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Part 6
Hey guys its been a bit over 4 months since my last blog, so I figure now would be a good time to post another blog and let people know how the last few months of my life have gone.
After losing the chance to cast proleague last year, I was pretty devastated. I basically ended up being very depressed for a month or so and still have periods of depression that I believe stem from this. Despite this I feel my condition is slowly improving and I hope to be back to 100% soon. My detachment from Starcraft has overall been good, it has allowed me to find the passion in Dota 2 that I felt from Brood War and the early days of SC2. As I mentioned in my previous blog I said I wanted to focus on poker, dota 2, and English tutoring.
I had to find immediate work when I realized I wouldn't be casting proleague, so I got some advice from a friend and put some ads online for private English tutoring. After a few weeks I got a student, and started tutoring. Its only one student but hey you gotta start somewhere. I also started casting some Dota 2 and begun doing more in depth research on the teams/players/scenes. I was slowly progressing in poker, not making any money of course, but at least learning and feeling more comfortable with the game.
Unfortunately around February the money I had left ran out, and I had to think about borrowing money from a friend just to pay the next month's rent. One student can't pay for food and rent, not to mention I basically became a hermit and never went out to see any of my friends unless it was some sort of event where I didn't need to pay any money (like watching the NSL). Things were looking grim, but an ironic twist of fate happened.
2 days before the Korean Dota 2 League started, I got contacted by my former company, spotv. They asked if I could cast Dota 2 for them, and I instantly agreed because of my desperate situation. The day before the league started they told me that BTS would be covering the league as well, I would have no co-caster, and I would not be in the game client. After hearing that I almost didn't take the job because it just felt like I was getting screwed over once again, and it would be a disservice to the viewers as well. I'll admit I was pretty furious when I heard this, but In the end I decided to take the job and make the most of it, at the very least I can get more experience broadcasting Dota 2. I also talked to my parents around this time and my mother insisted that she send me money to help me out. I am not the type of person that likes accepting free things from others, I always feel guilty about it. When your at the bottom though, you have to basically accept anything with as much grace as possible.
So with some extra money from my parents and the new job casting the KDL for spotv, life is starting to look slightly better. I eventually picked up a few new students for tutoring, but they are
are inconsistent with times and thus money is inconsistent from them. I decided to put poker aside so I could focus more effort into broadcasting Dota 2, but if things fall flat for Dota 2 then I will certainly return to the poker world. I've also started broadcasting other Dota 2 tournaments besides the KDL. I've had the privilege of casting some joinDota League games as well as the WD Pro Series over the past few weeks and they have been wonderful experiences thus far. I am going to focus on casting as much Dota tournaments as I can and make a name for myself within the community.
These are my goals over the next few months:
1. Cast as much Dota 2 as possible, improve as much as possible.
2. Study Korean, I'm slacking on this too much and knowing more is never a bad thing.
3. Make enough money to afford food/rent ("breaking even"), Korean tutoring, and the ability to go out once a week.
That's pretty much it, shutout to my friends/family that have supported me or bought me a free meal over the past few months!