1 Me, Myself, and I (1)

"Why do I have to go to college to get a decent job..." I thought to myself as I stared at organic molecules contemplating what kind of reaction was taking place.

"Maybe I can just not do college and start my own business" I uttered to myself.

I decided to search "How to start a Business" on the internet out of curiosity.

FIRST TIME ENTREPRENEURS HAVE AN 18% CHANCE OF SUCCEEDING

This was the main headline that popped up after my search. Perhaps I should just stick with college after all...

All this thinking made me tired, rather than focusing on my riveting Organic Chemistry homework I fired up my PC to play a couple games to relax.

"Dinner!" my parents yelled up to me halfway through my second game. "I'll be down in a minute" I yelled back to them.

"Why is it that history degrees don't lead to a half-decent job?" I asked my parents.

My Father was the first to reply, "Well son I guess people don't place as high a value on knowing history in comparison to knowing medicine or mathematics."

It was a good answer, I knew what he said was true. After all, the only reason I had chosen a STEM major over history was because of the income disparity. But no matter how much science I've learned my true passion has, and always will be history.

"No matter what you do we just want you to be happy" my Mom added.

I thought to myself "Thanks mom that is so helpful, happiness is totally not the opposite of how i'm feeling about school and my decision to go for a higher paying job."

"Thanks Mom" I had never really expressed how I truly felt about certain things. It was only natural since I liked to keep to myself for the most part.

"Dinner was amazing Mom, I'll take care of the dishes." I enjoyed washing the dishes or exercising when I had something on my mind.

"If only something interesting could happen to spice things up." I often had hoped for exciting things to spontaneously come up but they rarely did.

I had plenty of friends at school and knew lots of people but, I never became close enough to someone to hangout with them outside of normal circumstances. It wasn't a big deal since I had always been alright with being alone however, I would occasionally have the urge to go out and do something with people. It never lasted long. I was perfectly content with playing games or reading about history on my own.

As I put the last of the silverware up and moved onto the dishes I thought about my future. "I have another year and a half of University left and then after that I have to apply to graduate school and (If I get in) spend four more years there."

I frequently wondered If I could just find a job somewhere and work full-time, I'd be happier doing that rather than forcing myself to complete a science degree. But, I would always remember that my parents hoped I would finish college and I didn't want to disappoint them.

I finished up the last of the dishes and went back to my room. "What should I do now" I wondered. I chose to do my communications assignment. All I had to do was write a paragraph to introduce myself to the class.

I quickly typed out the paragraph: "Hey y'all my name is Ethan Ansel I'm from Dallas, Texas and I enjoy history, video games, and sports. I played football and competed in history "UIL" in high school. I'm looking forward to improving my communication skills and hopefully getting to know some of you all. Lets have a great semester!

As I read over my paragraph I quickly realized how misleading It was. I had no intention of getting to know anyone and I certainly wasn't optimistic or excited about the class. However, I typically did pretty well in classes that had a good amount of writing in them so I wasn't worried. I just knew that this class would be BORING.

After finishing the assignment I got on my phone and started checking my social media. All my "friends" from high school seemed to be having the time of their lives at college. I wasn't a party person like them. I kept scrolling and came across a news page, I liked to stay informed about what was going on around the world.

COUNTRIES DISCUSS PARTICIPATING IN VIRTUAL SURVIVAL TOURNAMENT

"Novus Bellator an independent corporation of historians and video game developers pitched their first installation yesterday to the "International World Games Association" or "IWGA." The game which consists of an immersive virtual survival environment boasts the newest tech available for virtual gaming."

"Why is this game being pitched to the "IWGA" of all places, are they seriously thinking that they can release this game with the intention of having a bunch of countries participate in it as an international tournament when it hasn't even been tested."

"The games have already had a secret, shortened, qualifying round to determine which countries would participate in the official tournament." That made a little more sense, there was no way every country could participate. So it was basically a video game Olympics type of thing. "The countries that have qualified for the tournament are: China, Russia, Italy, South Korea, France, Germany, England, America, Canada, Brazil, Egypt, India, Japan, Mexico, Mongolia, Turkey, Spain, Australia, South Africa, and Ethiopia." All of the biggest countries made it, although Ethiopia and Mongolia surprisingly got in.

I continued reading, "Novus Bellator has constructed a state of the art gaming facility for the participants (18 or older) from each country on Johnston Island, a secluded island claimed by the United States. Allegedly participants will undergo a sort of stasis while participating in the year-long game."

"AN ENTIRE YEAR!" I couldn't think of anyone who would participate in a year-long game. The article continued, "participants will be compensated greatly for their contributions and can earn more rewards based on their performance in the game."

"So that's what it was, I knew there had to be some incentive to get people to spend a year of their lives in this virtual game." I couldn't help wondering how they would keep the global community interested in a game that lasted an entire year.

"Each country will have 10 random participants for a total of 200 representatives in the games and will have the unique opportunity of choosing one to assist during the games. Once a week citizens of each respective country will have the opportunity to vote on advantageous events, items, or stat upgrades for their chosen champion."

Giving the people of each country the opportunity to help their representative out by voting on different things "not a bad idea" I thought. However, I still wasn't sold on how people would remain interested in such a game. "The winner of the game will be granted one billion dollars, the citizens of their country one hundred thousand dollars, and their government will be forgiven of all debts."

"This is insane, where would all this money come from and how would they forgive a nation's debts. Were they also going to the UN for permission for these games?" I couldn't help but ponder, "I can think of a few countries that would like their debt to be forgiven (my country LOL) and also a few who would not be happy with other countries not paying back their debts." This could capture peoples attention, after all it was pretty inclusive. Even countries that didn't qualify for the games had something to gain in different ways.

I hadn't realized how long I had been reading about the proposed tournament, It was already past 11 o'clock. "Oh well, It's not like this will go through anyway. There's way too much at stake for this to be agreed to" I said to myself. But deep down I wanted it to go through and I wanted to be chosen to play in the games. I was tired of college and this sounded like just the opportunity I was looking for, my life would become exciting and I would get to make a ton of money at the same time.

I checked my phone one last time to see what I needed to do for school the next day and plugged it in. I started getting ready for bed soon after: brushing my teeth, taking a shower, and putting on my pajamas. I crawled into bed and closed my eyes.

After tossing and turning for a couple of hours I finally fell asleep. I began to dream about what the games would be like and what I would do in different situations. The chances of me being selected one in millions but my dreams were exempt from that little piece of information.

For the rest of the night I was the strongest, coolest, and most well known participant in the games. I was unstoppable.