Here's my history with video games, told game by game from the very beginning all the way to where I'm at today.
Zuma
My video game journey started when I was a young kid playing Zuma on my grandparents' computer in China. I'd say that by the time I was around 2 years old, I already knew I had a passion for video games and technology.
Minecraft
When I was 8 years old, I remember my parents bought me Minecraft Pocket Edition for my Christmas present, version 0.4.0 to be exact. I built a house without a roof, with a staircase that connected different sections of the home, one side for crafting and the other for furnaces. It was a simple and cozy build, although definitely not ideal for surviving the night. I continued playing Minecraft throughout my childhood, whether on Xbox or PC, and I stayed a huge fan through both the Mojang era and after Microsoft acquired the game.
Fortnite
The next major game I got into was Fortnite. I started as a mobile player and actually competed at a fairly high level. I would play cross platform with my PC friends, and despite being on mobile, I could still keep up and even crank 90s and play competitively. I feel like such a nerd talking about this, but one of my favorite experiences was playing in a Valentine's Day tournament with my PC friends, where we placed quite high competing against other elite PC players.
CS:GO
After that, I moved on to CSGO during COVID. At first, my Mac wasn't strong enough to run the game properly, so I used NVIDIA GeForce Now to play through cloud gaming. Even though the latency was pretty insane, I was still excited just to get an hour of gameplay after waiting sometimes over 30 minutes in queues for a virtual machine. Eventually, I realized I needed a long term solution, so I worked with my dad over the summer as an electrician to save up money. I used that to research and build my own PC from scratch, where I eventually reached DMG in CSGO before it transitioned to CS2, and now I mostly play casually with friends.
League of Legends
The game I've spent the most time on is League of Legends. Once I tried it, I got hooked immediately by the strategic depth and decision making of the game. I realized that every small decision had consequences, and that those decisions would ultimately determine whether you win or lose. Over time, I became obsessed with finding the most optimal ways to play and improve, and although I started as a hardstuck Silver player, I eventually climbed to Masters and reached the top 1500 players in North America.
Collegiate League
Along the way, I got the chance to play with and against famous content creators and my childhood idols like Tyler1, and I also became friends with many micro celebrities in the North American competitive scene. I also played collegiate League of Legends at UBC for a year, which allowed me to experience the competitive environment I used to watch growing up.
Closing the chapter
At this point in my life, I feel like I'm ready to close this chapter of gaming. It's not that my interest is completely gone, but my focus has shifted toward other goals and priorities for the future. Gaming will always be an important and fun part of my life, but I'm also excited to see what I can achieve moving forward if I apply the same level of focus and discipline elsewhere.