From Gaming to Integration

Written by: Santiago Azpurua-Borras

My childhood in a nutshell

Because of my inability to speak English, I was excused from doing any sort of schoolwork that was not math related. The only peace I ever found for the first two years or so of my schooling was the computer lab, which I distinctly remember being a bus,  playing games which began my love for gaming and my integration into American society.

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I remember the computer looking like one of the terminals from Fallout 3. I would spend hours in front of it during school with the computer teacher occasionally looking over my shoulder to see what I was doing.

And what exactly was I doing? Playing Secrets of Monkey Island and the original Prince of Persia, that’s what.

Not knowing English also inhibited my ability to make friends, so I did what any other lonely 6 year old would do, I played video games. It all started when I found an old dusty NES. After figuring out how to connect it I played Jeopardy, and a baseball game, with a  name I’ve forgotten.

These games allowed for some serious escapism. It was the only thing that kept me from crying out to my mother in desperation of my inability to integrate myself.

I never complained, I know my mother wouldn’t have made us move if it weren’t for a good reason.

Older games like Monkey Island or Prince of Persia allowed me to explore my ability to problem solve, and to figure basic things out. (Such as timing to avoid those nasty spike pits.) As I played other dialogue/text-heavy games like Sam and Max I realized I had to learn the English language if I even wanted to enjoy my newly-discovered hobby.

As time passed, I actually began to read the menus and text, while mimicking some of the words. I started connecting words with actions. For example, I realized the “up arrow” on the keyboard made my character jump, which I acknowledged as “brincar” (to jump in Spanish) in my mind so by connecting one another I knew “brincar” was “to jump.”

From there I developed a language which in turn, allowed me to start having friends and to start participating in all aspects of school life.

In all, video games helped me learn a second language.

Not only that, but they helped me recover from a life-threatening accident. Because I had no friends I hated going to school for the most part. So whenever my mother came to pick me up I always ran to her.

One day, as I was running through the doorway which was usually jammed open, it slammed into my head as I was passing through. It effectively shattered the top-front part of my skull. One can image the mental damage done.

My vision clouded red with my own blood, I shambled into the school office screaming in pain. I was taken to the emergency room where I had entered surgery. Only eight stitches, one remains on my forehead and in my later years, found myself on the receiving end of many a Harry Potter joke.

That dusty old NES helped speed up my recovery. I regained my focus and tuned my hand-to-eye coordination. Plus it just gave me something to keep my mind of what had happened. A coping mechanism if you will.

The doctors were mighty impressed. This allowed me to go back to school faster so I could play more sophisticated PC games.

As evidenced by the fact I am even writing this, videogames still have a significant meaning to me.

Even the day my mother and I flew to San Francisco to finally finalize the process of becoming full-fledged citizens, I sat in the waiting room patiently playing Pokemon Yellow.

Video games gave me a key to the development of the person I am today.