awesome post by ZJ

[melioris]

The Kurn/TP side topic is turning into an interesting topic. It gets to core reason of why you play JD. If you play to make a tidy profit on the side while you are pursing a career in something else, then it really shouldn't be hard to make school your priority, as that is what is required to get a 'normal' career. But if you are seriously considering poker as a career, I think you should take a year leave from school and give it a try.

Yes, the social aspects of college are very important. But unless you go to class and do the best work you can, then you are just overpaying for a summer camp. Fucking up and getting thrown out of college because you failed classes is bad, but I think it is for more damaging, and a lot more common, for bright, intelligent students to grow accustomed to doing the minimal to get by. This embrace of mediocrity is the curse of modern America, and our best and brightest are learning it in college. Don't fall victim to it.

Decide what is important to you and demand excellence from yourself those areas. If you are unwilling to do what it takes to achieve excellence in an area of your life that is important, then have enough courage to realize you were fooling yourself when you decided that the area was important.

So if you are fucking up in college, figure out if it is because you really would rather be playing poker and learning how to be a great poker player, or is it because you have only been in college for a month and shit, it is a crazy fun adjustment but you lost sight of why you are the in the first place. But whatever you decide, think it through and go for it. Don’t allow yourself to be mediocre.

Oh, and hurry up and post those pictures you talked about in the other thread. I got to be the best dirty old man I can

[Zybomb]

I disagree with the majority of this post.

First of lemme start by saying I think college is overrated, particularly if you don't know what you want to do. Coming out of college with a Liberal Arts education does little if anything for your job search, other than you 'have a degree', which for some reason looks good to some employeers (despite the fact that the job has nothing to do with anything taught in a classroom required to get that degree)

On the other hand, as far as out of classroom experiences during college, you learn a shitload, you develop as a person, and you become who you are. I know that if I went somewhere besides Ohio State for example, I wouldnt be the same person I am today. I would have had different friends (maybe a different type of crowd also), met different people, had different experiences, developed differently and thus I would have been a different person than I am today. I wouldn't trade my college experience (particularly my 2nd year ) for the world

Also it's always nice to have a plan B to fall back on.... even if you decide to give the pro poker play thing a try for a while, what if it works for 6 years and then all of a sudden something fails... you just gunna head right back to school? No way.

You're still a kid, have fun and stay young as long as you can... when you're done with school, you can see where life takes you

(- Sorry, this is getting off topic)

[JDMcNugent7]

This is a really good quote and I've been thinking alot about it.

The quote rings entirely true for me - I have already fallen victim to it, 4 years ago actually. My ACT scores prove im very bright and that is how I got my scholarship and the way i get by in classes - excelling on tests I barely study for. But the work i do in school, and effort i put into it looks like just another average student, if not below average. Ever since I found out how easy it was to be average and slide by, I've done it. I mean I love my life and I like having fun much more than doing schoolwork. I personally dont even think grades are all that important, but I realize I have completely embraced mediocrity for years now, and I want that to change.

[PShabi]

I've known EXACTLY what I wanted to with my life since before high school and I'm very thankful for that. Helped me focus and persevere when most people would've sunk like the Titanic.

[melioris]

This is exactly what I did in high school and most of college. It really wasn't until my second year of grad school that I got disgusted with myself and the huge opportunities I had wasted by doing the just enough to get by, or to satisfy others expectations of me. It wasn't all roses once I got my shit together, but after a few years of holding myself to my own standards, my research went places that I never would have been able to achieve if I had just skated by or done enough just to satisfy what was expected of me.

I am not trying to be a pretentious asshole, I just feel like I was really fortunate to get a lot of opportunities throughout my life. And I wasted most of them, which I am quite regretful about. I am regretful not because of how things turned out but because I wasted a lot of opportunities that were never offered to other students, and maybe if given the opportunity other students would have capitalized when I didn't.