To be frank, games have played one of the most significant roles throughout my life in many different areas. Even my blog username was initially created as a game username. Hello. I am オラー. Since this is my first column on this blog, I will talk more in depth about myself than in the “Who Are We” page.
I was born and raised in Yokohama for my whole life; however, what differentiates me from other regular Japanese is that I have been learning in international schools for a couple of years. The first large impact games had on my life was in elementary school when my friends and I started playing started playing a MMORPG. This is when I came up with the name オラー, which was spelled Oraaaaaa in English. At this time, I did not even imagine how much games were going to shape up my personality.
A few years passed and the second large effect happened during the summer break before my senior year of high school. With all of my standardized testing over, all I had left was to write the college essays for all the schools I wanted to enter. I was stuck in front of my computer thinking of the Common Application question, which required me to think of something that impacted my life the most. I decided to passionately write about games and various effects it has had on my life. I remember writing about how games have led me to try an array of hobbies such as piano and guitar. From my experience, I have to say that writing about what you like, whether or not the colleges might like the subject or not, gives the best chance towards acceptance. While waiting for the results from the colleges, I spent an anxious yet enjoyable time with my classmates. In my senior year is when I became extremely interested in the genre of games I currently play, which is fighting games. I bet I could already write another college essay specifically talking about the two fighting game characters I play, Faust from Guilty Gear and F.A.N.G from Street Fighter 5, and how they reflect my personalities and affected my experiences in real life.
F.A.N.G from Street Fighter 5
While I could blab on about my fighting game experiences, which I might do some other time, I will end with how I chose Grinnell College. The short and simple answer would be, “It was cheaper than the other colleges.” The other colleges I got accepted had extremely higher tuitions than Grinnell College. This is one of the main reasons why I chose to attend this school. The other is the rural area Grinnell is located in. Although Grinnell is isolated and unpopulated, it also means that there is much to explore. The bike trips and the scenery are definitely an experience that cannot be done in urban Japan. Although living in this rural area has its bad points, such as the difficult access to goods, the merits definitely overweigh the demerits. I believe this college choice was correct and will lead to experiences that would never occur in other American colleges.
This was the introduction to what led me to Grinnell College. I guess I will write about fighting games or about the piano studios here next week. Thank you for reading this, and come back next week.
Oraaaaaa/オラー
