Wednesday, December 7, 2016
Monday, November 7, 2016
A Quick Update and a Lengthy Insight
Hello all,
I am pleased to report that research is once again underway for my Genius Project! That being said, I have new results to report regarding my survey of the students of Sage Creek High School!
As of 7:25 PM on Monday, November 11, 2016, my survey has received 146 total responses. The current breakdown of the data is as follows:
I would like to take some time to deviate from my usual style of blog post in order to provide a glimpse into my incentives for choosing this project. In order to do so, I am going to talk about one of my favorite video games of all time: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, published by Bethesda Softworks.
The The Elder Scrolls series has been my go-to relaxation series of video games since I first played The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion in 2014. With The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, I instantly found myself utterly drawn into the game world thanks to a number of factors:
Atmosphere: the atmosphere of a video game is a crucial factor in determining how it will affect individuals who play it. For example, a video game with a dreary atmosphere may serve to darken the mood of the individual who plays that game, whereas a video game with a light, happy atmosphere will likely raise the spirits of those who play the game. In the case of Skyrim, the atmosphere is one of utter peace: while the player is exploring the world, a calm soundtrack plays in the background while the sounds of nature are abundant. This type of atmosphere creates a level of immersion ideal for escaping, if even for a small amount of time, one's real world problems to find refuge within the world of a video game.
Setting: the setting of a video game is also important when it comes to individuals seeking to relax. For example, the chaotic settings of games such as the Call of Duty series may serve to agitate players, whereas the serenity of the environments in a game such as Minecraft allows players to experience an immersion where they are free to explore the world as they so choose. I find this to be exactly the case with Skyrim: I am often awestruck by the grandeur of the various mountain ranges, open valleys, and glorious vistas. As I explore the world, I am captivated by how alive the world feels, but it is alive in a peaceful, rather than chaotic, sense.
Gameplay: the gameplay that a video game offers differs greatly by genre. Video games such as those in the Dark Souls series are renowned for their crushing yet rewarding gameplay, but such difficulty is not ideal for achieving relaxation (the Dark Souls franchise is my favorite video game franchise of all time, though). By contrast, the gameplay of Skyrim consists of exploring an open world at the player's leisure, engaging in brief combat, and completing myriad quests. As such, Skyrim is a game that almost anybody can pick up and play, regardless of video game experience.
I am pleased to report that research is once again underway for my Genius Project! That being said, I have new results to report regarding my survey of the students of Sage Creek High School!
As of 7:25 PM on Monday, November 11, 2016, my survey has received 146 total responses. The current breakdown of the data is as follows:
- the Action genre is the most popular, with a total of 44 votes (30.1% of voters)
- the Adventure genre is second most popular, with a total of 26 votes (17.8% of voters)
- the Sports genre is third most popular, with a total of 21 votes (14.4% of voters)
- the Role-playing genre is fourth most popular, with a total of 18 votes (12.3% of voters)
- the Action-adventure genre is fifth most popular, with a total of 13 votes (8.9% of voters)
- the Strategy and Simulation genres are tied for sixth most popular, with each having a total of 7 votes (4.8% of voters for each, resulting in a total of 9.6% of voters)
- the Idle Gaming genre is seventh most popular, with a total of 6 votes (4.1% of voters)
- the Massively Multiplayer Online genre is least popular, with 4 votes (2.7% of voters)
I would like to take some time to deviate from my usual style of blog post in order to provide a glimpse into my incentives for choosing this project. In order to do so, I am going to talk about one of my favorite video games of all time: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, published by Bethesda Softworks.
The The Elder Scrolls series has been my go-to relaxation series of video games since I first played The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion in 2014. With The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, I instantly found myself utterly drawn into the game world thanks to a number of factors:
Atmosphere: the atmosphere of a video game is a crucial factor in determining how it will affect individuals who play it. For example, a video game with a dreary atmosphere may serve to darken the mood of the individual who plays that game, whereas a video game with a light, happy atmosphere will likely raise the spirits of those who play the game. In the case of Skyrim, the atmosphere is one of utter peace: while the player is exploring the world, a calm soundtrack plays in the background while the sounds of nature are abundant. This type of atmosphere creates a level of immersion ideal for escaping, if even for a small amount of time, one's real world problems to find refuge within the world of a video game.
