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warning: this is a fairly uninteresting blog and will probably not be worth reading if you don't know anything about me
Anyways, lately I've been thinking a lot about myself, my goals in SC2, and my goals in life. I've recently reached 2000 pts in diamond league on SC2, currently sitting at #144 in North America with 2053 pts on SC2ranks.com. Two days ago, I also won 60$ taking the Cybercraft tournament in Flushing, NY over a competitive field of 32. Anyway, I've done this fairly easily without too much practice - I only have 230ish ladder games since release and <500 customs (many of those being UMS as well). I'm 15 and go to Hunter College HS in manhattan, which is a "magnet" school in a big city (50% asian, lots of homework, etc) and my parents definitely want me to see school as my first priority. They also want me to continue having some sort of social life, activities, exercise etc - continue living a normal life, but my dad is also a (casual) gamer and he supports my competitive gaming. It's gotten to the point where I feel like I need to play more than my parents like in order to progress to the next level - I recently began practicing a lot more in preparation for the Cybercraft tournament and my parents both mentioned how much I was playing. They seemed to think it was okay in preparation for the tournament, but I don't think they realize that I'll need to maintain 3+ hours a day of practice on weeknights if I want to make it to the next level. Basically, they support my desire to be good at what I enjoy but they don't want the rest of my life (especially school) to suffer because of it. so yea, basically, I'm not sure how much time I want to invest into SC2 at the moment... just having a tough time deciding what I really want to do with my life at the moment. :| I want to get sponsored and begin playing in larger tournaments, but I don't know how to make the jump from a good player to a top player. I guess I just have to start succeeding more in the larger open tournaments. We'll see! 
 
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Go do as much shit as possible that you wouldnt be able to do holding down a career in 10 years time while youre still young. And goddamn you're young (the "goddamn" part intended to sound emphatic, not pedophilic)
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i see they haven't taught you to use paragraphs in school yet
is practicing 3+ hours a night hurting your academics? i'm guessing your school's tougher than mine but even then... well i guess you can't go lower than 3+ hours if you want to make it out of noobville
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well it isn't directly but like... it basically means that I don't do any other activities, which my parents don't really like. oh and when junior year hits its gonna be even tougher (next year).
and also, blogs aren't made to be well organized and well written  cept for my starcraft history blog
@FireBlast the issue is that I might not have a decent career to hold down in 10 years if I fuck up now.
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school comes first bro, especially when you're young, so you have a basic knowledge of things.
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lol ok i get it, so you have no extra curriculars that are college application-able? i suppose you can always try to get one of our esports staff people to write you a recommendation or something to make up for that...
I might not have a decent career to hold down in 10 years if I fuck up now.
poke, thats bullshit, you're setting expectations high so a "decent" career is actually in your eyes a really really good career. i get where you're coming from but you should still put things in perspective. its very doubtful you won't have decent career 10 years from now if you want it, but your chances of getting your dream career will be if you don't go ivy or whatever. if starcraft is something you truly love, don't sacrifice what could be for what's already here (a bird in hand is worth two in the bush, lol). i'm in no position to say you're young, i'm only three years older than you, but seriously you ARE young. if you already know what you want to do with your life then you're way ahead of the game, and if you don't then that's fine, just do what you truly love now and keep your options as open as you can while doing so.
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motbob
United States12546 Posts
If Idra had the will to piss off his dad by pursuing competitive gaming in another country, you should be able to find the will to sacrifice having a normal HS life in order to pursue your passion, even if that annoys your parents to some degree.
Also, remember that if you start missing homeworks/bombing tests it is not the end of the world if you catch the problem quickly enough. If you start doing badly, you can always scale back on gaming and get your grades back up. There's nothing wrong with experimenting with different allocations of time.
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Bust ASS at gaming imo. It's going to explode soon and your parents won't be upset with your decision. However don't forget to exercise. Physical wellness goes hand in hand with mental toughness
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On October 26 2010 01:14 Pokebunny wrote:
@FireBlast the issue is that I might not have a decent career to hold down in 10 years if I fuck up now.
It all depends on your life-principles but whether you'll have a career to hold down or not won't depend on how you spend the hours outside of school for a few years in your teens. If you think SC2 is something you enjoy, why not see how far you can take it? If you win, you win, if you lose, you lose, it's all a part of the learning process, something I see as more valuable than hitting those extra grades.
I've grown up in a stereotypically intense Korean family where education > all but I didnt necessarily focus on studying at all. In fact this sort of environment has given me an innately rebellious nature towards academia, thinking it's just a huge conforming mess.
