From books to computer games to friendly hang-outs to a future

By: Ethan Tang

She studies hard enough for classes to get great grades while also playing games and hanging out with friends on the side.

“I go to school for higher education,” said Alexa Piraino, a full time student, “I like some of my teachers.” 

According to a recent University of Oxford study, moving to university has a detrimental effect on childhood social circles. The average undergraduate loses 40 per cent of their existing friends every six months if they do not take steps to maintain those relationships.

Piraino, a history major with a minor in communication studies for both, while holding a social life filled with people within her inner circle. 

Although she is focusing on her degree for history, she isn’t certain about her future career. She is learning about other interests but one thing is for certain according to Piraino, she is going to work hard no matter what she does. 

She may be focused more on school but during her free time it isn’t all books. Piraino isn’t a person who is all work. She enjoys playing video games, watching anime, helping and hanging out with friends.

One of her few hobbies is that she plays a few video games. She plays a variety of games such as, Valorant, Minecraft, Counter Strike Global Offensive, and Left for Dead 2. Piraino, a casual gamer with a non-toxic language pool, plays these games for fun and not to try hard. 

Playing these games while being able to focus on school is a great way to have a balance of relaxation and work. But that isn’t the only type of relaxation she enjoys. The other is watching Japanese anime shows.

Piraino is a classic anime watcher. She loves watching classic shows such as Inyuyasha and her favorite being a show named Full Moon o Sagashite. The first show she ever watched was Pokemon. 

But things like this are also a part of being a full time student and a gamer. Since she doesn’t have a job at the current moment and her main focus being a student, she has more free time than most. She is enjoying her time during school and making the most of it.

“I don’t need a job because my job is to be a full time student,” Piraino said. “My dad said that I should focus on my studies first.”

The dedicated student wants to enjoy things to their fullest and not having the constraints of a job allows this. She is free to study to her heart’s content and enjoy her hobbies while still having the flexibility to enjoy her life. Although Piraino plays games, it doesn’t affect her school work or her studies in any way.

According to Piraino, she dedicates more time to studying and helping her friends instead of playing games for her own pleasure. She is also selfless when it comes to others since during college she volunteered at hospitals such as Lutheran Medical Center. The care for others doesn’t just apply to her friends but strangers as well.

Piraino, the student who cares about others and can still hold herself safely, is a balanced person when it comes to having a good life. She helps her friends out, cares about them, studies a lot, and still finds the time to play games. To most people, it would be difficult to balance but since she is a full time student, it does not affect her. 

“School might not be my forte,” said Piraino, “but it lets me leave the house and I try to make the most of it.”