Setting: the setting of a video game is also important when it comes to individuals seeking to relax. For example, the chaotic settings of games such as the Call of Duty series may serve to agitate players, whereas the serenity of the environments in a game such as Minecraft allows players to experience an immersion where they are free to explore the world as they so choose. I find this to be exactly the case with Skyrim: I am often awestruck by the grandeur of the various mountain ranges, open valleys, and glorious vistas. As I explore the world, I am captivated by how alive the world feels, but it is alive in a peaceful, rather than chaotic, sense.
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| The northern lights illuminate the night sky as I explore the northern regions of the province of Skyrim. The absolute tranquility of this scene is a prime example of why I so enjoy The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Photo Credit: David Meinen |
Soundtrack: while often the most overlooked factor regarding the ability of a video game to relax players, the soundtrack of a video game is actually crucial. Using the Dark Souls series as an example once again, the soundtrack of this series is largely powerful and awe-inspiring; this is, of course, inevitable since no other music could capture the grandeur and majesty of the series' plethora of diverse boss battles. In contrast, the soundtrack of Skyrim is largely ambient and serene; it is meant to be a soft background presence that enhances the atmosphere already established by the setting. In my opinion, the music of Skyrim excels at immersing the player in the fully-realized world of the province of Skyrim by subtly underscoring the vastness and magnificence of the game world.
Lore: the lore of a video game is not quite as significant to relaxation for most people as it is for me, but I nevertheless felt the need to mention it. The lore of a video game is the entirety of the story behind the game's events: the events leading up to the game, the events that take place during the game, and the events that could possibly take place following the game's events. Additionally, lore reveals information about characters and about the game world itself; while most players willfully remain ignorant to such information in favor of gameplay, I find myself in some cases preferring the lore of a video game over gameplay. Once again, the Dark Souls series and Skyrim are both prime examples of games that I immensely enjoy the lore of. In all three Dark Souls games, the player takes on the role of a nameless Undead whose goal is to prevent the Age of Fire from subsiding into the Age of Dark. To accomplish this goal, the Undead must journey through an unforgiving and perilous world filled with menacing and powerful bosses to ultimately arrive at a critical decision: whether to link the First Flame and prolong the Age of Fire for another thousand years, or to let the First Flame fade and initiate the dawn of the Age of Dark. Regardless of the player's decision, the player can discover through context hidden within the game that neither choice is the "good" outcome: linking the First Flame prolongs the Age of Fire but guarantees that the cycle of life, death, and undeath will continue, while letting the First Flame fade shrouds the world in Dark. Similarly, Skyrim tells an engaging tale of the last Dragonborn, a mortal with the blood of dragons who sets out to prevent the destruction of the province of Skyrim, and subsequently the continent of Tamriel, at the hands of the dragon Alduin, the World Eater. As is probably obvious by this point, the lore of both the Dark Souls series and Skyrim is crucial to my enjoyment of these games.
I do hope that my lengthy explanations serve to provide enlightenment as to why my project interests me so. I know that this post is by far the lengthiest yet, but I believe that an understanding of what I spent the majority of this post discussing is crucial to achieving understanding as to why I chose the project that I did.
At any rate, I hope that this post proved to be an interesting read. I will continue to keep you all posted with updates regarding my research progress, and I look forward to the continuation of my project in Trimester Two!
Tuesday, November 1, 2016
Progress Has Nearly Halted... For the Time Being
Hello all,
Regrettably, in this post I have almost no progress to report regarding my chosen Genius Project: investigating the properties of different video game genres as they pertain to helping reduce anxiety in anxiety-prone individuals. The main causes of this delay and lack of progress have been a busy course load at school in addition to a looming college application deadline; both of these responsibilities have surpassed my Genius Project in terms of priority in recent weeks. I HAVE, however, resumed the process of sending my video game survey to the students of Sage Creek High School to fill out at their leisure; in this way, I will hopefully be collecting data in the next few days. And I must admit, it has been fascinating to both gather data first-hand from none other than my fellow students and analyze it to determine the most popular video game genre for anxiety-alleviation purposes.