Even with this mentality in a blink 7 years passed and I'm graduating from my Masters from an elite university at the end of this year with a cool job lined up for next year. In all this time I did all I can to study as little as possible. I'm not saying this to be cool and that but you'll seriously get more out of being 15 by doing something exciting, and unique- seeing how far you can go with something is what will mould you into a person, not churning through those textbooks to be a nose in front of the masses.
You'll always get by, I also reckon if you're good enough SC2 player you should also have the necessary qualities (multitasking, if you will) to manage your minimum for the required academic success.
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Plus if you need a zerg to bash on for hours a night I'll be around sans monday/wednesday ^.^
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On October 26 2010 01:04 Pokebunny wrote:warning: this is a fairly uninteresting blog and will probably not be worth reading if you don't know anything about me Anyways, lately I've been thinking a lot about myself, my goals in SC2, and my goals in life. I've recently reached 2000 pts in diamond league on SC2, currently sitting at #144 in North America with 2053 pts on SC2ranks.com. Two days ago, I also won 60$ taking the Cybercraft tournament in Flushing, NY over a competitive field of 32. Anyway, I've done this fairly easily without too much practice - I only have 230ish ladder games since release and <500 customs (many of those being UMS as well). I'm 15 and go to Hunter College HS in manhattan, which is a "magnet" school in a big city (50% asian, lots of homework, etc) and my parents definitely want me to see school as my first priority. They also want me to continue having some sort of social life, activities, exercise etc - continue living a normal life, but my dad is also a (casual) gamer and he supports my competitive gaming. It's gotten to the point where I feel like I need to play more than my parents like in order to progress to the next level - I recently began practicing a lot more in preparation for the Cybercraft tournament and my parents both mentioned how much I was playing. They seemed to think it was okay in preparation for the tournament, but I don't think they realize that I'll need to maintain 3+ hours a day of practice on weeknights if I want to make it to the next level. Basically, they support my desire to be good at what I enjoy but they don't want the rest of my life (especially school) to suffer because of it. so yea, basically, I'm not sure how much time I want to invest into SC2 at the moment... just having a tough time deciding what I really want to do with my life at the moment. :| I want to get sponsored and begin playing in larger tournaments, but I don't know how to make the jump from a good player to a top player. I guess I just have to start succeeding more in the larger open tournaments. We'll see!
You can make both school and gaming happen. It really comes down to what you're willing to give up, i.e. sacrifice. When I was in College, I had to work 20ish hours a week and go to class full time. I was busy, but not too busy to do "stuff" that guys my age do. However, my sophomore year I wanted to play Lacrosse. To do that, I had to give up my time doing all that other "stuff" because I had practice 3 hours a day, 5 days a week. I would come home exhausted and go to bed real early. For a time, I couldn't go out much or hang with my friends often. But I don't regret it and I truly enjoyed it.
I think that if you're willing to give up some non-essential time, you can make this happen if you want. Here's a rule of thumb I used to determine if something was non-essential, it may help you.
1. If its not school
2. If its not work (a job)
3. And if I can go to sleep instead
4. Then it's non-essential
If something qualified as non-essential, it didn't mean I had to give it up, it just meant that I could. The decision was still up to me.
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What are YOUR priorities?
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Ho dam Pokebunny you're only 15, still young!
You do know most people on TL are probably university students or recent graduates (or around that age group, anyway) - perhaps the perfect age group to look for advices since we're not too old and not too young, just in the same kind of age group but with some experience.
That being said, I used to play 2-3 hours of dota pretty much every night during my high school years, especially in grades 11 and 12. The school was 90% Asian... ok it wasn't that much, but at least 80% Asian, very competitive academically. I was thinking I could join a professional dota team. Then I realized that although I enjoyed competitive gaming, I'd have to have the pressure of winning-all-the-time on me, and would hate to do it if other people (i.e. family) depended on me. Sure, if I lost, I'd feel bad and lose out on a few dollars, but if I had a family to support, losing would mean so much more.
Same thing happened with my favourite hobby (piano performance). Nimble fingers in both piano and the computer keyboard! I eventually got my ARCT (sort of a music college degree) in piano performance in grade 12, which was my initial goal. When it was time to decide for my university program, I again thought that if I was pressured to perform at a super-high level and my family depended on it, I might crumble under pressure.
