ok, so... as if earning a PhD wasn’t enough to highlight my dorkiness and/or nerdiness...
In high school, I participated in a video game competition. The phrase competition is loose. I dominated. I was known before the competition, and certainly after, as “The Game Master.”
I remember this because recently I found the old consoles. The Nintendo (original NES) and Super Nintendo work perfectly. On the cartridges I have saved games from almost 30 years ago.
I was pondering how relevant to academics and athletics this is.
Video Games - from Super Mario Brothers to World of Warcraft - are a grind. Part of winning was grinding away to either learn the game or gain points/hearts/gold/etc. Without a doubt athletics are a bit like this. But Academia as well.
I was talking to a colleague about getting published and how it’s all a game. It is. You have to know the unwritten rules. Normally the PhD is designed as part of that grind. My experience is a tad unconventional (to say the least), so I missed part of that.
I recently committed myself to being not just an expert in my field, but THE expert in my field. The game and the grind are in front of me. Earning a PhD is like earning a black belt: there’s plenty of levels left to go.
I’m back on the grind, but this time with less stess. I have to learn how to write for a small handful of A-journals. What flies. What doesn’t. I have to know my field better than anyone.
This... This is gonna be fun!