electromechanical Engineering Technology changes are fundamental to fixing a calculation to resoldering a different component. Change builds character and maturity. Changing promotes success and gives you new views in every aspect of someone’s life.      

Hello my name is Alex Feng and I am an ASAP student at City Tech. I am currently a freshman that is majoring in civil engineering technology. Hobbies are what differentiate one individual from another individual and a hobby that defines me is dragon boating. For those who do not know what dragon boating is, it is a competitive water sport where you have up to twenty two people on one boat paddling together in unison down a race course against other teams for the fastest time. This sport not only made my life more competitive, but it also completely shaped me into a new person. The sport and the team that I am a part of, the people and community I met, and the races and dinners that happened, all influenced me to become who I am today. From being a part of the biggest team in the city to having several mentors and coaches who had coached the youth team for team USA this year, and to all the events that I participated in, made my past few years incredibly exciting. Prior to joining dragon boating, I lived an average boring life like many other teenagers do. Dragon boating appealed to me as a way to get away from this mundane lifestyle.

Growing up from a child to a teenager, I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life or the direction that I want to take it in for that matter. As I attended my high school, I still had no idea what I wanted to do. Then junior year started. For that year’s resolution I vowed to myself like everybody does to themselves to change. So I thought of multiple ways of how I could accomplish this objective. Then I remembered that a couple of my friends had recommended me to join their club, dragon boating. I initially was not interested because it sounded like I had to put a lot of time, effort, work and dedication into this club. Despite these thoughts I had, I started attending the club activities, which was primarily going to a gym in Queens that was in somebody’s basement. Upon discovering this, I was skeptical, but my worries were dissolved when I got the opportunity to meet students from other high schools. Later on, as the temperatures began to increase, I had my first water practice which was incredibly fun, but still freezing. I began to show sincere interest and curiosity in this sport as I watched my fellow peers push themselves to their limits at the gym and on the water and gained admiration for the adults. Afterwards, I did some research about this club and learned that it was actually part of the biggest dragon boat team in the city, DCH. Being part of this team and sport taught me dedication, commitment, courage and loyalty. Becoming a dragon boat paddler who paddles for DCH gave my life a new purpose and opened up my social life. The team taught me to be dedicated to what I do, to give my best effort, and to always be thankful for those who helped me to where I am today. While it showed me the beauty of loyalty, the team also showed the negative social aspects of being in a club. There was always someone talking behind another’s back. Fortunately, I had the courage to face this one negative aspect of the club and remained unfazed by the drama. Having said this, my fellow peers and teammates played the most important role in shaping me.

When I first joined this club, it was extremely awkward as I did not actually know how to interact with others normally. When I went to the gym in Queens, it was full of students who I did not know from other high schools and my high school. As a result, I was a lonely individual who looked gloomy all the time. The only two people I was acquainted with were my two friends that recommended me to join and a few others from classes that I had. However, as time passed and I learn about others from their conversations, I slowly started to unconsciously open up to them and tried to interact with them. I really admired and envied them on how they could be extremely funny and be openly weird without caring about how others viewed them. These same people that I admired, my fellow peers and teammates, reached out to me to eventually and I joined their circle. Prior to this happening, I had never experienced that feeling of warmth and defining moment of making a friend. My new friends made me feel like they were the family that I never had. Today, I would say that two of them are my best friends and I am glad that I met them by joining this dragon boat club. Aside from the friends I met, there were also two particular coaches that influenced me as well. Randy Ng, the head coach of DCH racing and the head coach of team USA U18, and Irene as well. Randy Ng, the head coach of DCH racing and Irene Hu, head junior coach of DCH. Never before in my life did I have a role model until I met Randy and Irene. Randy is a man full of charisma, open minded, tough, but caring at the same time and can crack a few jokes here and there. While Irene is very kind and dedicated as well since she sacrifices a huge amount of her time to coach the juniors while studying to become a doctor.  What Randy and Irene is capable of doing and the sacrifices they make is very touching and I hope to follow in their footsteps by becoming a junior coach this year and continuing their and the team’s legacy of coaching a youth program as it helped me changed.

