Esports, The Art Of Discipline, And Its Parallels In Academics

Gone are the days when games were just something you played to pass the time or have some fun. With the advent of the Internet came digital content creation, competitive gaming, and eSports, and suddenly gaming has become a lucrative career opportunity. No more listening to the “You waste your entire day playing games?” or “Do something more productive.”

However, despite all said and done, proper education and academics are still a priority. Our parents were right, studying is important. Nothing wrong with playing games, and if you’re earning from it, all the better, but don’t neglect your studies either. How can you do both? Well, what if I tell you that a proper disciplined approach to competitive gaming helps your studying potential, too? Let’s see if it’s true.

The Rising Academic Pressure

It’s no secret that students these days are under a lot of pressure. The growing complexity of subjects, homework assignments, group projects, thesis, and extra-curricular activities necessary for a good grade quickly pile up to become a stress monster. Couple that with strict parents and peer pressure, and it’s no wonder students freak out on a regular basis, and actively seek stuff like pay someone to do my assignment.

After a stressful week, relaxing with some casual gaming is well-earned and deserved. However, while you’re playing your favorite games, you’re also subconciously building some valuable skills, and this is even more true for competitive gaming and eSports. What you pick up as a stress-reliever ends up teaching you some valuable lessons and improve your coordination, reflexes, discipline, and confidence under pressure.

Video game players have improved decision-making abilities and enhanced brain activities
byu/Kermit289 inscience

Imagine a regular Battlefield or Call of Duty session you’re having with a couple of friends. Your purpose in doing so was just to unwind and take your frustrations out on someone else. But during all that yelling and virtual killing, you’re employing a lot of skills that are equally useful in an academic sitting, if you think about it logically. Coordinating efforts with your teammates, learning game mechanics and enemy AI, executing strategies, and clutching a 1v5 victory under pressure. Won’t all this prepare you for a tough academic situation?

The Discipline In eSports

This brings me back to how structured eSports practices help you in academic challenges. Esports teams rely on cooperation. You play in a team, study your opponents tactics, devise some countermeasures, and you are expected to deliver exceptional results under pressure. Now, if you’re honing all these skills for an upcoming eSports tournament, you’re indirectly preparing yourself for your studies.

Exactly why I say gaming and proper training for competitive eSports should never be discouraged, even for students. Yes, studies are important, but when you spend time polising your gaming skills, it also prepares you for intensive academic sessions. Whether it be teamwork, reflexes and problem solving, decision making tasks, or control under pressure, it’s all useful.

If you look at an eSports training session, it involves reveiwing earlier sessions for mistakes, and coming up with creative solutions to a problem. Moreover, a highstakes game requires cognitive perfection and a calm demeanor no matter the odds. Tell me this is not an exam I’m describing. If you dedicate some time to join an eSports team and practice with your friends, you’ll see these skills slowly helping you out in other places, too.

Gaming Is Not A Waste Of Time

At the end of the day, it’s all about a person’s state of mind and their intentions. If you’re gaming just to slack of and pass the time, that’s all you’ll accomplish. But if you approach it with an inquisitive mind and a desire for self-improvement, that dedication will prove fruitful in more than one avenues. Sharper reflexes, quick learning, emotional control, and confidence will carry over to your other endeavours.

The Benefits of Playing Video Games – From The Journal of the American Psychological Association
byu/LofAlexandria intruegaming

Gaming may have been a mere hobby in the past, but today, it’s so much more than that. A young mind should not be discouraged from doing what it likes. If you like to play games during your free time, go ahead. Only when you’re doing what you like is when your creativity and growth potential is at its peak. If you don’t like to focus during studies, but enjoy all the effort put into learning competitive gaming, may be this sort of training is how your mind will grow, and indirectly improve your academic performance as well.