Describe the world you come from — for example, your family, community or school — and tell us how your world has shaped your dreams and aspirations.
In the words of George R. R. Martin, “A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one.” I agree. My identity was forged in part by my family and friends, but also by hundreds of fictional worlds.
Ever since I read my first book, I’ve become enthralled by fiction. I am [name] from California, but I have also been Aang of the Air Nomads and Link from Hyrule. I learned about fractions while conjuring pincushions at Hogwarts. My quest to triumph in the school spelling bee was rivaled only by the quest to destroy the One Ring in the fires of Mount Doom. I try my best to absorb through some form of intellectual osmosis the logical reasoning skills of the cast of Ender’s Game and the sense of carefree adventure that resides within D’Artagnan and his friends.
I program video games as myself, but also as the fictional computer whiz Sollux Captor. I practice martial arts as myself, but the fictional knight Keladry of Mindelan often guides me. And when I feel like my life is overwhelming me, I transport myself to one of my many worlds, where I can be a homicide detective or a criminal mastermind or an ace attorney, and when I return from my sojourn, a part of that person becomes a part of me.
The books I read and the video games I played helped me in another way as well: they led me to befriend people I would never have met otherwise. I got in a heated argument about the quality of Nintendo games with a stranger at a hackathon, and we’ve remained close friends since. It’s also amazing how fiction blurs into my family life, as evidenced by the impromptu games of Mario Kart that begin at Indian festival gatherings.
From fiction I learned things I now take for granted: to value both logic and emotion, to be a little more cynical, and to observe everything because you never know when a piece of information might be useful. It was my interest in fiction that led to my profound passion for computer science, as I began to wonder about the creation of the video game universes that so enthralled me. I often find myself modeling my actions after dependable characters, asking, “What would _ do when confronted with this situation?” and then following that imagined advice.
The realms of fiction I once frequented and those I traverse now have shaped my aspirations with just as much force as the real world. In the future, I plan to make worlds that will inspire others just as so many other worlds have inspired me.