So I chose infrastructure engineering. It's sort of like SimCity, but more real and a lot more complicated. It's my final year in university and I don't regret my decision right now. I still play dota in my spare time and play piano professionally, at weddings and events (earning spare money). There may be a lot of things you like to do, spend time on, and become good at, but you should set out on what is your career path and take along the rest as hobbies. Hobbies can help you on your career (keeping your mood up, enjoying a diversified life) but don't let them drag you down.
That's how I set my priorities and made my decisions - hope it helps make yours!
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Do you have any other goals or passions in life? I mean like do you want to do anything other than play SC2? The most important thing is to find a job that you really love to do. If being an SC2 player is the most important thing to you, more important than any other possible occupation, then I would suggest to you to pursue your dream, because if you don't you will likely regret it.
But don't decide too quickly, because your current viewpoint is probably extremely biased, since you play SC2 for fun and you probably don't have much in-depth experience in any specific career fields. I suggest just thinking about and doing some research on what you want to do in life other than SC2, and if SC2 outweighs them, then go for it. Just remember that playing SC2 professionally can be strenuous and make it more laborious than fun.
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Hey poke, it's "ze" here if you don't already know,
I don't really know how serious you are about competitive gaming but, I think if you want to get into a good college/university, you really have to start cracking down and at least do enough to get into those schools. Casual playing while trying to do well in school is completely fine, but it's hard to do both at a high level. And seeing your post, you really seem like you are more worried about your career than gaming, but you still love competitive gaming.
Here is what I believe in, I think you can still live a good life without games (or even just casual gaming), but you need a solid career to continue to live life. The choice seems pretty easy to me.
What sort of stuff are you interested in going into btw?
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Just for comic relief
![[image loading]](http://imgur.com/Bi7fO.jpg)
IMO you should always put school first, which is why I put it at the top of the triangle. I was stupid enough to choose gaming and social life when I was at your age (I'm 20 now) and I kind of regret it today. You seem to have the talent to make a living from gaming and you are young as well, but don't let your grades suffer. Remember, even Flash is studying One day you will wake up to realise you are not that into gaming anymore.
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On October 26 2010 02:45 Necosarius wrote:Just for comic relief IMO you should always put school first, which is why I put it at the top of the triangle. I was stupid enough to choose gaming and social life when I was at your age (I'm 20 now) and I kind of regret it today. You seem to have the talent to make a living from gaming and you are young as well, but don't let your grades suffer. Remember, even Flash is studying One day you will wake up to realise you are not that into gaming anymore.
That diagram is so true haha
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It's all about managing time. You can do both well in gaming and education if you know how to manage your time. You probably won't have as much of a social life as your parents want if you do pursue gaming more seriously though =/
I personally try to take a quick 30 minute break when I get back from classes to browse TL and other sites, then do all my school work, then play SC2. =/
Good luck!
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I would do what most others are saying and stick with school for the time being. Finish HS and finish strong so you have options when you graduate but it's not like if you pic kschool over gaming then you'll never make it far. A lot of people here go to school full time and/or work and still play. For me I go to college full time and work part time but can still be around your rank. Point is it's not about school or SC2 it's just about how much attention you give both. I'd stick with school as your main priority now because there isn't much you can do if you don't make it in gaming without a high school diploma. Best of luck man let us know what happens!
PS lol @ the diagram
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Just look at a few things...
You're 15 - you have a long gaming career ahead of you so there's no
SC2 JUST came out - it has a long competitive lifespan so you have time
You can't be a competitive gamer yet anyways - Meaning there's almost 0% chance you could travel to play big tournaments or do anything crazy like that. Maybe during the summer, but being only a 1/2 time participant isn't going to get you terribly far.
Good grades open more doors than they shut - At some point you're likely going to want to lean on your high school education to get something done.
So what's the rush? Keep practicing SC2 when you can (and since your time is limited MAKE IT COUNT) and then when you are older and your schedule opens up a bit more you can really go for it.
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United States4796 Posts
School is important, especially if you're lucky enough to go to a school like you do. But we do want to keep seeing you in the scene! <3
Edit: iPod touch autocorrect sucks.
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Thanks for all the replies, will reply later
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wow you're only 15 and that good? but yeah like other people said don't worry about starcraft and focus on life because you can always play starcraft whenever you want, but friends are more important at this time
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On October 26 2010 02:45 Necosarius wrote:Just for comic relief
I'd make that a rectangle, put sleep as another option, but keep pick 2.
