When my dad got me a Nintendo Switch for my birthday, I was introduced to it came with many games .My favorite games: were E-sports and Super Mario Party because they were fun to play as a 9-year-old with no gaming experience whatsoever. I had so much fun pressing buttons and swinging my arms the same way over and over again, trying to beat my family.

However, there was also a third game — Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. To be frank, I hated playing it. It seemed like I was naturally bad at the game and could never improve, no matter how hard I tried to get better every day. While my dad, who played with me, accumulated points and virtual trophies, I sat, annoyed, staring at the “12th place” icon in the corner of the screen.

The drive to keep playing slowly died away as I continued placing last. I had tried to catch up by hurrying through the road, because first place was all that mattered. But, as I kept lagging behind my undefeated dad, I stopped rushing to put down my backpack after school and turn on the TV. Instead, I sulked on my bed.

That’s when I stumbled upon the vast sea of the internet. On YouTube, I searched up beginner guides for the game. By learning how to better control my direction, item use, and speed, the double digits of my placement slowly turned single. Before I knew it, I was already consistently scoring around 4-5th place and. by practicing more and more, I got my first win against my dad.

After 6 months of nonstop grinding, this was the moment I had been waiting for. I happily celebrated this achievement and loved started to love playing the game. After all, that was what I was trying to achieve all along! But, I knew my journey wasn’t over yet. I continued to upgrade the difficulty of the game and push myself further, to the point where I could score first place all the time against the computers.

Even with winning all the time, The thrill of winning all of the time wore off after a while. I grew quickly got bored and switched to online play, which wasn’t easy in the by the slightest bit. I was playing The players that I played against were pros as a kid, unaware of while I was just a kid that didn’t know how harsh the real world of Mario Kart was. I didn’t know any of the shortcuts, strategies, or fancy techniques that they used to gain whole seconds of time on me.

So, again, I searched on Youtube how to win online. Except, this time, I already knew how to practice. After that, I didn’t lose so often and occasionally got first place! While I’m still learning how to secure my golden spot, I did come to understand an important lesson from all of my practice. It’s normal to not be naturally gifted at something entirely new. Instead, But, hard work and drive can take you to wherever you want to go. It’s all about what decisions you make, to get to first place.