University of Santa Clara - Redwood Yearbook (Santa Clara, CA)

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20 The Smdy Game s5h..., Q1

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agree wiTh Those who call life a game. BuT I aon'T Think one game can accuraTely porTray life's compIexiTies. There s cerTainly more To life Than merely avoiaing The poorhoase :na making iT To easy sTreeT - as iT is porTrayea in viilTon-BradIey's version. In facT, I feel life is besT ThoughT of :Is a conTinuous series of games, each game represenTing J differenT role in our life. As players we consTanTly move JeTween games, always changing our role. When we firsT :ome inTo This world our role is simple - we are chilclren: :Incl as we grow ana change, so cloes The naTure of The 'ole we play in The game. We meeT oThers ana play The 'ole of a friend: we go To school ana we are sTuaenTs. Ana so The process conTinues ThroughouT our lives. lVlosT of my ife has been spenT living The role of a sTuaenT, sTucIying and ToTing books day To day. Ana when I Try To Understand hyself, I have To look for a purpose or unalersTanaing of The game l've been playing. THE STUDY GAIVIE BY JIIVI SAIVIPAIR PHOTOS BY Cl-IRIS VAN l-IASSELT The Slaay Game IO

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The sTudy game is a very complex and absTracT game: The besT way To undersTand The absTracT is To look aT iT in Terms of The concreTe. BuT whaT kind of game is school analogous To? A video game, maybe - Pacman or CenTipedes? No: schools may swallow money as fasT as one of Those machines, buT There are no seT paTTerns To look for ThaT make The game easy. Why noT chess? The moves are more mefhodical and challenging. BuT I feel ThaT The eIemenT of chance is missing in chess: There really is a loT of luck involved in The sTudy game. For, despiTe The genius of a sTudenT, an illness, a lousy lab parTner, or a lucky guess on a ScanTron TesT can greaTly influence The ouTcome of The game. ln chess, a move is rarely lucky. School is more like a game of billiards: iT is a combinaTion of boTh skill and chance. You can win wiTh a sTeady hand or slap shoTs. Some Teachers are like pool sharksg you sTarT The game confidenT ThaT you can win, buT he runs The Table. School is very good ThaT way, because, jusf like The sucker who geTs Taken for all he's worTh, one learns humiliTy in The discovery ThaT he is noT perfecf, or even as good as he would like To Think. WiTh each passing auarTer l become more adepT aT The game, for I discover my limlTaTions - I can'T do a Ten page Term paper in one nighf, nor can I cram a auarTer's worTh of chemisTry in a day before The final, and sTill expecf To llbeaT The mean. I learn from fellow players as well as from opponenTs. The Sfudy Game 21