My life as a Sim

Hey everyone, my name is Ashley Garvey and I’m a sophomore studying Communications. I have absolutely NO idea what I want to do after graduating from Cornell. I’m from Plymouth, Massachusetts (yes, where the pilgrims landed in 1620). I use the word “wicked” as an adjective and I lovelovelove the Red Sox. I play on the softball team here at Cornell, and we’re really good so you should come watch in the spring. My favorite television show is Grey’s Anatomy, and I just started getting into Entourage.

There was a point in my life that I spent hours and hours per day on the computer, playing one [very addictive] game. This game, my friends, is called The Sims. The Sims can be described as a “metaworld” or a “MUD”, for it allows you to create your own world and life in one sitting. I especially like the game because I can be any person that I want to be. I can be Mike Smith, the player pimp who lives in a 25-room mansion, and also has six girlfriends on the side. Or, I can be Michelle Smith, the housewife with three kids who is a mascot for a soccer team.

But the question is, why is the Sims so addicting? It’s probably the fact that you can create your dream life with one click of the mouse. What may not be attainable for you in reality may be one promotion away in the game (as long as you get that one charisma point by talking in front of the mirror for 3 hours). However, the game is not as easy as it sounds. It is almost like have a pet human, because you have to direct your character in the game to eat, sleep, use the bathroom, go to work, etc. Failure to do so may result in the death of your Sim.

All that I know is that it is painful to drag myself away from the computer screen to go back to my boring life. It hurts to snap back to reality where I am not Jeff Jones, president of Simsville. And did I mention that I’m a kabillionaire and my mansion has 15 bedrooms, 10 bathrooms, 6 kitchens and an indoor pool? Oh yeah, and that’s my Benz parked in the driveway. Pfft, I wish.