Jacob Long, Longwood sophomore, describes the artistic statement he made when applying to the Honors College as a rising freshmen.
“Ever since I was a wee little laddie, I used to play a whole lot of Mario Sunshine.
When I was 14, I didn’t have any friends or anything to do, so I would just play that game a lot. I would try to do it as fast as possible, you know, ‘speed running’ as they call it.
That being said, I was speed running this game from ages 14 to 17, and I was awful at it. Generally, the best times were around one hour and 20 minutes to finish the whole game, and I was at like two hours and 48 minutes. So, that’s no good.
One day when I was 16, I was like, ‘Wow, I’m awful at this. I should get better at it.’ Instead of actually getting better at it, I wrote a 15 page document that’s got steps to speed run the game, so I could remember it better. I spent all that time – it took maybe three days or so – to just write up that many words. Then, I didn’t even practice the game anymore.
Then, at Longwood University, they wanted a thing for the Honors College, an artistic thingy. So, I submitted that (the speed running document) because I didn’t have any other art, and I figured they’d think, ‘Wow, this guy, right here, he has no friends, and this is definitely some kind of art that we can…’ I don’t know what I was thinking, but I submitted it, and they accepted me.”
