When Club Penguin announced that it was closing, people everywhere had their 12-year-old hearts broken.
Club Penguin is an online game where users could dress up their penguin, waddle around, and play games. You could interact with friends or even make new friends. The game was a part of growing up that almost everyone remembers. Unfortunately, it was announced that the virtual world of Club Penguin would be closing this March.
Since Club Penguin announced they would be closing their online server, a rush of memories came to mind and we can remember everything that we learned while pretending to be penguins online. In our memories, we can find things that are still applicable to our lives today.
There’s no limit to how many friends you can make: it didn’t matter where your penguin friend was from or what they looked like, if they were willing to race your penguin in a sled race, it was good enough. Each time you’d log on, you could find a new friend to waddle around with. In the real world, there’s no reason why you should not want to have the same approach and be open to being social every day. There’s no reason why you can be friendly in an online penguin game and not in real life.
There are so many opportunities at Monmouth to make new friends. For example, you can join any club or organization on campus and meet new people. All it takes is a little bit of extra socialization, just like our penguin friends on Club Penguin.
Another lesson Club Penguin taught us is that sometimes you can’t have it all. In order to dress your penguin in the latest fashion trends, you had to have a membership. The membership cost real money, not Club Penguin coins. Trying to convince your parents to pay $5 a month to dress up your virtual penguin was not an easy task. Sometimes you would just have to accept that your penguin would have to make do with whatever free clothes were available. Just like today, we try to make do with what we have.
It’s frustrating when you want to do something, but don’t have the money for it. Monmouth offers a lot of opportunities for students that are at discounted prices or even free. There are organized trips that can cost as little as $5. You might have to settle on missing out on something expensive, but Monmouth can provide fun alternatives for a fraction of the price.
The more work you put in, the better things will turn out. There were games on Club Penguin where you could earn coins. You could use the coins to dress your penguin, buy pets, or decorate your igloo. Playing different games taught you to work for your money, which we all know is important today. Even though in the real world, winning a sledding race won’t earn you enough money for a TV; we were taught how to work for what we wanted.
Club Penguin taught us that you should treat everyone with respect. There were rules on Club Penguin that limit what you can say. If you say something rude or inappropriate, you could get banned for a few days and not be able to play. If you do this multiple times, your account could even get deleted. These limitations helped us to be more respectful to others and not get mad over losing in penguin connect four.
There’s no reason not to be yourself. On Club Penguin, you had the freedom to dress your penguin however you want. There’s plenty of clothes you can buy from the clothes shop to dress your penguin for any occasion. The game gives you the freedom to be who you want to be, which is exactly how you should live your life. It’s important to be yourself and express yourself how you want.
Although it’s sad to think that the penguin virtual world that we all once grew up on is coming to an end, there is a bright side. Even if you didn’t realize it, there’s a lot that we learned from Club Penguin and can continue to use as adults in our everyday lives.
