I'm always been told that college is "the best years of your entire life". I'm very much inclined to believe them, most of the time. Sometimes, however, it takes a serious amount of perspective to make things turn right around.
I regularly flip a coin inside my head. It's a heavy coin, and sometimes it manages to get stuck on its side, and I'm not really sure how I want to deal with it. See, this coin represents what some would consider a "simple" choice; it's me deciding to call myself either a 'Teacher' or a 'Game Designer'.
What's in a name? All so much, and that is why this is the biggest hurdle for myself.
I've already discussed how Video Games are some of the greatest teaching tools on the planet, using the brilliant research of Raph Koster and all of those whom he researched, and I believe I've made it quite clear I want to use games to help people. So what, therefore, is the problem? Can't I just say I want to be a teacher and move on?
You can't really call yourself a teacher if all your designs/classes to date have not given one single important lesson to their intended audience. Moreover, there's this perspective that anything "educational" will be boring, repetitive and cheap, with as much passion put into it as the people who sit in the top levels of administration have for their educational practices.
I want to teach, but what? What on Earth could I possibly bring to the table that hasn't already been said, done and learnt far better by other people with much more experience than I have? Do I even have a chance to suc...
Hold on.
"Experience".
Life is all about experience.
I've never really lived a "normal" life, if you go by the standards set out in the media. Unfortunately, my weird little life hasn't necessarily been all that exciting and interesting, either. I think that grants me a certain level of fresh experiences that most people have not had, and a differet perspective that really help and change lives, if put to good use.
For example, I had my first experience being properly "drunk" (or something close to) last night. I had nearly a full bottle of Whiskey, and it certainly whisked my ass in the end. I remember the dizziness, the fuzziness, the lack of restraint, and the euphoric feeling. I was kind of lucky, I had many good people nearby to me, I drunk plenty of water to prevent a hangover the next morning and my iron stomach kept its contents. Now, certainly, I'm not the only one who experienced their first drunken night like this, so it might be a bit of a bad example to demonstrated how my life is somewhat a "weird normal", but what I want to focus on is the teaching, so please stick with me.
What could I teach in a moment like this? Well, considering that this was an overall success since nobody was hurt, most of all myself, it looks like I have found potentially the best circumstances to put yourself in when faced with a big bottle of cheap spirits, and while most of us will have greater judgement, what about children who've never even had a drop of liquor in their lives? Surely by presenting them a game that could allow them to design the first time they get drunk, and watch it play out, that may have some positive effect in the absence of guiding morals that this current education system seems to lack? Of course, there are other factors, such as what type of drunk you are (your psychology), but it seems that even on a simple scale, the key lessons can be retained.
How about something else? My first kiss. It was horrible.
I actually did make a "game" about this. A game with no goals, no interactions, just a simple linear walk through several museum exhibits. Weirdly, it actually fit the exact feel and meaning I was going for, but that doesn't change the fact what I made was disrespectful to the very lessons I bring forward to you in my blogs today.
In short, it was a terrible kiss that essentially marked the beginning of the end for a trial period between myself and a friend. I felt uncomfortable for most of it, and it made me a bit sick on reflection afterwards. Now, that's all fine and dandy, but where's the lesson in that?
Maybe the problem wasn't the kiss itself, but everything surrounding it. My preconceptions and my expectations, the environment, and the events that had preceded the kiss. Maybe this is what I could make a game about; fighting off the very orchestrated notions that media has put into the heads of the younger generations about love. You could be yourself, trying to save a Prince or Princess, but everything goes wrong along the way. Or does it?
I know the idea sounds very abstract at the moment, but that's because fleshing this out is beyond the scope of this blog entry. The point of writing, for me, is to rubberduck my ideas, and hopefully come to a conclusion that solves one of my problems, and creates another to solve. I think this blog entry was successful. It wasn't successful at solving the Coin Name Dilemma, but it's shown me I can in fact draw on my experiences to teach those who I feel could benefit from the lessons.
Maybe the thing to take away, overall, is that labels can only serve as a generic placeholder where it must be taken upon the reader to research, and get a far more indepth profile of the subject. The differences between a teacher and a game designer only seem to rest in their core audience and their application of technology, and the later is being changed the further we move into the digital revolution. I for one look forward to exploring what I can do and what I want to solve, but what I know now is that labels cannot define my mission which defines me. I am more than a product of generations of preconceptions.
I am a meta-teacher.
Upcoming Blog Entry: The Education System: A Phoenix Before The Ashes
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