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On October 26 2010 01:04 Pokebunny wrote:
warning: this is a fairly uninteresting blog and will probably not be worth reading if you don't know anything about me
Anyways, lately I've been thinking a lot about myself, my goals in SC2, and my goals in life. I've recently reached 2000 pts in diamond league on SC2, currently sitting at #144 in North America with 2053 pts on SC2ranks.com. Two days ago, I also won 60$ taking the Cybercraft tournament in Flushing, NY over a competitive field of 32.
Sneaky brag blog poke.
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On October 26 2010 03:48 sixghost wrote:Show nested quote +On October 26 2010 01:04 Pokebunny wrote:
warning: this is a fairly uninteresting blog and will probably not be worth reading if you don't know anything about me
Anyways, lately I've been thinking a lot about myself, my goals in SC2, and my goals in life. I've recently reached 2000 pts in diamond league on SC2, currently sitting at #144 in North America with 2053 pts on SC2ranks.com. Two days ago, I also won 60$ taking the Cybercraft tournament in Flushing, NY over a competitive field of 32. Sneaky brag blog poke.
It's true facts. If I didn't think I was good, I wouldn't try to become a pro potentially.
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Netherlands6142 Posts
Poke so pro <3
Dude, imo compensate your 3+ hrs of SC with something else. Spend you free time going outside, cycling/walking/sport and do other activities (such as browsing tl!) a bit less. Make a plan of balancing SC with something else and sit your parents down to talk about to them about it?
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There is no reason not to pursue something you enjoy, but make sure it doesn't turn into some situation that you think you will regret later. There are TONS of people who play hockey, football, ect. at a competitive level, although not pro, and still lead hugely successful lives- so I see no reason why it can't be done with SC.
Good Luck :D
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After going to highschool, and now being in college...I seriously don't understand when people say "they have a lot of homework" in high school.
For reals now, College is some serious fuckin business. If you dont focus go to every class and do all the work/practice you will not do very well. At ALL. After seeing people a year or two ahead of my literally take 6 or 7 hours STRAIGHT sitting down with 2 or 3 other people working on a SINGLE problem.....I really don't understand what the hell could possibly take so long/be so hard about high school....All they can give you is busy work which most of can be done in class or between classes while in school. Math? You're 15 what could it be like...algebra? Shit takes seconds to do.
I am serious here, please tell me what a night of homework is for a "heavy high school workload"
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You sound talented Pokebunny (familiar name) and still young with potential, you have supporting parents and that's what you'll need to go thru college and finish an education. You really should focus on school or a balance of everything and not let SC2 consume all your time. 5 years from now on your brain will fully mature and you'll realise that in the real world you can't really build a life around gaming for many obvious reasons. Video games is as much a trend as most things, they go out of fashion with time.
I mean think of all the people who spent a decade playing BW and now probably have nothing else in life going for them. Just look at me, I've been homeless for 2 months in a pathetic attempt to escape this shit town I live in and I don't have any opportunities or connections.
Playing virtual warfare with Zerglings, Marines and Zealots won't help in real life.
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nick, if you go pro i'm gonna be your number one fan 
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Dude, just be happy you have parents that let you and want you to progress in gaming
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well the most obvious thing to do is to cut out all your UMS games and that should add some time to your schedule
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I say 15 years old is about the right age to move over Korea and practice. Only this way you will be mature enough in two years from now to start winning OSL titles.
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I'm kind of in the same boat as you poke. School and Starcraft don't go hand in hand. I started doing my homework because of my failures in Functions math aswell as french modern history. I used to play all day when I got home but now I do my homework and take my starcraft time out of my sleep time, which doesn't make a big difference because im an insomniac, I am never truly rested and always have like twitchy eyes and shit.
Realisticly. I would love to play more competitive but atlantic canada isn't exactly esports booming and playing video games on a high level seems a little bit risky.
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Ok gonna do a long series of replies here..
@scaeb - I don't plan to drop out of school. I think my parents wouldn't let me continue gaming with anything less than a B average, so that's around what I'd be at (at a decent school too.) Current average is B+/A-ish (last year).
@Seraph - I don't know what I want to do with my life, and I know that Starcraft won't last me my whole life. Issue here is where do I find the balance in now and the future. As far as extracurriculars, I play baseball and I'm in chorus - but nothing there for college really.
@motbob - true, but bad habits often are hard to break, as far as work habits. That would probably fuck me in college more than grades. Problem is that no one can say for sure that I can pull myself up far enough out of a hole, if it comes to that.
@iSiN - I do play baseball and stay active during warmer months - I'm fairly healthy. No one knows what gaming will be like in a few years, and parents are usually on the negative side as far as those risky futures.
