NASEF

Email received from high school teacher and first time esports coach: "𝘏𝘦𝘺! 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘌𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘮. 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘭 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘰 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘴. 𝘔𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺. 𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘳𝘴’ 𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦, 𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘶𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 “𝘢 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦” 𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘴. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦’𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦’𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦." This month high schools and colleges across the United States will host regional and national championships in esports. For some participants it will be an opportunity to cooperate in a team setting alongside kids they wouldn't have spoken to otherwise (uniting jocks and nerds and cheerleaders and theatre kids to channel an old Breakfast Club stereotype). For so many other participants esports will be the FIRST TIME they felt belonging at their school -- A reason to attend, a reason to engage, a reason to care. Belonging matters throughout your lifespan, from cradle to the grave. Of course, your intelligence, grit, and passion contribute to your health and fulfillment and even to your success at school or work. But just as important -- and maybe even more important -- is your sense that you belong, that you feel at home. In one national study, first-year college students’ numerical rating of agreement with a single statement, “I feel a part of my college,” proved to be one of the strongest predictors of their enrollment in college two years later. A response to a single item predicted retention years later, and it was even more statistically significant than their accumulated high school records. [Geoffrey Cohen] Shoutout to all the educators and community leaders leveraging videogames and esports with intention to help their students 𝐁𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞.