Dan Ryan

Dan Ryan's life is similar to my life in many ways. He grew up in Pickerington, Ohio, alongside his twin brother, Tom Ryan. Dan started playing video games as a hobby and eventually mastered the video game, Halo Combat Evolved. Dan and his brother began competing at local tournaments and soon made their way to some of the top video game competitions in the country. The Ryan brothers founded the team 3D and began to dominate every competitive event they entered. In 2004, 2005, and 2007, Dan and Tom Ryan, along with two other team mates, won the Major League Gaming National Championship highlighting his career. In 2009, Dan decided to retire from being a professional video gamer and to move on with his life by attending college.

Over the past couple years, my twin brother and I have been playing video games competitively against amateur teams on the console Xbox 360. I have learned that in order to be successful at gaming it takes a lot of dedication but mostly time. The problem is video games rarely provide a well-paying career and use up too much time away from doing activities that actually help you achieve a good career. Even though Dan Ryan was considered one of the best Halo players ever; he made the decision to drop the controller and pursue a career he knows will make him more successful. I realize my time is better spent working hard on homework assignments rather than spending hours upon hours playing a mildly rewarding video game.