Is it a Hobbie or a Competition?

Martin Campos, 15, Student at Montgomery Blair High School says he gets serious when it comes to his video games.

"I need to understand the rules or else I can win, and I need to win," he says.

Game, through game, through game, reading for him is key to winning.

Martin can sit hours in what he calls his "game chair."

The remote that is used to "Win." "This is it right here, this is victory" he says.

      According to Martin, you never have the right collection of games if you do not have the "Mario games."

                         Martin concentrates as he vigorously plays the video game "Call of Duty."

Choosing the right game when you have a pool of them is the always the hard part for Martin.

                   There can be no distractions when the eyes are on glued on to the T.V. screen.

Personality Profile

University of Maryland sophomore physics major, Zack Neal enjoys spending his free time playing a variety of computer and console games. 

Neal is always determined to beat his online opponents in the multiplayer online battle arena game, League of Legends.

Neal also plays this session-based game with another League of Legends enthusiast.

The game requires constant control of the mouse in order to utilize all of the player's "abilities." 

Neal is always focused and determined to win while playing League of Legends.  He says that he never gets tired of defeating other players in the game, and so he continues to play on a regular basis.

Neal can continue to play League of Legends even in the presence of distractions from his three other roommates. He says that nothing can get in the way of the time he spends gaming.  

After many hours of playing League of Legends, Neal has acquired the muscle memory to quickly use the necessary keys to move his character throughout the game.

Personality Profile Ryan Jones

http://www.flickr.com/photos/67181037@N06/sets/72157631883311057/

Personality Profile Damiano Melcarne

University of Maryland sophomore Damiano Melcarne likes to mix music as a disk jockey in his spare time. Damiano has been DJing since he was 17. 

 

Damiano uses a program called Virtual DJ to mix his music. The program allows him to seamlessly transition between songs, and reveals specific about the musical elements of each track.

His turntable, a Pioneer WeGO, allows him to manipulate the music in a variety of ways. He can change the pitch, adjust the bass and treble, and add many different effects to the music.

As a DJ, Damiano finds it important to create a fun atmosphere, and uses his Blizzard Snowball! and Colorstrip Mini lights to do so. These lights change colors to the beat of the music, and enhance the performance by creating a lively environment.

Damiano likes to DJ because he loves the music. He is never sitting still when he performs, always jamming out to the music like the audience. 

Personality Portrait: Camilla Thompson

 

Camilla Thompson is one of the few longboard chicks on campus. She rides daily, except for days when the weather is bad.

Camilla, 18, of Westminster, is a an undecided major in the Digital Cultures and Creativity honors program. 

 She's one of two girls in the university's Longboarding club. They ride around campus looking for the best hills to go down.

Camilla is also into music and art. She loves the Koi Fish design on the bottom of her board. It reminds her of her best friend, who helped her pick it out.

She said she likes to sit down on her board when she's tired and watch the world. She says riding makes her feel like she can conquer anything.

Personality Profile

Rich Salloum is a sophomore in high school from New York. He is captain of his school basketball team and trains 4 days every week with a personal basketball trainer. 

Rich tries to shoot around 100 foul shots every day to improve his accuracy.

Dribbling is also an important part of Rich's practice routine to improve his ball handling skills.

Rich never leaves home without his basketball. He also always has one of his three pairs of Nike sneakers on so he is always ready to hit the court.

Experimenting with different types of shots is one of Rich's favorite ways to practice his skills and also teach himself something new he can use during his basketball games.

Personality Profile

Jordan Hollady is a sophomore mechanical engineering student at the University of Maryland. When she is not in classes or studying, Hollady can be found playing the violin as a way to relax from her heavy workload.

Hollady tunes her violin before she begins practicing. Hollady began playing violin when she was in fourth grade and has continued playing in college.

Hollady admits that she does not have as much time to practice as she did back in middle school and high school. She still tries to find time to practice when she's not working or participating in her engineering sorority's events.

On campus, Hollady doesn't have time to participate in any organized orchestras or ensembles, but she does play in a string quartet called "Serendipitous Strings" with three other women. The quartet has performed at events around campus, including ceremonies for the Honors' College.

Hollady plays a song that she has been practicing with her quartet. While Hollady does not envision making music her future profession, she hopes that she can continue to play as she gets older and busier.

Personality Profile

Alex Levy shows off his disc collection at the beginning of the Calvert Road disc golf course. When the weather is nice, the University of Maryland sophomore can often be found playing 18 quick holes between classes.

After a poor first throw, Levy throws around a tree to avoid a bogey. While he has been playing disc golf since coming to the University of Maryland, he recently joined Maryland's Club Frisbee 'B' team, the "Solar Flairs."

Levy winces in disappointment after narrowly missing a throw for par on the second hole. 

Although there are discs created specifically for disc golf, Levy uses a 175 gram Discraft Ultra-Star instead. These discs, the standard in Ultimate Frisbee games, help him work on his accuracy.

Levy catches a disc while tossing with friends after the game. In addition to disc golf and ultimate frisbee, Levy plays other frisbee-related games, including a team game called Kan-Jam. 

Personality Profile

Personality profile

Personality Profile

Personality Pix

 Max Bortniker, a sophomore at Staples High School, is a performer at heart. He lives and breathes guitar, hoping to one day professionally record music.

 As a one-man band, Bortniker plays the acoustic and electric guitar, drums, piano, writes and sings his own lyrics. Bortniker also started a band with friends and produces their songs on YouTube.

 Playing the guitar since the young age 3-years-old, Bortniker has a collection of guitars including acoustic and electric. Bortniker plays a variety of genres expressing himself through music.

 Always seeking an audience, Bortniker constantly is creating some form of music. Bortniker is constantly trying to entertain himself and others.

 Inspired and motivated, Bortniker experiments teaching himself how to play the drums.

Playing his electric guitar, Bortniker adjusts the levels on his amp. Bortniker creates music mixing separate recordings of his vocals, acoustic and or electric guitar, drums, and keyboard on a computer program.
Personality Pix

Personality Profile pics

 Tiffany Do, psychology major junior at University of Maryland enjoys the peace that yoga brings. She loves to practice yoga at spare time to relieve stress.

 Tiffany believes that yoga brings together physical and mental disciplines to achieve peacefulness of body and mind.

 Tiffany practices classic yoga pose on the yoga mat.

Taking a deep breath, Tiffany senses a feeling of strength, freedom and joy which fill her inside and outside.

Tiffany covering her mouth while laughing on the yoga mat.