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typically about video games, or interests deriving from video
games. A few examples of games I wrote about were Webkinz,
Neopets, Age of Mythology, Spore, and Zoo Tycoon. My most
memorable papers were about Age of Mythology, which is a
real-time strategy game where you command armies of
humans and fictitious beasts to conquer the enemy. I didn’t
write about the game, however; I wrote about the mythology
inspired by the game, which I found fascinating. This led me to
read books on Greek and Norse mythology, which caused me to
write more papers on the subject of fantasy.
I envisioned myself writing books while studying zoology,
but I was quickly disheartened when I was a freshman at my
high school. I had a dreadful Technical Writing class—with an
equally displeasing instructor. I remember the harrowing
moments when I received my lengthy, well prepared papers
only to have several bad marks on them. I will never forget
toward the end of that school year when my teacher
“anonymously” announced the grades that were given in the
class. “Eleven people received an A, eight people received a B,
three people received a C, and one person received a D.” As the
essays were passed back to their respective owners, a cute boy
sitting next to me leaned over to ask, “Hey, what did you get?”