To celebrate SEL Week, we invited you—students, parents, teachers, counselors, school and district administrators, and community leaders—to share your SEL story. Of the many excellent entries we received, Chelsy, a Texas high school student, is one of our 10 finalists. You can view all 10 finalists here.
Gaming is something powerful. It has such a bad reputation in the media, but it is the underdog of the century! It’s so powerful that it can help connect a larger portion of our population and educate them in important skills like responsibility, self-management, and more. School districts should explore gaming as a means for promoting social and emotional learning (SEL).
A great example to follow is the esports club launched at none other than my high school, Robert G. Cole High School, in San Antonio, Texas. Our dedicated and impactful esports sponsors, Mr. Wacey Tobler and Mrs. Katie Michna, have helped create a difference in the lives of our students by providing a community for those in need and giving an outlet to develop confidence and skills through their passion to prepare students for the real world.
My freshman year was in the middle of COVID-19. I was fresh out of middle school and did not have much drive. My mindset was to just go with the flow and stay in my comfort zone. That changed when I was recruited to join the new esports program. I wasn’t planning to join the club, because it was new in my school and I had misconceptions about it, but the principal mentioned how they should recruit more girls. In the end, I decided to join just on a whim. This ‘whim’ became one of the best decisions of my life.
Our sponsors made sure that we had a safe environment where all that mattered was having fun and learning to grow. This was something I desperately needed; months of no in-person interactions during COVID-19 had regressed me back in terms of my social development. In the club, I was given a community that became a second family that I could confide in. Within this community, we learn together and grow in skills like problem-solving, especially before matches in games like Rainbow Six Siege, Super Smash Brothers Ultimate, or Rocket League (which is the game I play).
Through our club, I was able to develop communication and responsible decision-making skills. As mentioned before, “freshman me” had no drive. The biggest reason was my anxiety and low self-confidence. I always felt tense around others, and my mind would run with overwhelming thoughts that didn’t really help me out long term. I came to realize this was because I had no outlet for my passion and love, and nowhere to flourish and learn skills like public-speaking skills.
This outlet would soon be revealed to be esports, which was very surprising. I never believed it would get me anywhere, but with the help of the sponsors, I was soon provided with opportunities to grow. Not many others were going for officer positions, so I took this as one of my best first opportunities. Mr. Tobler and the club trusted me to be a part of the first group of officers as a freshman and one of two girls in the club. Usually leadership positions are given to upperclassmen, but I was provided the chance to build my skills because of the trust of the sponsors.
I learned early on that I like public speaking. The officers were asked by our sponsor to do presentations for conventions such as the Texas Computer Education Association (TCEA) because Mr. Tobler and Mrs. Michna realized the importance of growth within students through providing hands-on experience.
Along with this, I learned how to be responsible in managing myself better. I was very busy as a club officer, so I had to balance my match times, school assignments, and personal life situations. I had to learn how to manage my stress and emotions. A lot of these skills are usually learned later on in life, but our members in esports were able to learn it earlier, allowing us to lead not only within our own club, but other clubs and even everyday life, too. With all the skills I learned from esports and my sponsors, I was able to branch out and help others build the same skills.
Without the opportunities I was provided by my sponsors and my school to pursue esports, students like me at Robert G. Cole would never have grown so much and become successful and prepared individuals. With the right learning and training from sponsors, esports can be used as a powerful tool to help students learn social and emotional skills that get them ready for the real world.
The views in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of CASEL.
Chelsy Tinacba is a senior from Robert G. Cole High School in San Antonio, Texas, where she is the vice president of the RGC Esports Club and president of Cybersecurity Club. She is passionate about esports and cybersecurity, and loves to help lead others to become the best they can be.