Each year we ask our classmates a straightforward, simple question taken from the lines of a poem by Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Mary Oliver. We share with you intimate and candid responses to this question, "Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?" Concept and photography: Tony Deifell, MBA 2002.
Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?
Growing up in Eswatini, I was familiar with helplessness. The pleas of my mother as she endured my father's abuse were a haunting soundtrack to a childhood. In a country where life expectancy was 42 when I was 11, the sense of dread was crushing. Yet, I found refuge in an unlikely place: video games. My sanctuary was a realm where I could defy circumstance, write my own narrative, and one day give voice to stories that my countrymen could not.
Gaming planted a seed of idealism within me—a belief that even in the face of adversity, I controlled my destiny. My love for gaming was more than a pastime; it was a trusted teacher, imparting lessons of creativity, exploration, and resilience. In the worlds of God of War, Far Cry, and Uncharted, I internalized a simple truth: the power to affect change comes from imagination and the courage to act upon it.
Now, I’m driven by a singular purpose: to let the world play. Armed with gaming’s lessons, I hope to inspire others to dream, to explore, and to press the right buttons—believing, as I do, that even a child from an ‘irrelevant’ nation can change the world.