As I was part of the youth program in DCH, all youths were invited to attend all sorts of events that DCH hosted or was participating in. There are countless amount of races across the country, but as a team, DCH usually only participates in the closest ones. Although we were all teenagers, we won against adult teams. This accomplishment boosted my own self-satisfaction and ego. However, aside from the competitiveness at these races, every single paddler at these races, regardless of gender, age and race, are very friendly and have good sportsmanship. I realized what a great and united community this is and I was astonished by how random strangers would lend a helping hand to other strangers. Living in New York City, it is natural to see people ignoring each other while commuting. However, I immediately became a member of the dragon boat racing community and found myself interacting with strangers and helping them with my team. Aside from attending races, the team hosts their own team dinners such as Thanksgiving, Christmas and the annual sponsor dinner after the New York race. At these dinners, I was interacting with everybody from playing cards with the juniors to dancing and lip synching for the adults. Every single time that I attended any of these dinners it was a fun experience that I would never forget. Also other than the races and dinners, as a team annually we would fundraise during Chinese New Year, clean up our team equipment when the season is over and clean up the whole area near the docks where we practice at. There is never a boring moment for me as a paddler in DCH and I am glad that it has helped me improve with my social interaction with others.

If I had to tell another about dragon boating, then I would say, “DCH for life.” I acknowledge that DCH and dragon boating is what completely changed my life. Dragon boating, the people I met and will meet, and the countless of events that I will attend are what defines my life aside from currently being a college student. My plans this upcoming year is to become an apprentice junior coach that assists both Randy and Irene. Also to continue to improve my social interactions to the point that I can be weird and talkative without caring to much about other people’s views on me. Lastly for all the years to come, I would love to give back in any way I can to the team as my sincere thanks for the existence of DCH and dragon boating.

When I became a student at City Tech, I met a lot of new people who would ask me about myself. They asked many questions as part of the process of getting to know me, but the first question was usually, “What’s your name?” That one was the easiest to answer: Arjoon Hansraj. Other questions, however, were more challenging to come up with a satisfying answer. One such question was, “What makes you, you?” With some thought I said with one simple word, Drumming. Playing the drums has undoubtedly made me into the person I am today. It defines who I am, because it reminds me of where I came from, teaches me discipline, sparks my sense of innovation, creates a competitive mindset within me and shows me how to help others. Without these important traits, which I gained and continue to gain through drumming, I would not be the person I am today.

Drumming constantly reminds me of my humble beginnings and the struggles my ancestors overcame. Originally from a small, overlooked island at the southernmost tip of the West Indies, my ancestors came from India to work in sugar plantations for the British government in their new home as indentured servants. The British Government and its business representatives did not honor many of the agreements with my ancestors and they outlawed many of our practices from our Indian homeland. In the small shacks where they lived, they practiced their culture in secret in order to keep it alive, and they risked everything to pass it from one generation to the next until they eventually won their independence. I think of these things often, especially when I go out to play the drums for work or religious practice. When I was younger, I wondered why the elders would be so happy to see a young boy like me playing the drums, but after having learned the history of my ancestors’ struggles, I now understand. They are joyous to see their culture alive and thriving among the younger generations, because when many of them were my age, their parents had to practice and teach the culture of our homeland in secret. As a young drummer, I take pride in my talent and am ready to vindicate my ancestors’ struggles by being successful and embracing my culture through drumming.