@FireBlast - Yeah, but problem is that my parents won't be satisfied knowing that I'm sacrificing grades for SC2. They'll just say I should be doing better if I can.
@Knightlax/AirbladeOrange - Hard to say. My #1 should be school, but I'm willing to sacrifice slightly in school if it meant I could be truly good at SC2. Knightlax, your situation sounds like something I might be putting myself in if it came to that point.
@OpticalShot - thanks, nothing much to say from me here
@Enervate - none in particular at the moment. Stuff I said to other people will probably answer your questions.
@Elegance - Yeah, I know who you are =p. I don't really know what sort of career I want to go into, but problem is I don't know what my grades need to be to do what I want to. I wish I knew, would make my decisions 1000x easier.
@Necosarius - I don't know if I can make a full living from gaming, but I enjoy it a lot and would love to make something out of what I've been doing for years. I do put school first for now, but the line is getting shakier - am I willing to sacrifice A's for more gaming time? Probably. am I willing to sacrifice B's? Definitely not. My issue, as I've said already, is that I don't know how much I need to put into school to have a solid future while still getting into gaming.
@Alou - yep, pretty much. My time management isn't that good, but meh - it's good enough. I do have procrastination issues, which will have to be worked on.
@Treva - yeah, I'm definitely finishing high school with decent grades. It's just a question of how good those grades are and what extracurriculars I have. The difference between top diamond and pro level however is quite noticeable.
@Logo - I feel like I'm at the peak of my determination (and skill) atm, and I want to rise that as high as I can. I'm not guaranteed to be decent or have any sort of time during college or after. I don't even know what my plans for college are - I will go at some point, but if I happen to be very successful at gaming, I may take a break for a year or two. Why can't I be a competitive gamer now? Going to MLG/IEM/American LANs is feasible especially if it's in the northeast or if I get sponsored, but I don't plan to go to Korea. I'd only miss one day of school for a weekend tournament.
@DivinO - thanks for the support
@storm44 - I'm worrying about starcraft, that's a given. But how much to worry? Where will that take me? Where will doing better in school take me? Who knows.
@ZlaSHeR - If you don't have any free time with sleep and good grades, dunno what's up with your school life. I would say pick three in said rectangle.
@Pholon - that's pretty much what my parents want me to do, and I want to seriously pursue SC2, at least for a while. Not sure what you're telling me to do. I don't plan to do nothing but SC2, but most of my free time will go towards it (not all).
@emperorchampion - thanks. that's pretty much what my dilemma is now, doing what I love without making it something I'll regret.
@N3rV[Green] - I'm a sophomore in high school. I take five real "academic classes", add another half-class (music) next semester. I don't mean to say this as condescending, but you sound like you went to an average school where teachers just give simple review shit 10 minutes a day for each class. For me, it's a bit harder, but hard to say. This means...
Math - anywhere from 15-30 minutes depending on the day and how quickly you understand the material, then tests.
Latin - translations/reading, usually 20-30 minutes.
English - usually a reading of about 40 pages and about half the time a paragraph or two response, plus essays/projects at the end of units. if it's just reading, 20-30 minutes, if response, 30-45. Currently reading The Odyssey, got an essay to write tonight in fact on the first half of the book, then some sort of project at the end of the book. Reading was usually 2 books a night + response (book = chapter in odyssey if you're unfamiliar).
Chemistry - I have an easy teacher, so usually read a chapter of textbook every day or two with a few questions. 10-20 minutes depending on how well you do it, 30 if you take notes (many people do).
Global (history) - usually textbook notes, then various other writing assignments and eventually two term papers. ~40 minutes, but varies.
Some nights I have little/no work in some classes, some nights I have the maximum in all of them. With all subject homework on one day (not uncommon, 2-3 times a week), would probably be around 2.5 hours assuming no projects or essays. With essays, certain nights go up to 3-4 and nights before go down if I procrastinate. I get home at 4-4:30. I am blessed with mostly afternoon classes and a double lunch period some days PLUS the "activities/clubs" period, meaning I either have a 80 or 120 minute lunch - I do a lot of my work then. Keep in mind that I'm a sophomore and junior year + the first half of senior year is supposedly much tougher. Pressure @ TL goes to my school (senior) and has told me that junior year is a huge jump, so I'm kinda worried about that.
@ChaseR - thanks. again, I'm not TOTALLY sacrificing school if I play more - mostly other activities and social life, and a little of school.
@SilentCrono - thanks for your support
@Tazza - yeah, I'm happy about that, but afraid they don't understand that competitive gaming is different.
