Pieces of Childhood — Conquering
One idiom and one lesson I carry from playing video games as a child
In 2002, my mom bought a Super Nintendo from a neighbor that lived in Germany. Back then, all quality stuff came from Germany. My brother and I tried to conquer Super Mario, F-Zero, International Superstar Soccer, Street Fighter. For levels that we didn’t have enough skill to pass, we called our older cousin to help us and teach us the wisdom of gaming. That cousin was our Yoda, our Gaming Guru.
A couple of my friends would also come over and join us in our journey through virtual worlds. Some of my friends had balefully smelly socks (like rotten flesh rubbed with fresh tobacco), but I didn’t mind because of the thrill of the game. My brain was intoxicated with dopamine, and there was no smell that I couldn’t handle. I was excited. I was motivated to solve big problems and save Princess Peach. These video games were our connection with the world. Our connection with the English language. While playing, we could feel that the world has much more to offer than our little village.
In hindsight, I believe their socks were smelly because their moms bought them shoes in Chinese stores. That’s where my mom would buy me winter coats. Chinese stores smelled like cheap, freshly cooled plastic. I always admired katana sword ceremonially hanging on the wall. I wanted my mom to buy me one, but there was no way she was spending $20 on a stupid blade. When I got to the USA, I satisfied that longing for a katana by buying a $5 machete at Walmart.
That summer, I went to spend a week at my aunt’s. Her son and daughter were several years older than me, and I thought they were cool. Rodica would take me to a local swimming pool with her friend, and Rodjak would rent Play Station One from his friend. The fee he had to pay was 50 cents for 24 hours. Now Play Station One was something magical, a definite step up from Super Nintendo, with better graphics and more computing power. It was also a lot more expensive, and you fed it with CDs, not with floppy disks. Rodjak would play Super Mario Kart and win every championship.
Whatever happens and wherever our lives take us, we carry our childhood with us. Our childhood is something that cannot be sold or taken, and it’s essential as a foundation of our character. This principle started with playing video games, rater. I brought this little story about playing video games from my childhood because it preserves a principle that I use to this day. Although washing your feet and socks are crucial life skills, the principle of conquering was more important to me. In lack of better translation, I chose to translate it as “to conquer”, but it comes from a Bosnian slang word “prekucati” which means “to type over” or to “to click over.” I became aware of this principle when I started playing video games because to “prekucati” something means to pass every level, every mission masterfully. Essentially, to become a Jedi.
But “prekucati” applies to all spheres of life. When I graduated from college in the US, my brother said: “Bro, you’ve conquered/prekucao that college in the USA.”
So whatever your challenge may be, know that you can “prekucati” anything.