In addition to the importance of drumming to my cultural heritage, learning and practicing the drums instills a level of discipline within me that I can transfer to any task I wish to accomplish. When I started to learn to play the drums I was frustrated easily because I had to sit for hours on end doing one boring task after the other with none of it seeming to be related to playing correctly. I began to get frustrated to the point where I would complain all the time to my father that I wasn’t learning anything and I was just wasting my time. However, my mind and attitude began to change as I progressed through my lessons and began to realize the method to the madness.  I began to understand why I had to do those boring tasks and the role it played in me becoming a professional drummer. Taking this understanding further I was able to teach myself many other instruments off of online tips alone. I learned to play the guitar by just practicing scales for hours and hours on end. I learned the piano by scales and tips from friends. Because of the discipline instilled by learning drum I now understand what it takes to be at an exceptional level of anything. I know that to be great at something you must understand it at its most basic “black and white” fully before you take it further. The discipline instilled in me from learning to play drum has made me into the calm and collected person I am today

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As part of learning to play the drums, I was taught the importance of maintaining the drum but also new ways to improve upon the original design to make it more suitable for myself as well as someone else. This has made me into an innovative person, always viewing the world from the point of view of making things better by improving upon it. For example with drumming, the original way to make one of the drums is to use an animal skin and rope with a clay pot, and to tune it you needed to heat it first with an open fire. This design works out great in the islands however, does not work so well in America where the laws are stricter as well as the weather different. To make life easier and to aid in bringing the full extent of our culture to America we had to innovate and experiment until we made the design that we have today. Instead of the clay shell we use half a propane tank, instead of the animal skin we use the plastic snare drum skin and instead of rope we use nuts and bolts. This base design has held over the years but is still being changed slightly by every drummer. I share that same way of thinking when it comes to everything I encounter. For example, as a junior in high school, I made a simple heat engine with an incandescent light bulb, a bicycle rim, and rubber bands. It worked by having the rim suspended and when the rubber was heated it expands and turns the wheel. Seeing that the design was not using most of the heat produced by the bulb I changed the design and added a piston made from a paint can and a rod I spot welded on to the lid. I also replaced the light bulb with a small food heater placed under the paint can which was filled with water and holes drilled almost at the top. This caused the water to boil which made steam which then pushed the lid up and by extension the wheel that was attached to the can by a rod. By innovating the design of the heat engine I was able to create something that was more energy efficient and proved to be stronger than the original. This innovative attitude that I have developed from being a drummer is one that I can bring to my career and use it to my advantage. Thanks to drumming I am able to view the world in a different light and have the drive to innovate as much of the known world as possible to make it an overall better place to live and hopefully rid it of anymore pollution.

While practice, discipline, and maintenance are primarily solitary activities, drumming also developed my competitive mind set. As a professional drummer, you meet others who share in your passion but are also your business rivals. You must prove yourself a better musician in order to be hired and to make money. This competitive spirit learned from drumming is one I can use to make myself somebody notable in this world. When I first started drumming our group was already established as one of the best and therefore I had to fill some very big shoes. To add to that pressure, there are a lot of other upcoming groups that have the drive to be the best. This meant I not only had to play well at private gigs but also to hold my own on stage so that our reputation would not diminish. Starting from nothing and coming so far I know firsthand what it takes to be the best at something and it’s an attitude that I plan to carry with me to all aspects of my life, both public and personal. The competitive spirit means you strive to be the best no matter what and that is what I truly seek to do and who I truly am at the innermost. I strive to be at the top, to be the one peoples greatness is measured by. If it wasn’t for drumming I would have never had this mindset and I would have not accomplished the things I have so far in my life.

In addition to competing with others, you learn from those you compete with in drumming. Learning from everyone and taking bits and pieces of everyone’s style you begin to develop your own. However, when you first start learning the basics you must find a way to break down each of the parts of playing drum so that you can understand it as well as memorize it. This inadvertently leads to you becoming a good teacher, because you can relay your own tricks and methods on to your students in order to help them. This is why drumming has helped me be able to help others. When encountering a problem, I break it down into small parts that I can asses individually which in the long run helps me solve the bigger problem. I developed this way of thinking due to drumming. When learning new beats that your hands aren’t accustomed to, you struggle a lot and become frustrated easily. By breaking each part down you can train yourself piece by piece until you can play the entire beat. This same mentality can be applied to your job, career and even your life as a whole. being a drummer has made me into a problem solver but also into a teacher. Since I understand the way I think and asses situations, I can pass that knowledge onto someone else so that they wouldn’t have to struggle as much as I did and can understand  things easier. Because of drumming I have developed the problem solver mind which is key to being an engineer but also a teacher mind which is also helpful when you have reached a senior level position and have to train new workers. If drumming was not a part of my life I would not have developed this mindset nor would I be able to have any idea as to how to help someone.

