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My name is Janis Pullman. Janis Caroline Pullman if you want the full name. Nice to meet you! 

Online, I go by "Cougress." These days, Cougress has become synonymous with my identity as a gamer. 

Recently, I have become a pro gamer at this multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game called Umbra Warriors. It's entertaining once you get into it.

It's way too complicated to explain in detail just yet, so I'll be sure to break down the game's various nuances and complexities over time.

But first, here are some facts about me.

I'm 18 years old — only child. I love cats and eating calzones.

My dad is Butch Pullman. He is a former pro football quarterback who now owns and runs a sports bar in my hometown called Rolling Hills with my mom, Miranda (maiden name is Nile). 

My mom grew up in a Native American community, which was a couple of miles outside of Pacific City where I currently live. Though I am technically half-Native American, I ended up looking really white from my dad's side of the family.

Before being married, both of my parents were quite athletic in their youth. My dad had his football career, and my mom always took part in Native American activities like hunting with her tribe. 

When they had me after settling down in Rolling Hills, they wanted their future children to be into athletic endeavors just like them.  

Of course, they ended up with just me who was quite the opposite of what they had in mind.

On the one hand, my parents blessed me with all of the genes I would want to be a quality student-athlete and then some. Mom and dad really tried to push me into sports: soccer, softball, basketball, tennis, some football and a lot of other activities.

Technically, I had the pedigree to be really good, if not great, yet none of those sports really piqued my interest. I did not see the appeal of throwing a ball around and thought it was lame.

However, everything changed the day my parents finally let me try out some video games as a little girl. The day I touched a controller for the first time was truly magical. Instantly hooked. It was like something went off in my brain and told me that this was MY thing in life. Just like that, mom and dad's potential athletic superstar became a gamer. I have not looked back ever since.

Instead of playing sports, I begged my parents to buy me the newest video games. No matter how much they pleaded or attempted to reason with me to try regular sports again, I refused. I was incredibly stubborn and bratty at this age. Luckily, I was glad I was so persistent.

Much to their chagrin, my parents gradually caved in and accepted they had a girl gamer for a daughter. It was not easy for them for a while.

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They decided that gaming made me happy, so why would they take away something that brought joy to their daughter's life? So they compromised with me. I always had to get good grades, do all of my chores and all of that jazz. Otherwise, they knew they could at least punish me by taking away my gaming privileges.

Let's just say it was not a pretty sight every time I would bawl my eyes out if my gaming computer got removed from my room. If I had a bad report card or gave my mom too much lip, the threat of having my computer taken away deterred me as a young teen. I at least learned my lesson every time to make sure I could get right back to my games.

Eventually, I stumbled across Umbra Warriors. The game's company, Hope Catalyst, wanted to give girl gamers around the world a shot at the electronic sports (esports) scene. Historically, mostly male players have taken part in many different games from all sorts of genres. Female-only leagues have existed before. Even then, the interest was limited.

I don't attribute this to gaming communities hating women or anything of that nature. If anything, gaming communities and companies want MORE female gamers to take part in the fun, but more girls need to stop seeing the hobby as a boys' club. I think more girls should give gaming more of a shot to see why anyone (young, old, this or that and whatever) can learn to love gaming!

So in a daring move on the company's part, they made their main esports league only open to female players. Personally, I would prefer if the guys could be part of it as well, but these are the rules from the company. Not mine.

Guys can still play Umbra Warriors, and the male gamers do enjoy the game as much as us gals. They just can't compete in the main esports scene, unfortunately, which is a real bummer.

Anyway, Umbra Warriors came out when I was still in high school around my sophomore year. I had played many games up to this point, but Umbra Warriors was different. It was not unusual for gamers to go from one game title to the next, yet I found myself being really obsessed with this one.

Slowly but surely, the game started to take over my high school life. I stopped hanging out with my friends at school. I focused a lot on the game itself. My parents became quite worried about me because I would just hole myself in my room and not leave for hours at night. But, hey, they could not say anything as long as I kept up with my schoolwork and other duties at home.

I started thinking about the game constantly, I kept looking up strategies, I kept watching other gamers stream the game to pick up tips and tricks and even began to stream Umbra Warriors myself. My stream drew in a decent following as I grew more confident with my own abilities.

Little by little, I just got pretty darn good at the game. I climbed quite high up in the ranks at the time among other aspiring players. I got so good that a gaming org decided to reach out for me after watching one of my streams. They were forming a new team to compete in Umbra Warriors' esports league. Their initial impression was that I could be a potential starter and superstar if I played my cards right.

My parents were really against me doing such a thing. How could esports be a stable career? In their opinion, this had to be a fad that could come and go just like that. I did not care. I argued with them and had my share of disagreements until it came time for me to make my decision.

Being a pro gamer of Umbra Warriors or a traditional life for someone my age? 

By traditional, it would mean me just going to college, hopefully getting a good job afterward and then settling down with a family - that kind of path. But that path wasn't for me. It just did not sound that appealing.

So, for now, as I sit in here in my gaming chair about to queue up for another match of Umbra Warriors for practice, I don't have time to look back at my past. I made my bed, and now I have to lie in it.

I may be a girl named Janis Pullman, but I'm Cougress when I log into this game.

Remember the name. 

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