Because I do not have any other progress to report, I will get straight to the point. In terms of passion, I am still firmly committed to and passionate about my chosen project. As I stated in previous blog posts, this project is the ideal combination of two of my most prominent interests: the field of medicine and my favorite leisure activity, video games. I have been interested in medicine ever since I enrolled in Principles of Biomedical Science at Sage Creek High School, and I have enjoyed video games since I was first introduced to them at age three, so, for an individual like myself, a Genius Project that examines the ability of certain (if not all) video game genres to alleviate anxiety is the perfect project! All things considered, and my explanation aside, I can say with confidence that I am indeed still passionate about my project idea.
I can also say that I am being considerably challenged by this project. While there are certainly particular activities that are known to alleviate anxiety and can thus be recommended to people suffering from it, not all of these methods will accomplish this goal for all individuals. Henceforth, while it is my goal to determine the most effective video game genres at alleviating anxiety, I could very well discover at the conclusion of my data collecting that there is NOT one particular genre that is best suited for this purpose. An additional challenge is the fact that within the main genres of video games are contained various subgenres that combine aspects of one, two, or more main genres. A prime example is the Platformer subgenre, which can fall under either the Action or Adventure genres. Therefore, if an individual selects "Platformer" as their favorite type of video game to play to relax, I must consider both the Action and Adventure genres in addition to the Platformer subgenre when determining the most effective overall genre of video games at alleviating anxiety. Finally, I am unsure whether a neurologist, an endocrinologist, or a video game designer would be the most appropriate mentor for a project such as my own. As I mentioned in previous posts, I believed myself to be set with a mentor earlier this year, but plans unfortunately changed, and I found myself once again searching for a would-be mentor for my Genius Project.
At this point in my project's timeline, I can not say that I have had any impact on my community. I have currently been both surveying the students of Sage Creek High School to gather data on their favorite genres of video games for relaxation as well as writing blog posts updating you (my readers) on my progress every two weeks. Therefore, my project has currently had no community impact, especially considering how I have no concrete product as of this time. As the first trimester wraps up and I move into trimester two, however, I will be enrolled in Biomedical Innovations, a course which incorporates many research skills into its core curriculum; this will prove immensely helpful to me as I pursue the ultimate goal: the formation of a report detailing the various genres of video games and their effects on the human brain. This report will be made available to the public free of charge, and this is how I see my community impact being made.
I hope that you all continue to stay tuned for future updates; the journey has only just begun, and it is sure to prove to be a memorable and exciting one.
Regrettably, in this post I have almost no progress to report regarding my chosen Genius Project: investigating the properties of different video game genres as they pertain to helping reduce anxiety in anxiety-prone individuals. The main causes of this delay and lack of progress have been a busy course load at school in addition to a looming college application deadline; both of these responsibilities have surpassed my Genius Project in terms of priority in recent weeks. I HAVE, however, resumed the process of sending my video game survey to the students of Sage Creek High School to fill out at their leisure; in this way, I will hopefully be collecting data in the next few days. And I must admit, it has been fascinating to both gather data first-hand from none other than my fellow students and analyze it to determine the most popular video game genre for anxiety-alleviation purposes.
Because I do not have any other progress to report, I will get straight to the point. In terms of passion, I am still firmly committed to and passionate about my chosen project. As I stated in previous blog posts, this project is the ideal combination of two of my most prominent interests: the field of medicine and my favorite leisure activity, video games. I have been interested in medicine ever since I enrolled in Principles of Biomedical Science at Sage Creek High School, and I have enjoyed video games since I was first introduced to them at age three, so, for an individual like myself, a Genius Project that examines the ability of certain (if not all) video game genres to alleviate anxiety is the perfect project! All things considered, and my explanation aside, I can say with confidence that I am indeed still passionate about my project idea.
I can also say that I am being considerably challenged by this project. While there are certainly particular activities that are known to alleviate anxiety and can thus be recommended to people suffering from it, not all of these methods will accomplish this goal for all individuals. Henceforth, while it is my goal to determine the most effective video game genres at alleviating anxiety, I could very well discover at the conclusion of my data collecting that there is NOT one particular genre that is best suited for this purpose. An additional challenge is the fact that within the main genres of video games are contained various subgenres that combine aspects of one, two, or more main genres. A prime example is the Platformer subgenre, which can fall under either the Action or Adventure genres. Therefore, if an individual selects "Platformer" as their favorite type of video game to play to relax, I must consider both the Action and Adventure genres in addition to the Platformer subgenre when determining the most effective overall genre of video games at alleviating anxiety. Finally, I am unsure whether a neurologist, an endocrinologist, or a video game designer would be the most appropriate mentor for a project such as my own. As I mentioned in previous posts, I believed myself to be set with a mentor earlier this year, but plans unfortunately changed, and I found myself once again searching for a would-be mentor for my Genius Project.
