As a kid, I was addicted to video games and YouTube like a fish is addicted to water. Every day after school, I would sprint to my room faster than Usain Bolt and boot up the computer. In the summer months, I could play for seven hours a day without breaking a sweat. My addiction only became worse during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. My life became a cycle of eating, attending online classes, and playing video games. Until I hit a tipping point. I encountered what game scientist Jane McGonigal calls "gamer regret." I was playing games so much that I regretted what I was missing out on in the real world. Gaming had become a form of escape. I took a step back and asked myself a profound question: I took a step back and asked myself a profound question. _Would I be happy about how I was spending my time on my deathbed?_ Asking this question made me realize that while I was enjoying my time in the moment while playing somewhat, I wasn't creating anything which would have long lasting and genuine impact on others. Nothing I was doing was [[Meaning MOC|meaningfull]]. What drew me so much to these virtual environments? The reason was simple. The real world didn't provide the carefully designed pleasures, the thrilling challenges, and the powerful social bonding I could get in games. The real world was serving me plain broccoli, while games were serving me a delicious pizza. In games I could fully embrace my childhood curiosity and playfulness. I could explore, create, and learn to my hearts content. Compare this to my offline pursuits like school. [[School dampens our childhood curiosity|School killed my childhood curiosity]]. In school, I was forced to endless assignments, tests, essays, quizzes, homework. Instead of learning for the sake of learning in itself I learned to get the best grade on the test. But the worst part about school by far, was the notetaking. Notetaking brought these thoughts to my head: - Boredom - Sadness - Death I'm not the only one that didn't enjoy the process of taking notes. I like many others was what John and I call a [[Cookie Cutter Student]]. Tell me if this sounds familiar, like a bad cause of deja-vu: taking notes in class I would copy exactly what the professor said verbatim. To study for tests later on I would read my notes passively. Being a cookie cutter student had two insidious effects. First, my knowledge base became a cookie cutter version of all the other students taking notes in the same way. There was none of my own authentic personality inside of the notes. I had no stake in my ideas. I didn't care about learning but rather getting the best grade on the next test. Second, studying dominated my life. In a desperate attempt to achieve an A+ on everything I would have to spend hours studying to make up for my passive studying techniques. It was like trying to climb Mount Everest with flip flops. I lost out on time for exercise, relationships, and eating large large amounts of peanut butter. I knew I needed to find a way to make my schoolwork more engaging. Because unlike in my video games, my offline pursuits could create long lasting value in the real world. And if I didn't, I video games would continue to consume my life. Check out [[Breaking Out of The Cookie Cutter Student Mindset]] to learn how I did so and how this course will help you do so too. ```ad-question color: 0, 9, 255 I encourage you to answer the reflection questions below. ``` What is your mindset towards school right now? In what ways are you a Cookie Cutter Student? Do you feel more engaged by other things in life? If so, what and why?