@kaisr - that was mostly when I wasn't serious about SC2 - I didn't start playing seriously til beginning of september (and only been playing 3+ hours a day the last 2 weeks tops.)
@Boonbag - Korea is not happening til the end of high school AT LEAST. Maybe a trip during the summer before then if I'm doing well, but unlikely.
@NuKedUFirst - good luck to you then, fine sir.
Thanks everyone who showed interest
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Dude when can I spank you ass in that Bo5?
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On October 26 2010 06:17 disco wrote:
Dude when can I spank you ass in that Bo5?
Whenever you log on to US.
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I think the fact that you're still a sophomore takes a big part in this - it is such a crucial time, for you to do well from here until graduation.
If you truly believe in your potential, I would continue what you have been doing; SC as a hobby, and concentrate on your academics, and your social life, including extracurricular activities and pursuing interests other than SC.
Then, when you graduate, consider your options seriously. If your parents are really supportive, I'm sure they will help you test yourself by taking a semester or a year off. Possibly you can 'move-in' into a gaming house, not being sponsored, but just like a Korean B-teamer/practice partner. It will be a novel experience, and it will possibly rid yourself of ever-regret that you didn't pursue your dream. As far as I know, colleges will defer acceptance for a year if one chooses to follow worldly experience.
Altogether, I think now is too sensitive a time for something that has too high a risk - but with the expansions coming out that will change the game, if you truly have potential, I'm sure you'll succeed later; and if you don't, you tried, learned a lesson, and still have a great chance of doing something else you love.
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Poke, as your #1 fan, never stop :D
But seriously, at 15 years old, and 2000 points on ladder, that's damn impressive. All those years of BW must have really kicked in.
I face the same problem too, I want to always play more, but RL restrictions hold me back, I've made 1250 Diamond in 2 months of ANY rts gaming, but like you say, I want to make it to the next level.
It's up to you, you have a few years to think about it, and when you're 18, you're going to be able to make that choice. What do you see doing when you turn 18 and start to move onto the real world?
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My advice :
School First
A good balance of Social Activities Gaming and Other hobbies as second.
These should be your focus if you do not aim to be a pro-gamer, which, unless it is truly your dream and have faith in it, I would discourage you to do it.
I know I really sound like I wan't you to be "like everyone else" or something like that, but I deeply think your activities and hobbies at your age will define a lot of things for your twenties.
- School First benefits are obvious, it enables you to choose between a large variety of carreer.
Aim for B/A- and above average, A+ in what you want to excel at (your choice : math, arts whatever). School should still leave you a lot of free time at your age.
- Now on a more contreversed subject, especially here on a gaming site. I think you really should balance your spare time for multiple activities.
* Never turn down social activities (unless there is a very good reason). Your social interactions at 15 will have a great impact on how you will interact later and you must have good habits in this area, it will be one of the most important skill for everything in your life : in your job, making friends, your love life etc.
* I believe you will feel a lot better when you become good in multiple activities in your life, you play baseball cool that's what I'm talking about. Maybe add another thing and that's it.
* You like gaming this is obvious. Continue playing but only if you still do your share of social activities and have side activities. And this should be enough to make you semi-pro, you will still invest a lot of time in gaming and being at this level should make you feel good enough about it.
Now you do what your heart tell you, but for real progaming, this is very much an all-in. You cannot go halfway in pro-gaming and failing is not an option (unless you realise it soon enough). Now, you might have the potential I don't know, this is your choice anyway.
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Hot damn, ya....From what I'm seeing (basicly all of your work is busy work from text books/reading&writing) ya, thats absolutely nothing. I guess you could say I'm one of those "smart" kids and ya I did go to a high school that was pure bullshit, but having an experience in college, watching my three physics majors work on homework.....good lord man.
Everything is relative, to you I guess 2-3 hours for a nights worth of homework might seem like a lot, I have spent twice that on half of one assignment and people I know...good lord man you don't even wanna know.
My biggest hint would be really think about your time at school. Do you waste any time just sitting? I multi task quite well so if there was an assignment I would quietly work on that while listening to the material. I also believe that while in school you are to LEARN, not SOCIALIZE. So with that in mind you may say I'm crazy BUT, seriously don't waste time talking to your friends in school that you can talk to more freely and easily outside of school.
Short n sweet version, DO SCHOOL AT SCHOOL, DO LIFE AFTER. And be glad that your work isnt mind numbingly difficult for the most part....fuck Physics 100 at my school dude.