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| Popular video games such as Super Mario Bros. (shown above) and Super Mario Galaxy (shown below) both fall under the Platforming subgenre of video games. The Platforming subgenre falls under both the Action and Adventure genres of video games, as platformers consist of both action and adventure elements. Photo Credit Super Mario Bros: Polygon Photo Credit Super Mario Galaxy: Nintendo Life |
At this point in my project's timeline, I can not say that I have had any impact on my community. I have currently been both surveying the students of Sage Creek High School to gather data on their favorite genres of video games for relaxation as well as writing blog posts updating you (my readers) on my progress every two weeks. Therefore, my project has currently had no community impact, especially considering how I have no concrete product as of this time. As the first trimester wraps up and I move into trimester two, however, I will be enrolled in Biomedical Innovations, a course which incorporates many research skills into its core curriculum; this will prove immensely helpful to me as I pursue the ultimate goal: the formation of a report detailing the various genres of video games and their effects on the human brain. This report will be made available to the public free of charge, and this is how I see my community impact being made.
I hope that you all continue to stay tuned for future updates; the journey has only just begun, and it is sure to prove to be a memorable and exciting one.
Monday, October 17, 2016
Research is Carrying On
Hello all,
Regrettably, progress has been slow on my Genius Project for the last couple of weeks. Other than continuing to monitor the survey that I sent out to the students of Sage Creek High School, I have failed to accomplish much between my previous and current updates. Therefore, while this post will contain an update regarding my survey statistics, this post will more focus on the future of my project and where I intend to direct my attention.
Since my last post, only four new people have responded to my survey. As of now, 38 voters (30.2%) have declared the Action genre to be their favorite for relaxation; 22 voters (17.5%) have declared Adventure; 21 voters (16.7%) have declared Sports; 16 voters (12.7%) have declared Role-playing; 12 voters (9.5%) have declared Action-adventure; and 17 voters (13.4%) have declared other genres. From this statistic, it is easily evident that the most popular genre of video game for relaxation is the Action genre, with nearly double the amount of votes received by its closest competitor, the Adventure genre. As the survey has been sent to six hundred of the students at Sage Creek High School, I am hopeful that more students will respond; currently, only one-fifth of the students have responded. However, all data I receive, no matter how seemingly trivial it may be, is instrumental to the successful completion of my Genius Project by May 2017.
Looking to the future, I can say with certainty that my project will finally be in full-swing once the second trimester begins. At that point in time, Biomedical Innovations (the fourth and capstone course in a four-year Biomedical Sciences stream at Sage Creek) will begin, and a unit on creating statistics based on data is embedded into the curriculum; this will prove incredibly useful for me when I eventually analyze all of the data I have compiled in order to craft a representational version of my final product, anxiety management plans that incorporate video games, by the date of the TED-style presentation to be given in May 2017. Additionally, I am happy to say that my passion has not wavered; I am still committed to determining the most effective genre of video games for the purpose of alleviating pent-up anxiety. Anxiety is purely detrimental to humans, so any method of alleviation is therefore absolutely necessary; however, given the entertainment value of video games, alleviation could be achieved through entertainment rather than simple meditation or other such activities (which are also excellent choices).
Regrettably, progress has been slow on my Genius Project for the last couple of weeks. Other than continuing to monitor the survey that I sent out to the students of Sage Creek High School, I have failed to accomplish much between my previous and current updates. Therefore, while this post will contain an update regarding my survey statistics, this post will more focus on the future of my project and where I intend to direct my attention.
