Freshman Thomas Hunt (SFS ‘26) was eager to make a good impression in his IR discussion section, so to prepare, he meticulously researched the wide-ranging impacts of the Iraq War. Unfortunately, he also opened up Clash Royale, to, in his own words, “get into that aggressive headspace.” In an effort to psyche himself up to what would be his first-ever in-class comment, he continued battling throughout his classmates’ discussion and looked up from his iPad only when he heard the word “Iraq.”  
Maya, the discussion lead, explained later that what she actually said was “The Rock,” as part of a valiant (though ultimately unsuccessful) effort to connect structural realism to Dwayne Johnson’s role in Jumanji. However, Thomas, engrossed in his game, missed this context and so without being called on, launched into an extremely detailed discussion of Iraq that thoroughly confused his classmates. 
This confusion was only amplified when Thomas sweatily toggled the ringer on his iPad, and began blasting the mid-game music of Clash Royale. Too slippery to turn the volume back off and hoping no one would notice, Thomas continued speaking over an increasingly urgent blend of music and battle noises. He ended his point screaming to be heard but confident he had made his point. 
Later that night, Thomas later received a sternly worded email from his TA, condemning both his disruptive behavior and the point itself, which Maya claimed was “pedantic to the point of incomprehensibility.” Thomas blamed his gaming habits for the incident, but in many ways, the cries of Valkyries and the booms of kings’ cannons coming from his iPad were a more damning indictment of the violence inherent in territorial conflict than any in-class comment ever could be.