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you should always put school first. trust me on this
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On October 26 2010 07:28 N3rV[Green] wrote:
Hot damn, ya....From what I'm seeing (basicly all of your work is busy work from text books/reading&writing) ya, thats absolutely nothing. I guess you could say I'm one of those "smart" kids and ya I did go to a high school that was pure bullshit, but having an experience in college, watching my three physics majors work on homework.....good lord man.
Everything is relative, to you I guess 2-3 hours for a nights worth of homework might seem like a lot, I have spent twice that on half of one assignment and people I know...good lord man you don't even wanna know.
My biggest hint would be really think about your time at school. Do you waste any time just sitting? I multi task quite well so if there was an assignment I would quietly work on that while listening to the material. I also believe that while in school you are to LEARN, not SOCIALIZE. So with that in mind you may say I'm crazy BUT, seriously don't waste time talking to your friends in school that you can talk to more freely and easily outside of school.
Short n sweet version, DO SCHOOL AT SCHOOL, DO LIFE AFTER. And be glad that your work isnt mind numbingly difficult for the most part....fuck Physics 100 at my school dude.
it's not a lot to me, i'm comparing to other schools etc
I could work more if I had to.
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United States11390 Posts
On October 26 2010 03:48 sixghost wrote:Show nested quote +On October 26 2010 01:04 Pokebunny wrote:
warning: this is a fairly uninteresting blog and will probably not be worth reading if you don't know anything about me
Anyways, lately I've been thinking a lot about myself, my goals in SC2, and my goals in life. I've recently reached 2000 pts in diamond league on SC2, currently sitting at #144 in North America with 2053 pts on SC2ranks.com. Two days ago, I also won 60$ taking the Cybercraft tournament in Flushing, NY over a competitive field of 32. Sneaky brag blog poke.
I tried ctrl+F'ing the terms "king" and "tvt" but found no results.
What is this.
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On October 26 2010 07:36 Harem wrote:Show nested quote +On October 26 2010 03:48 sixghost wrote:On October 26 2010 01:04 Pokebunny wrote:
warning: this is a fairly uninteresting blog and will probably not be worth reading if you don't know anything about me
Anyways, lately I've been thinking a lot about myself, my goals in SC2, and my goals in life. I've recently reached 2000 pts in diamond league on SC2, currently sitting at #144 in North America with 2053 pts on SC2ranks.com. Two days ago, I also won 60$ taking the Cybercraft tournament in Flushing, NY over a competitive field of 32. Sneaky brag blog poke. I tried ctrl+F'ing the terms "king" and "tvt" but found no results. What is this.
You're my friend on bnet? o.o
On October 26 2010 07:34 DoctorHelvetica wrote:
what are you wearing
... not this again
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On October 26 2010 07:31 ZoW wrote:
you should always put school first. trust me on this
ZoW is right. You should definitely focus on school in order to get into a decent university just to have a backup plan. Getting an A-/B+ is pretty easy, it is getting the A that's hard. With your grades right now, you will get into SUNY/CUNY easily (maybe not CUNY Honors), but if you want your dream school, you're going to have to get As.
Also, this is a good time to develop social skills, since some of these people are going to be lifetime friends. Plus, having many extracurriculars isn't really necessary, though being leader of an organization definitely helps.
U.S. Progaming is at its infancy, especially with SC2, and I'm not sure how stable will the game look 5 years down the road. This game could be another fad in America, as the gaming scene routinely changes to the shiniest graphics. I don't see E-Sports growing in America because of many factors, though I am a pessimist. You're going to have to think this through before sacrificing a lot for so little in return. Just wonder what happens when a B-teamer quits in Korea, and what happens to them if they can't make the A-team, their skill set doesn't apply anywhere else.
Though this isn't the girl blog I was looking for from Pokebunny. My sig was right though.
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I don't know what my dream college would be, though. I don't even know if I want to go to a top level college.
My social skills are not THAT bad.
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I'm going to be kind of blunt but I really don't know how to say it. I am a terrible talker.
You seem intelligent enough, but don't know what you'll be. You haven't quite found a passion, so spend the rest of your hs life finding that. You are already considering a career(?) in esports so find something else, whether it be academic or business, etc.