Since my last post, only four new people have responded to my survey. As of now, 38 voters (30.2%) have declared the Action genre to be their favorite for relaxation; 22 voters (17.5%) have declared Adventure; 21 voters (16.7%) have declared Sports; 16 voters (12.7%) have declared Role-playing; 12 voters (9.5%) have declared Action-adventure; and 17 voters (13.4%) have declared other genres. From this statistic, it is easily evident that the most popular genre of video game for relaxation is the Action genre, with nearly double the amount of votes received by its closest competitor, the Adventure genre. As the survey has been sent to six hundred of the students at Sage Creek High School, I am hopeful that more students will respond; currently, only one-fifth of the students have responded. However, all data I receive, no matter how seemingly trivial it may be, is instrumental to the successful completion of my Genius Project by May 2017.
Looking to the future, I can say with certainty that my project will finally be in full-swing once the second trimester begins. At that point in time, Biomedical Innovations (the fourth and capstone course in a four-year Biomedical Sciences stream at Sage Creek) will begin, and a unit on creating statistics based on data is embedded into the curriculum; this will prove incredibly useful for me when I eventually analyze all of the data I have compiled in order to craft a representational version of my final product, anxiety management plans that incorporate video games, by the date of the TED-style presentation to be given in May 2017. Additionally, I am happy to say that my passion has not wavered; I am still committed to determining the most effective genre of video games for the purpose of alleviating pent-up anxiety. Anxiety is purely detrimental to humans, so any method of alleviation is therefore absolutely necessary; however, given the entertainment value of video games, alleviation could be achieved through entertainment rather than simple meditation or other such activities (which are also excellent choices).
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| Action-adventure games such as Bethesda's The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim are also immensely popular among video game players. Skyrim in particular is an excellent choice for anxiety alleviation because the game world is incredibly immersive and players are completely free to roam the world as they so choose. Photo Credit: Bethesda Softworks |
As my final update, I am in the process of reaching out to the faculty at both San Diego State University and UC San Diego to attempt to obtain a mentor for my project. As I stated in my declaration blog post, both of the initial candidates I contacted had to reject my request due to personal as well as business matters; this led to a setback which I have experienced considerable difficulty in attempting to surmount. However, I am not one to give up easily; I will continue forward with my project even if it is some time before I acquire a mentor. After all, I am relatively skilled with data sets and conducting internet research, so I am not discouraged.
I know that this is probably a cliché by this point (given that this is my fourth blog post already), but as always, I sincerely hope that you all continue to follow my project progress in the weeks and months to come. And if you enjoy video games as much as I do, this is sure to be an incredible journey. I look forward to updating you all in my next post.
Tuesday, October 4, 2016
Taking the Research to the Community
Hello all,
Whether or not you have been following my progress on my Genius Project for Sage Creek High School, I think it pertinent to give you all an update regarding my progress over the last two weeks.
Regrettably, I have not been able to devote as much free time as possible to the Genius Project, given a number of activities that demanded much of my attention, but I am happy to be able to say that in addition to conducting research, I am beginning to conduct studies of my own.
If you recall, my Genius Project concerns reducing anxiety in anxiety-prone individuals, and my project heavily emphasizes the ability of video games to reduce such anxiety. With this thought in mind, I decided to begin surveying the students at Sage Creek High School to determine two important pieces of information: 1) If they play video games or not, and 2) if they play video games, what their favorite genre for relaxation is.
In order to conduct my survey, I decided to create a Google Form that asks takers what their favorite genre of video game for relaxation purposes is. After conducting prerequisite research to determine the major genres of video games, I was able to supply my Google Form (which only asks one question) with the following genres of video games as answers: Action, Action-adventure, Adventure, Role-playing (my personal favorite), Simulation, Strategy, Sports, Massively Multiplayer Online, and Idle Gaming.
At present, I have sent the survey to six hundred of the students at Sage Creek High School, out of which one hundred and twenty-two have responded. Analyzing the current results, the Action genre is the most popular with 29.5% of all voters (36 votes) selecting this as their preferred relaxation genre. Furthermore, 18% of voters (22 votes) selected Adventure, 16.4% (20 votes) selected Sports, and 12.3% (15 votes) selected Role-playing. As time continues and I send this survey out to more of my fellow students, I am looking forward to determining whether the current trend is maintained, or a new genre will surpass Action as the most popular choice for relaxation.
I apologize for the shortness of this blog post, as compared to my first two entries; however, I have no other news to report related to my Genius Project. I can say, however, that I am definitely looking forward to continuing to survey my peers at Sage Creek High School and determining which video game genre is the general favorite for anxiety-mitigation purposes. I do hope that you all will stay tuned for further updates, especially if you enjoy video games as much as I do, since I am certain that this will be an exciting journey.
