11/07/2025
Gaming Saved Me from Going Down the Wrong Path
Hi, I’m Mario from Cebu.
I was only 9 when my father passed away.
Soon after, my mom left to work abroad.
She said she’d come back.
She never did.
She left me with my aunt —
And I was never treated like family.
I was yelled at, starved, slapped…
Until one night, I decided to leave.
No slippers. No bag. Just pain I couldn’t carry anymore.
I started sleeping near the wet market.
To survive, I carried tubs of fish for vendors every morning.
Other kids my age started drinking, smoking, doing things that ruin lives.
They invited me. I always said no.
I didn’t want to forget. I wanted to move forward.
One afternoon, tired from work, I passed by a noisy computer shop.
I stopped. Watched.
It was the first time I saw someone playing Counter Strike.
The next day, I used my few coins to try it.
One hour turned into something more.
In-game, I wasn’t a street kid.
I was a teammate. A sniper. A fighter.
That’s when I met Kuya Lando, the cousin of the shop owner.
He saw my focus and asked me,
“Mario, want to join a tournament in Manila?”
I hesitated…
But he smiled and said:
“You have heart. That’s enough.”
We went to Manila. I played my first tournament at Netopia.
I gave everything I had.
And when I landed the final shot, I heard someone yell:
“Lupet mong mag-sniper, Bay!”
From then on, that’s what they called me.
After the tournament, Kuya Lando didn’t just give me a place to stay —
He became the father figure I never had.
He told me,
“I’ll pay for your schooling. Just promise me you’ll finish.”
And I did.
Today, the boy who once slept beside fish tubs…
Is now a Senior Programmer in Makati.
Still gaming.
Still winning.
But this time, in life.
