Next month, Nintendo will ship a miniature retro console called the NES Classic Edition, a release that will take generations of gamers down memory lane. Perhaps not surprisingly, this throwback device has also triggered some memories of my own from the late 1980s.

In 1985, I graduated from Dedham High School, and unlike many of my fellow students, my future was clear: I was heading to art school. As a kid, I was the most decorated artist to come out of Dedham. I had won some prestigious awards, had sold paintings and drawings to individuals, and was given the opportunity to choose between "Most Artistic" and "Most Creative" at graduation, the idea being it wasn't fair for one person to get both, though I had in fact received the most votes for both. You get the idea: Art was my future.