Concussion Speech

In her TedTalk, “The Game That Can Give You Ten Extra Years of Life” Jane McGonigal explains how she created a game called “Jane the Concussion Slayer” to help her overcome a concussion that didn’t heal properly. McGonigal describes to her audience the different levels and power-ups she created to cope with the aftermath of her unhealed concussion that left symptoms like headaches, nausea, vertigo, memory loss, and mental fog. In addition to this, McGonigal had to avoid everything that triggered her symptoms such as: writing, video games, work, emails, exercise, alcohol, etc. In doing so, she believed the game she created helped her tackle these symptoms with more creativity, determination, and optimism. McGonigal then concludes her speech

Since McGonigal is gamer, she convinces her audience that playing games can help one cope through tough times by sharing to the audience the game she created for her concussion. In the game she adopted a secret identity, recruited allies, battled bad guys, and activated power-ups. While playing this game, in just a few days McGonigal noticed that she vanquished the fog of depression and anxiety. (McGonigal 8:21 – 8:53). She then interacts with her audience by making them play and successfully complete the first four SuperBetter quests. SuperBetter quests are simple games that can help an individual achieve the three-to-one positive emotion ratio such as snapping your fingers and raising your fists over your head. After the audiences have successfully completed their four

Those three missions are: attending all classes, finishing the appropriate homework that is due, and building a connection/network with one new person every day. Attending all classes is an important mission because new material is being taught every day and it is a good habit to be present in class because you will gain a better connection with not only your peers but also your professor. Attending class daily is an important factor in how one will approach their homework. For example, if you attend class every day, you will have a better understanding of what is expected and when things are due. Whereas, if you were to skip class regularly, you wouldn’t know what is expected and lack of effort is shown to not only to your professors but also your peers; causing them to disassociate with you. Building a network with people from different backgrounds is one of the game’s top three daily missions because it can help me in the long run, in terms of career and personal needs. McGonigal expresses her amazement to the reaction of her readers and their responses to her game. She received messages and videos telling her how playing a life game has changed their lives for the better (McGonigal 9:41 – 10:23). That being said, I believe setting those three things as my top missions are a great way to achieve the three-to-one positive emotion