I grew up playing CS from 1.3-1.6 at a young age and loved it. My mom would drive my friends and I to different LAN tournaments, I made life long friendships with people, and it taught me what it takes to work to be better at something.

I built a PC in September 2020 almost specifcally because I saw streams of Valorant and it reminded me of that time in my life. 2020-2021 were really difficult years for me. My older brother had his first child, and my little brother got engaged. My mom having passed a couple years ago and not getting to see either of these events was really hard for me. So on top of the normal COVID depression, I was dealing with extreme depression knowing the person in the world who would have been most excited about these moments wasn't here to experience them.

My life isn't in shambles or anything, but being able play Valorant and enjoy the competition and community that are apart of it, has been a major factor in me having more good days then bad in the last year. I can come home after work and just let go and play a few games. I'm just a lowly plat player, but for me Valorant let's me flash back to one of the most fun times of my life, before I got a job, before irl stuff took over all my free time.

It's also helped me occupy a lot of my free time, and as someone with a history of addiction, I can't express how helpful that has been. I understand video game addiction is definitely a thing, but I'm 12+ yrs clean from opiates and I'm sure others can relate, it's a never ending battle. Having something you enjoy to take up free time so your mind isn't idly wandering is a huge aide.

So as 2021 comes to and end, I wanted to thank the Riot dev's for everything. Valorant isn't my whole life, or the only positive part of it, but it definitely adds to my quality of life and that is something I'm thankful for this year.