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Every day students go to school, meet with other students and their teachers. Although students converse and get to know each other, you don’t really see students too interested in their teacher and what brings them to teaching. So I had the idea of taking it into my own hands and asking them myself, and I think that more people should be interested in their teachers because they definitely have great stories to tell. Doing this entire thing made me realize how under appreciated most teachers are. I started off interviewing three different teachers here at Western Hills, Ms. Meg, Mr. Dan Caproni, and Mr. Paul Dombrowski, and this is how it went. So, why did you become a teacher?

Well, I may be one of a minority with my reasoning. I didn’t have great teachers growing up. I wanted to be the teacher I and oth er kids like me needed,” said Ms. Meg. Do you honestly feel that your students actually care for your class or are they here because they have to? “I think it’s a mix; most students start not even knowing what my class is, but some do desire knowledge no matter the content,” said Caproni. What do you do in order to keep your students engaged and interested? “I’d like to think my personality is what keeps students engaged,” said Dombrowski. Is there anything you could possibly do to make the class more fun and interesting? “Yes and no. We have guidelines we must follow from the district. I think certain projects can be fun and offer them when I can. Poor attendance though can ruin this experience and we struggle with that,” said Caproni. When asked if their younger self would be confused about their cur rent profession all three teachers responded with similar answers: no, their younger self would be proud of what they are now. Out of all the subjects, why did you decide on teaching this one? “English allows you to find yourself and escape into another world within books, where everything is different. Writing allows you to express yourself and develop your own ,” said Ms. Meg. If you could’ve taught any grade level, why this one? “My sarcastic behavior goes best with an age-level that understands it. I also like offering help for the transition to after high school,” said Mr. Caproni. When the teachers were asked if they had a fun and enjoyable teacher or more of a hardworking teacher where they try getting their students to do their hardest, both Ms. Meg and Mr. Dombrowski responded with that they do a mix of both and there needs to be a balance; Mr.

Caproni on the other hand stated, “I hold students accountable for the work because I know they are capable of doing it. I believe they are skilled enough to handle it even if you don’t think the same.” Well, as that completes the little teacher student conference. I’d like to say for a final time that teachers are people too who have/had goals and have stories to tell, so asking them about their come up story should be normalized.

Since the introduction of computers in 1946, they have changed completely; they have gone from big machines that take up a whole room and could only solve math problems, to machines that can be taken anywhere and are also able to do anything like finding information, creating apps, and even making entertainment for all ages. One of the biggest creations that have come from the evolution of computers is the development of video games. Video games have changed a lot due to the evolution of technology and computers.

Originally, video games weren't a thing that many people sought to do, but one man, Physicist William Higinbotham, created the first video game which was a tennislike game. This game was very simple; it only included two lines and a dot; since then, video games have drastically changed from going to 2D into 3D games. Daniel Caproni, a coach for the Western Hills University High School E-sports team, believes that there are games that have laid a foundation for what games are today. He states that, “I would say it [because it] depends on which genre of game. Different games have popularized different genres.

The Mario Franchise paved the way for side scrollers, casual racing games (Mario Kart), & party games (Mario Party). Games like 007 Goldeneye paved the way for first person multiplayer shooting games, while PUBG moved that into the battle royale format we see today. Everquest led the world into the age of MMORPGs and the level grinding magic users.” Paul Dombrowski, another coach for the Western Hills University High School E-sports team, has seen how games have changed since these early stages of game development. He states, “The Graphics have gotten better and the games have gotten increasingly complex. Overall they explain more of the game, which usually makes it easier.” As these games have begun to get better and how some games have even begun to become iconic due to the new innovations that they bring to gaming, there have been some games that created things that have been seen as original for their time.

J.W. Lonaker, a senior at Western Hills University High School, believes that there are some games that have done things that have been original. He states that, “Outlast was a budget title that made it to the big screen, Super Mario 64 helped with the development of 3D games, and The Stanley Parable introduced the concept of decision making in games.” Although video games have begun to evolve very quickly due to the massive development in technology, its quality is also affected by many other factors other than technology. The quality of games can be affected by the amount of budget that developers have or the environment that the workers have to be in.

Lonaker was asked the question about whether he believes that work environment and budgets are the only things that affect a game's quality, and he responds that “No, I feel like love is an important factor when developing a game. For example, Outlast, a game released in 2013, is still popular today despite its low budget.” Having love for a project is a major factor when it comes to making a game since it shows the players that it’s not just something that they make just to make money but as something to have fun with.

Even though there are games that have been made to entertain people, there are other games that are solely made to make money by some big companies. There have been companies that have stopped putting effort or love into creating their games and much rather begun to utilize microtransactions into their games to profit more off of them. Lonaker believes that there are some companies that have used games and micro-transactions to profit more off of them. He believes that “Companies like Blizzard, Treyarch, and Riot have used their most popular games like, for example, Call of Duty and League of Legends, as a way to keep players buying more stuff by making their games Pay to Win.” Things like these can really affect a game’s popularity as more players can begin to distance themselves from playing those games due to the amount of money they have to put in to get better, and that the only way to get better is to buy items that can only be bought with money.

As companies begin to shift more into the idea that adding transactions into their games is fine and that those transactions could be pretty impactful, there is the question of whether the quality of games will be impacted by that or not. Mr. Caproni believes that “The quality of games will always get better in my opinion as tech gets better.

Many people who claim the ‘good old days’ are gone will also admit it is painful to go back and play old games.” As companies test out new pay methods (monthly subscriptions, season pass, flat, pay for expansions, etc.) there may be growing pains, but I think it will level back out and there will always be someone out there that is creating top-tier games regardless of the cost for them.