Without drumming in my life, I would be a different person who does not think or act the way that I do now. I owe my life to drumming, because without it I would never have been as successful as I am now. Some of these success would include attending college, another is actually studying and focusing on school, instead of being a “B” student now I strive to be an “A” student. Another of my successes include disciplining myself to stick to a schedule in order to always be ready for school as opposed to how I was in my past years. Drumming has provided me with almost all of the ideal mindsets that are conducive to a healthy career. From staying humble to helping others drumming has paved the way for a bright future ahead of me. The only thing left now is to make sure I use all the lessons I learnt from playing drum in my everyday life and continue to strive forward no matter what. All I ever need in my life is there for me to take and thanks to drumming I now have the tools and experience needed to take what is mine.

Aaron Chen                                                                                                                 September 29, 2015 

Prof. Ellis – ENG 1101                                                                   New York City College of Technology

                                                       Working My Life Out

            I believe that in order to live a happy life, you have to be healthy. Growing up as an unhealthy kid in family that has bad medical history was never the best. Knowing that eating one thing can lead to me amputating a leg or being labelled an obese teen was enough to ruin my childhood. Realizing this, I wanted to be a healthier person, which is when I found my love and passion for the gym. Going to the gym and working out has always been in my daily routine for the past year and a half and I can’t go a day without doing so. Not only is it a hobby, it has also become a lifestyle that you must be determined to live. I really enjoy working out and it has become a necessity in my life. Working out in the gym defines my personality and the way I live my life in so many ways. Starting with the physical benefits from working out and the determination to keep a strict diet, to being mentally and emotionally strong as well.
             The gym has helped me in so many ways with one of them being physically. Being a fat kid was really hard. Being called names and being insecure of taking off my shirt were some major concerns. Constantly thinking about what people might call me when I take my clothes off. Being called fat, fat-so, huge and obese were just a few. Then there’s mental and emotional factors that come into play. Thinking about if your gut is sticking out or your pectoral muscles being way too droopy. Being wary of the clothes I could get just so I don’t look “extra” big in those types of clothing. Being uncomfortable wearing the clothes I like because my “flaws” that I would try to hide, would show. These hardships I’ve been through lead me to be so determined to get fit. I was tired of being so worried and insecure to walk out the door and just be comfortable with being myself. With this determination, I worked my hardest to fix the flaws I saw in my body and eventually, things slowly got better and better. Not only was I able to wear the clothes I like, I was never called “fat-so” anymore. Finally being more comfortable in my own body and live life with less worries really makes me content. Being capable of doing the things I could barely do before I worked out. As a fat kid, I couldn’t even do a push up, whereas now being able to pump out a reasonable amount now reminds me of how far I’ve come. Being able to just run a couple blocks and struggle trying to catch a breath of air. Being able to carry myself without the help of others and most importantly helping those who may need a helping hand. Working out has really benefitted me physically. Seeing what I’m able to do now and being able to be comfortable in my own shoes will motivate me to continue my love for working out.

