Stefon, I have to admit that I have always considered video games a “waste of time” even though I would probably say in class that I could see a benefit to them. I realized while reading your article that I am very guilty of only thinking of the activities I choose to spend my life doing as “worth while.” I was the typical type “A” personality student in high school but I was also a very elite distance runner and spent any extra time I had with my private coaches traveling around the southeast running road races in the off season and invitationals during my season. I know that I got a major self-esteem benefit from running and definitely I honed my coordination skills just as you mentioned video games can also boost for adolescents. I realize now that no teacher or elder ever thought I was wasting my time running and all were thrilled when I was recruited to run Division distance in college, but now I look back and think how narrow minded I was to think that “gamers” were wasting their lives because I thought video games would lead to nothing. In reality I knew I would never be quite good enough to go pro after college so all the thousands of miles I ran could also have been looked at as wasted time. I realize from your article that neither the “gamers” nor I wasted our time, we both grew mentally and loved challenging our limits. One thing I did learn in college running was that I needed more balance in my life, because running in such an extreme atmosphere had major effects on my happiness and also caused a very severe eating disorder that got very scary for my health. I think the same can be said about doing anything to an extreme amount and trying to control the definition of who we are by an activity that we do. Obviously with my ADHD 15 minutes of gaming might be extreme for me, but letting individuals learn their limits, and in my case even be effected negatively and figuring out how to balance my passion for running with the rest of my life experiences is also a huge learning experience and also shaped my transition into adulthood. Sorry to write so much, but I really had never taken the time to read anything about “gaming” that portrayed it as another way to develop oneself and spend our time and discover our individual talents. I just might have to get a “game” suggestion from you to try out which my husband thinks is crazy because I am so competitive it could be a new obsession. ~Evan