Whether or not you have been following my progress on my Genius Project for Sage Creek High School, I think it pertinent to give you all an update regarding my progress over the last two weeks.
Regrettably, I have not been able to devote as much free time as possible to the Genius Project, given a number of activities that demanded much of my attention, but I am happy to be able to say that in addition to conducting research, I am beginning to conduct studies of my own.
If you recall, my Genius Project concerns reducing anxiety in anxiety-prone individuals, and my project heavily emphasizes the ability of video games to reduce such anxiety. With this thought in mind, I decided to begin surveying the students at Sage Creek High School to determine two important pieces of information: 1) If they play video games or not, and 2) if they play video games, what their favorite genre for relaxation is.
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| Many of the students interviewed expressed their preference of Action games, such as the relatively-recently released shooter game Halo 5: Guardians, for relaxation. Photo Credit: Xbox Canada |
At present, I have sent the survey to six hundred of the students at Sage Creek High School, out of which one hundred and twenty-two have responded. Analyzing the current results, the Action genre is the most popular with 29.5% of all voters (36 votes) selecting this as their preferred relaxation genre. Furthermore, 18% of voters (22 votes) selected Adventure, 16.4% (20 votes) selected Sports, and 12.3% (15 votes) selected Role-playing. As time continues and I send this survey out to more of my fellow students, I am looking forward to determining whether the current trend is maintained, or a new genre will surpass Action as the most popular choice for relaxation.
I apologize for the shortness of this blog post, as compared to my first two entries; however, I have no other news to report related to my Genius Project. I can say, however, that I am definitely looking forward to continuing to survey my peers at Sage Creek High School and determining which video game genre is the general favorite for anxiety-mitigation purposes. I do hope that you all will stay tuned for further updates, especially if you enjoy video games as much as I do, since I am certain that this will be an exciting journey.
Monday, September 19, 2016
The Opening Stages of Research Have Begun
Hello all,
Progress has been slow since my initial blog post. As of yet, I have still failed to acquire a mentor for my project, but it has been suggested to me that I inquire of the neuroscience department staff at San Diego State University and UC San Diego regarding possible mentors for my project. As having a mentor for guidance is a core standard of the Sage Creek Genius Project, this is both a setback and a step forward at the same time: while I still have yet to acquire a mentor (due in part to my revising my Genius Project idea over this past summer), I now have the information I need to begin a genuine mentor-recruitment process that is suited to my particular Genius Project.
Regarding the progress I have made on the actual project itself, the process of researching the benefits of video games regarding anxiety reduction has begun. As of yet, my approach of study has been fairly simple; my main focus is currently to research the sandbox genre of video games (such as Mojang's Minecraft) and analyze their effects on the human brain. In the case of Minecraft, the serene, vast landscapes allow a player to become completely immersed in his/her world, free to engage in any activity as desired. This makes Minecraft a perfect game for anxious individuals to play in order to relieve some of the anxiety currently plaguing them. Other than this, progress has, as stated in the beginning of the blog post, proven to be fairly slow.
Progress has been slow since my initial blog post. As of yet, I have still failed to acquire a mentor for my project, but it has been suggested to me that I inquire of the neuroscience department staff at San Diego State University and UC San Diego regarding possible mentors for my project. As having a mentor for guidance is a core standard of the Sage Creek Genius Project, this is both a setback and a step forward at the same time: while I still have yet to acquire a mentor (due in part to my revising my Genius Project idea over this past summer), I now have the information I need to begin a genuine mentor-recruitment process that is suited to my particular Genius Project.
Regarding the progress I have made on the actual project itself, the process of researching the benefits of video games regarding anxiety reduction has begun. As of yet, my approach of study has been fairly simple; my main focus is currently to research the sandbox genre of video games (such as Mojang's Minecraft) and analyze their effects on the human brain. In the case of Minecraft, the serene, vast landscapes allow a player to become completely immersed in his/her world, free to engage in any activity as desired. This makes Minecraft a perfect game for anxious individuals to play in order to relieve some of the anxiety currently plaguing them. Other than this, progress has, as stated in the beginning of the blog post, proven to be fairly slow.