           Being on a strict diet isn’t the best or easiest thing to do in the world for most people, including myself. Seeing your friends eating Shake Shack and sipping on a sugary refreshment is tempting enough to make anyone do the same, but for me, I can’t. Munching on some good delicious steamed chicken breast and a half a cup of brown rice with a side of broccoli is the way to go. It might not be the most appetizing but the benefits are worth sacrificing for. Trust me, I would much rather just buy delicious fast food than to eat some bland and dry chicken breast. If chicken breast and all these other healthy foods weren’t benefitting me, I wouldn’t even think about eating them but in order to be physically fit, one must also eat right. As an amateur, i thought that if I eat anything I want and just work out and do cardio, I’ll eventually be as fit as Christian Guzman or even Steve Cook. Obviously, I was wrong and I’ve learned that you need to eat the right things to build the right muscles. Eating fast food once in a while is alright, but eating fast food constantly while working out won’t get you anywhere. You know what they say, “you are what you eat.” I honestly don’t want to be a McChicken for the rest of my life but rather be healthy and be a chicken breast. I’ve learned to give up what I want now for what I’ve been longing for in the future, a healthier and a more aesthetically pleasing body because nothing is more satisfying than to know that you’ve stuck to your game plan and achieved your goal. That to me is more satisfying than a cheat meal and I’ll say that any day till the day I die. Working out has definitely made me more determined in the way that I will stick to my goals and do anything it’ll take to achieve my goal. I will forever use this determination in anything I do because I know that in the end, I’ll get what I deserve.
      Mentally, the gym has made me a stronger person. Pushing myself to my maximum potential knowing that I will get results in the end. It has taught me in order to get good outcome, one must put in work. No matter how hard or how stressful, you must pull through and persevere because in the end, it’s benefiting no one but you. “Wake up with determination. Sleep with satisfaction.” I want to never live a day knowing I didn’t accomplish what I told myself needed to be accomplished. If I can, then I will. End of the story. I’m grateful that working out has engraved this mindset into me and made me who I am today.
    Finally having what you’ve been yearning for will be your reward. Experiencing the reactions of old friends seeing you after a long time and not recognizing you, is the best feeling ever. Being asking “What happened? You used to be so fat?” and “Oh my god! You’re Aaron?” are a few of the things I hear. Hearing this, I was filled with joy and satisfaction knowing the transformation I had gone through. Knowing that I lost a good twenty pounds of fat and put on a good amount of muscle, boosted my ego. Emotionally, I was very happy and satisfied with what I’ve done. I will forever acknowledge what working out can do to one physically and emotionally. The gym has taught me to not judge those who aren’t capable of doing what we may be able to do, but to see the potential and the capability of someone if they put their heart into it.
    Working out will always be part of my life. I’ll continue to live my life with the mindset, working out has engraved in me and continue to seek the emotional moments I get when people compliment me. I may be happy of where I’ve come since the start, but I’m not at my goal yet. As a passionate gym users, we who work out, are never done with working out. There’s much more to learn and much more to build. I will continue to strive for my health in the future and continue to live my life happy.

My name is Jean Betances and I have been playing video games almost every day for the past 10 years. It quickly and easily became my favorite pastime and source of entertainment. So much so that even when not playing video games, I probably looking at something related to it. Video games are something that with time started to define who I am today. It helped me make connections with people and learn a language. Videogames also made me more competitive and taught me teamwork.

I was born in New York City but lived in the Dominican Republic with my grandmother for 7 years before returning back to New York. As a Spanish speaker it was a challenge to make friends with the other kids, who only spoke English. When I turned 8 my aunt gave me a Gameboy Advanced, the latest handheld gaming device from Nintendo. When I took the Gameboy Advance to school, it gained me sudden popularity with my schoolmates. Since not many of the kids in my grade didn’t have one, they took turns playing with the game, and in turn, we got to know each other. Without realizing the handheld device was helping me make friends in elementary school. Since the games I was playing were all in English, it was also an incentive for me to learn the language, since I had to know what was going on in the game to be able to pass the levels.

Even a couple of years later in middle school, when I was speaking English almost fluently, video games still helped with social environments. I remember inviting a group of friends over to play Guitar Hero on the PlayStation 2, a game in which instead of playing with the regular PlayStation 2 controllers, it was played with smaller plastic imitation guitar controllers with buttons in the place of strings and a long switch to strum. Inviting friends over to play different games became a regular occurrence.

