My parents divorced, not that I hadn't seen this coming, it was rather more of a shock as things seemed to be improving with the parental relationship. It wasn't so much of a dramatic "descent into darkness" as it was a realization.

At this point I realized things that I'd never contemplated ever before. I seriously thought about why my life was the way it was, as well as why my parents were complete failures to themselves and to their children, I came about many answers to my own questions revolving around life and its general purpose. And in the end I beheld the epitome of my natural life thus far: To be as successful as possible, not greedy, but accomplished. I honestly don't care about money, a nice house, or a superfluous amount of material goods. I enjoy those things, no doubt, but I'll never obsess. That is why I believe too many people miserably fail in life, they want it all, and they want it now, but they're painfully stupid. To me this seems genuinely unhealthy.

Also, during this time my grades fell horribly and they never rose again, I just lost focus for a substantial period of my life, I was still the same person to the world, sure. But in the depths of my mind things were seriously falling apart, I questioned whether or not I should even continue living, and to what degree my existence even impacted those I came into contact with in the end.

So where does gaming tie in here? Well, truthfully if it weren't for gaming during this time, I might very well be dead right now, or doing god knows what god knows where. Was it actually that serious? It's hard to say either way, but without gaming my life would have absolutely zero composure, no reprieve, absence of a sanctuary to confide myself in when needed. I could've been just another lower-middle class nothing or aimless junkie with no meaning in life. In short, I kept on looking at the big picture, the end of the road when I could finally do something impressive with my life in the gaming industry. 

So after awhile I didn't let anything get me down, after all, every mortal is responsible for his own destiny, no matter how crappy the hand you're dealt there's always a way out, failure is always a reality, but never an end. I believe my tenacity will see me to the end of life. Through it all I've remained unmovable. Now I've been out of high school for about five months, hell if I'm going near any college any day soon, god knows my parents were totally concerned more about my education rather than bullshitting through life and throwing their money to whatever tickled their fancy's, so I game on. Saving money, learning to program on my own, writing, modding and forging my destiny in hopes of reaching my full potential one day.

Gaming is me, I embody the culture into the very fiber of my being, always have, always will. But whatever you do in life don't let your passion fall to the wayside, no matter how bleak things seem, life is what you make it, not simply luck. If it is possible you can achieve, no matter what the haters say.