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| The large, serene worlds of Minecraft are perfect for enabling anxious individuals to relieve some of their pent up anxiety. In these worlds, players are free to explore as they choose without restriction. Image taken by David Meinen. |
Regarding my passion for this project, I am pleased to say that my present idea is just as appealing to me as it was when I wrote my first blog post. As I mentioned, I love to play video games to relieve my own anxiety and I am at present interested in a career in medicine, so by combining these two interests into one Genius Project, I can explore the health benefits of my favorite pastime: video games!
Regrettably, given how little progress has been made in my project (again, in large part due to my project receiving a makeover over the summer), I am unable to say that I have as of yet made any impact upon my community. However, as I accumulate information from various sources regarding video games' capacity to alleviate anxiety, I firmly believe that I will be able to recommend a particular genre of game to individuals struggling with anxiety; this is ultimately my goal for this project.
Lastly, in regard to challenges that I face as I pursue the end goal of my Genius Project, the biggest challenge at the moment is simply acquiring a mentor to guide me as I accumulate my research. In addition to this, a mentor is absolutely necessary according to project guidelines, so I am hoping to remedy this complication as soon as possible. In terms of overall challenge, however, my biggest obstacle is time itself. Among school work, extracurricular activities, etc, I am experiencing increasing levels of difficulty in allocating time to work on my Genius Project. As time moves along, however, I intend to develop a research plan that will regiment how much time I am to spend per week researching video games.
That is all for this post, but I do hope that you all will continue to stay tuned for further updates. I guarantee that this will be an exciting journey, especially if, like me, you immensely enjoy playing video games! I look forward to writing my next post.
Friday, September 9, 2016
Introducing. . . Video Games as an Anxiety Alleviator!
Hello all!
For those of you who are unaware, the senior students at Sage Creek High School are now in the production phase of the two-year-long Genius Project, an endeavor in which students attempt to find a solution to a problem they choose to examine. Regarding my chosen project, I have decided to research the effects that different genres of video games have on the anxiety levels of different individuals.
On the surface, this project sounds like it would be a simplistic endeavor. Ok, you might be thinking, research is a great place to start, but how will research help you to solve a problem? To answer that question, I need to describe exactly what the problem is that I am trying to find a solution for.
The modern world is a wondrously fast-paced environment where there is constantly activity, whether that activity takes the form of employment, academic studies, entertainment, etc. Despite the many benefits that emerge from such an environment, there exists also a glaring side effect of the world's current status that has been demonstrated to be only to humanity's detriment: anxiety.
Given the immense amount of anxiety present in the modern world, especially in today's high school students, and given that I hope to one day pursue a career in medicine, I decided that I would like to attempt to find one solution to this pervasive problem.
Now, given that I have explained the problem I am attempting to solve, you are probably wondering how I am planning to attempt to develop a solution. As it happens, I am an individual who immensely enjoys playing video games. Whether I am engaged in solo play or I am having fun with good friends, I find that I am consistently engaged playing video games whenever I need to relax. Thus, the idea for my Genius Project was born: researching different video game genres and their abilities to alleviate (or, in some cases, not alleviate) anxiety, and develop sample "Anxiety Reduction" plans that contain recommendations for which types of video games to play whenever a person is feeling a certain emotion or is in a particular mood.
Regarding my progress with my Genius Project: at this point in time, unfortunately, I do not have any progress to report. Aside from beginning this biweekly blog, I have only reached out to a new possible mentor at this point in time. I am sure that you are probably wondering, Given that you have been working on this project since midway through junior year, how is it possible that you have not made any tangible progress on your Genius Project?
Well, the answer to that question is complicated. Since the conclusion of my junior year, I have come to the conclusion that my previous Genius Project idea (researching all manner of stressors and their alleviators and then performing experiments to test the effects of the aforementioned stressors and alleviators on fellow students that volunteer) was much too broad to yield tangible results by May 18 of this year, the date of the TED-style presentation to be given by all seniors. Thus, I decided to narrow my objectives to make the project more manageable for a high school senior, but I still faced the question of what to focus my project on. As I thought about it, I realized that what I really love to do is to play video games, and I thought that if I could use video games as the focus of my project, I would finally have a Genius Project idea that I would genuinely be interested in. As a result, my current Genius Project was born, and I am looking forward to taking the first steps on this educational and practical journey of my investigation into the abilities of my favorite pastime to alleviate anxiety.