Throughout my life, without me realizing, video games have helped me develop long term friendships. Even to this day, after going to different high schools and now colleges I still play online on Xbox Live on the Xbox 360 and on PlayStation Network (PSN) on the PlayStation 4, which are networks on home consoles that allow players to play together through the internet. I used to stay up late to play online in these networks with my friends after school on the weekends.

As I grew up and kept playing, I began to understand what the difference was between a casual gamer and a hardcore gamer. The type of gamer you are is usually defined by your mindset about games. While casual gamers play regularly for fun and entertainment, it’s more about having fun with your friends and socializing. On the other hand, hardcore gamers dedicate more of their lives into gaming, including going to competitions and conventions, like the Electronic Entertainment Expo, also known as E3, which is an annual convention for the video game industry in which studios present their new and upcoming games, ideas, and projects. A lot of the times they also spend large quantities of their money to build their own computers, gaming setups, and to grow their home theater sets. I felt like I didn’t really fall into a specific category, but got the best qualities from both sides. In that I like to have fun with my friends and relax while playing games, I can also get competitive and try to become a better player and beat the game with as much skill as possible.

Another way that my love for video games developed was through watching people play video games online. I liked watching these videos to see their own experiences while playing the game, or just to watch them play a game that I couldn’t afford or wasn’t planning on buying anytime soon. Gaming videos became so popular that YouTube recently decided to make a specific section just for the gaming community, and a separate mobile application, which made gaming videos easier to find. I usually watch gaming videos almost every day as a source of entertainment. So much so, that it became a regular habit and I don’t really watch television programs as often anymore. Some of my favorite gaming YouTubers are DashieGames, TheRadBrad, SeaNanners, and DownrangeGaming. The reason I watch these specific gamers is that they are funny and entertaining, and they play most of the games that I enjoy. By watching these guys, they help me consider and decide on certain games that I wouldn’t have considered buying before. They also inspire me by doing things that I would enjoy doing for a living, like getting paid to play games.

Going back to the YouTubers in the gaming community, there are channels that are dedicated to gaming videos, information about the games, guides on how to play and walkthroughs, as well as fan made videos based on the games. A popular video genre that has recently become more popular are game reaction videos where you get to see people’s genuine reactions to games, usually horror or thriller ones. A couple of popular channels with millions of subscribers are IGN, Machinima, and RoosterTeeth. They have become popular because they make great informational videos about old, recent, and upcoming games that are going to hit the market. These are channels which I frequently watch to compliment my gaming experience.

In the beginning I thought that playing video games as much as I did was common, but later realized that this wasn’t the case. My friends and I were more into games than other people our age, who were more into other activities, such as basketball and baseball. I thought everyone was into gaming as my friends and I were because the people I was surrounding myself with were all into the same things. Videogames also opened up other doors for me because through the people I met because of video games, I was also introduced to other things, such as basketball, weight lifting, and anime, which is a style of Japanese animation.

Since I was a young boy I started collecting more and more consoles, beginning with the Gameboy Advanced, then the PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Nintendo DS Lite, Nintendo 3DS XL, Xbox 360, and finally the PlayStation 4. As I grow older and gain more responsibilities, I will still continue to buy new consoles and make time for games because I believe that you are never too old to enjoy some relaxing videogames might not be for everybody but people of all age ranges enjoy them. When playing online multiplayer you will be paired up with random people usually in your region but sometimes even from around the world. When in these multiplayer matches you could choose to plug in a microphone into your controller and speak with others in the group. You can talk to people of all ages and from places all around the world. In the online group people might not always be saying the nicest things, but it is still a fun experience. The different types of people that usually partake in the online groups ranges from little kids in a mature rated game like Call of Duty, to adults with responsibilities in games like Mario Kart.

Though some people believe that video games are a waste of time and for people who don’t have any responsibilities, it can actually help young kids to make friends, become confident in their skills, and learn new things, such as in my situation when I came from another country. Video games helped me make longtime friends and learn a new language and I now consider my first language. As long as there is a balance between your responsibilities and leisure time, everyone can enjoy video games. My passion for games is something that will not let down in the future and will definitely continue to grow with me.