Second Life who???

So this past week we were supposed to create an avatar in the virtual world known to those in cyberspace as Second Life. It's a place where anybody can be anybody. Oh wait, I remember that when I was younger. But from what I can recall, they were known as chat rooms. I really don't think of Second Life as being that creative or even being that new a concept. The concept has been around for years.
Chat rooms have been around since the mid 1990s, if I recall correctly. The only difference is that with Second Life, we have something to actually see, rather than trying to visualize it in our heads. Back then, we could be whomever we wanted in a chat room. We could create a profile consisting of information describing our appearances, our interests, and descriptions of our lives. Anyone who looked at our profile could create a mental description of the type of person we were, and then further make judgement by chatting with us in the room.
The only thing that makes Second Life different is that you actually see people moving about on your monitor. It's a bit odd though to see people flying around. As an assignment for class, we were to create our own avatar and maneuver through Second Life; I did. We were asked to explore Second Life and get somewhat familiar with the surroundings; I did. We were asked to create an alter ego, so to speak, and meet new people; I did.
I have to say that at first, I was very frustrated. This was partly because I didn't know where to go in this virtual world, and partly because I could see new avatars appearing left and right, and nobody really having a clue as to what they were doing. In other words, I was standing there helpless. Finally, a mentor walked to me (seeing as to how I was lost) and helped navigate me through for about 15 minutes before I got hungry and had to eat...in REAL life. I'll admit that I greatly appreciated his/her help because it was beneficial as far as being a beginner in this new world. It's always nice to have that one person who is willing to help out a newbie. I haven't been back since, but it's only been a few days. I'll get my feet wet again soon.