Good evening, I'm new around here.

[JuMpZ]

Hey everyone, my name is Rick. I'm 23 years old and am currently studying to become a professional animator. Since I was very young (5-6 years old), video games have been a huge part of my life, and I have poured endless hours into competitive games, even having attended tournaments consistently throughout the years. I grew up with a father who scorned me in a highly vitriolic fashion when it came to my video game addiction, making it very hard for me to open up to others about the prospect of being addicted to gaming, since I didn't want people to feel disgusted and leave me. As time went on however, I have realized that people are far kinder than I have given them credit for, and today marked the first time I have ever admitted to anybody that I am addicted to video games.

It was apparent for a long while that I spent more time on video games than I should have (throughout high school, I played Smash for hours on end, sometimes staying up til' late, it's a coincidence that I was able to graduate with really good grades), but now that I'm in a notoriously difficult art program and am living a more independent college lifestyle, my gaming habits have caught up to me and have had adverse effects on my academic performance. Granted, gaming isn't the sole reason my art studies have taken a critical hit, but I would say they're a large contributor. I lied to my peers and family at times about how much I gamed out of shame, trying to put on the appearance of a disciplined student, when in reality I was someone who lacked the willpower to avoid heavy indulgence on a daily basis, to the point it affected my day to day life.

My dream in the long term is to be a professional artist toward some capacity; I want to work in professional animation studios and get my foot in the door, but I know for a fact that I can't make it happen if I continue to allow video games to take control of my life. And right now especially, I am approaching the most crucial point of my art studies, in which I need to submit a portfolio of my best work to see if they'll allow me to continue studying under their program, or if they'll throw me out entirely. Regardless of whether or not I end up being removed from my art program, I still want to commit to leaving video games entirely, as I truly believe they have been a huge contributor to my current set of circumstances.

There's a lot more I could get into, but I figured I would shed some light on my own situation a bit. This just about summarizes what I've been going through lately.

Thank you for taking the time to read.