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Hey Poke,
The talk on the train back from the tournament was too lively for me to interject any real advice at the time, but here's my perspective as someone who went through the same thing at your age (my game was MTG during high school):
I've seen first hand that you've got a lot of talent at SC2, and you clearly enjoy it a lot, and it's natural that you'd want to see how far it can take you. Of course the dream is to make a living doing something you enjoy that much, and you know that it'll take a lot more time investment to have a shot at it. Like many have said in this thread though, you're still young to need to make a decision about whether to make SC2 a career at this point. Your parents wouldn't let you drop school now to pursue a gaming career, and I'm sure you know it wouldn't make sense to anyway. A strong academic finish to high school that would get you admission to a solid college is valuable regardless of what you end up doing with your life.
One thing to keep in mind though: as I've seen from competitive Magic, retirement from the game from pros is much less living off tournament winnings for the rest of their life and more finding a real job and moving on to the next stage of their life. The real value of competing in the pro scene is not making your fortune, but letting your gaming hobby support you while having a chance to see the world. We all see Idra as a very successful player, but I don't think even he sees himself competing for life.
Here's my recommendation: don't worry so much about it right now. It's important to realize that the game's still very young, and you won't miss your chance at taking it to the next level by waiting. Right now you're enjoying what you're doing--being a solid player and perfecting your game with the time that you have--so keep doing that while you continue your studies and do what's expected of you. Attend what tournaments you can, but don't stress about them. In the meantime, do the standard stuff: get involved in interesting extracurriculars, ace your SATs, and get into a good college.
Once that happens, you're in a great spot to decide what direction you want to take. If being a SC2 pro is still something that appeals to you at that point, you're free to defer your admission for a year and head to Korea for a year. And if it works out, you can ride out the pro circuit as long as it lasts for you knowing you can pick up where you left off in academics afterward.
In other words, you'll have your chance to pursue your passion soon enough. Secure your academic future in the meantime, and then give SC2 your all once you have the traditional career options to fall back on.
As for me, I never made it as big as I wanted playing Magic, but I don't regret trying, and I'm glad I was still able to get a good degree and job in spite of it.
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My advice: stay in school, go to college, continue playing Starcraft and competing in LANs on the side as much as time allows. Over time, the SC2 scene is only going to get bigger. If you go to college, you not only give it time to grow, but you also have a college degree to fall back on if things don't work out.
I can definitely tell you that following your dreams and passions is a good idea, just remember that you don't always have to take the most direct route there. Best of luck
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On October 27 2010 23:16 Arzac wrote:
Hey Poke,
The talk on the train back from the tournament was too lively for me to interject any real advice at the time, but here's my perspective as someone who went through the same thing at your age (my game was MTG during high school):
I've seen first hand that you've got a lot of talent at SC2, and you clearly enjoy it a lot, and it's natural that you'd want to see how far it can take you. Of course the dream is to make a living doing something you enjoy that much, and you know that it'll take a lot more time investment to have a shot at it. Like many have said in this thread though, you're still young to need to make a decision about whether to make SC2 a career at this point. Your parents wouldn't let you drop school now to pursue a gaming career, and I'm sure you know it wouldn't make sense to anyway. A strong academic finish to high school that would get you admission to a solid college is valuable regardless of what you end up doing with your life.
One thing to keep in mind though: as I've seen from competitive Magic, retirement from the game from pros is much less living off tournament winnings for the rest of their life and more finding a real job and moving on to the next stage of their life. The real value of competing in the pro scene is not making your fortune, but letting your gaming hobby support you while having a chance to see the world. We all see Idra as a very successful player, but I don't think even he sees himself competing for life.
Here's my recommendation: don't worry so much about it right now. It's important to realize that the game's still very young, and you won't miss your chance at taking it to the next level by waiting. Right now you're enjoying what you're doing--being a solid player and perfecting your game with the time that you have--so keep doing that while you continue your studies and do what's expected of you. Attend what tournaments you can, but don't stress about them. In the meantime, do the standard stuff: get involved in interesting extracurriculars, ace your SATs, and get into a good college.
Once that happens, you're in a great spot to decide what direction you want to take. If being a SC2 pro is still something that appeals to you at that point, you're free to defer your admission for a year and head to Korea for a year. And if it works out, you can ride out the pro circuit as long as it lasts for you knowing you can pick up where you left off in academics afterward.
In other words, you'll have your chance to pursue your passion soon enough. Secure your academic future in the meantime, and then give SC2 your all once you have the traditional career options to fall back on.
As for me, I never made it as big as I wanted playing Magic, but I don't regret trying, and I'm glad I was still able to get a good degree and job in spite of it.
Thanks for the advice.
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On October 26 2010 07:45 Pokebunny wrote:... not this again
As your older brother I demand you to answer the doctor's question
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EPT
