Hi Everyone,
For about 1 year, I have been working very hard in graphic design which is related to well, video games.
Whenever my parents come into the room, they see a window with a character holding a weapon and they instantly think I am playing video games…like opening the game on my computer doesn’t necessarily mean that I am playing it. It’s kind of funny because whenever my parents use my computer, they always drag around my Steam icon on my desktop…
Video Games such as Fallout 4 and Skyrim are very graphics-inducing games. I have spent many hours creating skyrim mods that shape and portray the visual aspects of a game differently. This includes configuring and rendering the landscape of a virtual world, editing pixels in photoshop to render a specific character etc. The point is, this kind of modification takes sleight of hand, like tracing the facial expressions of characters. My parents and teachers don’t really see video games as an art. Yes, I play Fallout 4 and Skyrim. But I don’t just play, I create too. I have used Fallout 4 to create some extremely nice wallpapers. I have been able to set my computer to 4k without it crashing (I don’t own a 4k running graphics card).
I have even started working on making Fallout 4 playable on a Virtual Reality Headset with all my modifications running through the system, but I am getting so many problems with it and I don’t even own a VR yet 
So, would it be possible to set video games as an art, and not as an illiterate, spoiled kid playing COD?
I also produce very modern music, known as Dubstep. Dubstep originated in the 90’s in England, until it was popularized in the U.S. Dubstep is known to be a composition of electronic notes and sounds played together with a loud beat that packs a lot of bass. Parents see it as terror and the sound of radio static, I see it as music. I have been producing dubstep for about 4 months, and used knowledge of my jazz drumming to create beats and melodies. Similar to modding in Skyrim, I work really hard as well, programming my own synth chords and tapering with various EQ channels. It takes time for me to produce my music, and I really enjoy it. I want to list these things as EC’s in my applications but I don’t want to be seen as a cod player pwning n00bs with insane music blasting through my speakers. I want to be a seen as a student who has adapted to new forms of art, enjoyed them, and put effort into his work and created amazing projects. I want to be seen as an artist, and be recognized positively for my work.
So, my question is, how can I focus my hobbies into positive, creative, and talented works that are recognized and respected in my applications?
I thank everyone for reading my post, and I hope that people will be able to understand my thoughts.