As I move forward, my first steps are going to consist of conducting research to determine which video game genres are ideal for relaxation. I realize that this sounds simplistic, as I mentioned at the beginning of this post, but I assure you that the realm of video games is quite extensive; henceforth, more than a little effort is required to narrow down the many genres to those that are ideal for anxiety alleviation.
Despite the long road ahead, I am definitely looking forward to the journey. If you would like to view a visual representation of my Genius Project idea, please click here to view the pitch I presented to teachers and peers in June 2015. Note that the pitch is a bit dated as it was created to reflect my previous Genius Project idea, but the basic idea remains anxiety mitigation.
Finally, if you have any comments to offer me, please do not hesitate to do so; I welcome and value any feedback that you give me about my project.
For those of you who are unaware, the senior students at Sage Creek High School are now in the production phase of the two-year-long Genius Project, an endeavor in which students attempt to find a solution to a problem they choose to examine. Regarding my chosen project, I have decided to research the effects that different genres of video games have on the anxiety levels of different individuals.
On the surface, this project sounds like it would be a simplistic endeavor. Ok, you might be thinking, research is a great place to start, but how will research help you to solve a problem? To answer that question, I need to describe exactly what the problem is that I am trying to find a solution for.
The modern world is a wondrously fast-paced environment where there is constantly activity, whether that activity takes the form of employment, academic studies, entertainment, etc. Despite the many benefits that emerge from such an environment, there exists also a glaring side effect of the world's current status that has been demonstrated to be only to humanity's detriment: anxiety.
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| This man is experiencing an extreme anxiety attack, which is exactly the problem that I am attempting to use video games as the solution for. This image was taken from WordPress. |
Now, given that I have explained the problem I am attempting to solve, you are probably wondering how I am planning to attempt to develop a solution. As it happens, I am an individual who immensely enjoys playing video games. Whether I am engaged in solo play or I am having fun with good friends, I find that I am consistently engaged playing video games whenever I need to relax. Thus, the idea for my Genius Project was born: researching different video game genres and their abilities to alleviate (or, in some cases, not alleviate) anxiety, and develop sample "Anxiety Reduction" plans that contain recommendations for which types of video games to play whenever a person is feeling a certain emotion or is in a particular mood.
Regarding my progress with my Genius Project: at this point in time, unfortunately, I do not have any progress to report. Aside from beginning this biweekly blog, I have only reached out to a new possible mentor at this point in time. I am sure that you are probably wondering, Given that you have been working on this project since midway through junior year, how is it possible that you have not made any tangible progress on your Genius Project?
Well, the answer to that question is complicated. Since the conclusion of my junior year, I have come to the conclusion that my previous Genius Project idea (researching all manner of stressors and their alleviators and then performing experiments to test the effects of the aforementioned stressors and alleviators on fellow students that volunteer) was much too broad to yield tangible results by May 18 of this year, the date of the TED-style presentation to be given by all seniors. Thus, I decided to narrow my objectives to make the project more manageable for a high school senior, but I still faced the question of what to focus my project on. As I thought about it, I realized that what I really love to do is to play video games, and I thought that if I could use video games as the focus of my project, I would finally have a Genius Project idea that I would genuinely be interested in. As a result, my current Genius Project was born, and I am looking forward to taking the first steps on this educational and practical journey of my investigation into the abilities of my favorite pastime to alleviate anxiety.
As I move forward, my first steps are going to consist of conducting research to determine which video game genres are ideal for relaxation. I realize that this sounds simplistic, as I mentioned at the beginning of this post, but I assure you that the realm of video games is quite extensive; henceforth, more than a little effort is required to narrow down the many genres to those that are ideal for anxiety alleviation.
Despite the long road ahead, I am definitely looking forward to the journey. If you would like to view a visual representation of my Genius Project idea, please click here to view the pitch I presented to teachers and peers in June 2015. Note that the pitch is a bit dated as it was created to reflect my previous Genius Project idea, but the basic idea remains anxiety mitigation.
Finally, if you have any comments to offer me, please do not hesitate to do so; I welcome and value any feedback that you give me about my project.
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