Kinda OT: Should i take a semester off school?

[NHFunkii]

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4th semester of how many??
how about just taking a lighter course load?

I find it hard to believe that you couldn't handle a couple of state school biz classes while still playing about as much as you want and to the best of yuour abilities.

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[MATT238]

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Well recently i have become increasingly un-motivated to go to class and doing school

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You shouldn't be doing anything you don't want to.

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This is dumb, sometimes you don't want to do [censored] but you man up cause you know it's for the best -- I was miserable in high school and didn't want to do it (like about 90% of the population?) but it didn't take a rocket surgeon to figure out it's in my long term best interest so I powered through the last couple of years of that stupid place.

I'm not saying school is for everyone, or dropping out isn't perfectly reasonable and a better option than finishing for many. Also, I'm not saying Charder (it's pronounced Chowder! I'll kill you! I'll kill all of you!!) should stay or school or shouldn't; but if you live your life making your choices based on the "You shouldn't be doing anything you don't want to" mantra, you'll very likely wake up in the not to distance future and realize you've painted you into a corner where you don't have any choices anymore.

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How many years of school does it take to become a rocket surgeon??

[IWEARGOGGLES]

My dear Christian,

I am your man. I am the poster boy for dropping out of school to play poker. In October 2006 I dropped out of Pitt to travel and play poker. I went to Niagara, St. Maarten, Bahamas, Texas, Vegas (twice), Monte Carlo, and a few other places.

I was a senior when I quit.

The +'s:
+ I took care of my grandmother 3 days a week or so when I was in town, allowing my mother and aunt to work.
+ I met a lot of awesome people.
+ I played big donkaments.
+ FREEDOM!
+ My parents were okay with it.
+ Paid off student loans so I didn't have debt anyways.

The -'s:
- This is a huge one. I was SO BORED without a daily routine. School helps to fill the void of mental stimulation that poker can't. You will end up feeling lazy and stupid because you don't have any sort of routine to help you stimulate your mind. And don't say you'll read books, etc., because you won't.
- I hate to say it, but people will think less of you, and, no matter what you say, this will bother you. For instance, I am famous for busting first in the main event. Know what the newspaper headline said in big, bold letters in the Las Vegas Sun? "College Dropout From Pittsburgh First Player Flushed From Tourney." Did I tell him I dropped out? Of course not. I told him I took a year off to travel. People will think this way about you.
- Running bad will effect you 10000x worse than it does now. This decision seems so clear when you've been running really well lately.
- You're not even 21. You're not going to miss 10k tournaments (except Niagara and PCA I suppose).
- I am one of the only ones to ever go back. I did that for my grandmother, not myself. I wanted to stay as close as I could to her.
- Social interaction. Playing donkaments 4 days a week doesn't allow for a lot of interaction with friends. Even if you live in a college town you won't interact as much as you think you will. And, on top of that, when you're running bad, you may not even play or go out for a week. It sucks.

If I could do it all over again, I would take online classes part time (I'm doing this next semester) through another university and do my last full semester on campus.

You have my AIM.

Holla,

Goggles.

[ShowUthExit]

I was a business major getting bad grades only a year ago. Though, dropping out/taking some time off never crossed my mind. I was sleeping through morning classes a ton and basically had no motivation whatsoever to do well until I was almost failing and I got my act together. I agree with most people that if you take time off now it is very likely you won't return. IMO you should stick it out since you're so far along already. Once you graduate you'll have all the time in the world to travel and play live tourneys.

You said yourself that you want to graduate, so do it now while its so close to happening. I guarantee if you take next semester off in about 6 months you'll be like, 'damnit if I had stayed in school I'd have graduated already.' Just grind it out, get it over with and you'll have it out of the way while travelling in the future.

Congrats on the 1k

[Merek007]

Reread Goggles story... You won't be the same but still good advice.

I dropped out of high school...went back but never finished. Went to Univeristy at 25 and grad w/double business degree/finance/marketing. I got better grades than most because I was there because I wanted to and because I worked various jobs and had experiance that matched/opposed what the profs were saying. I learned more because I had more experiances before the schoolling. HOWEVER, I was 25 and everyone else was 19-20. It was hard to go back after 6 years w/o school. The first year was very tough. Had to relearn some math and my writing skills sucked. There is good and bad in everything and only you know how much some of the important things matter to you(family, money, "hate this crap", santity, etc).

You are doing the right thing in thinking it through. Don't make a fast decision as it will have good and bad consequiences on your life for years. ...

Oh....and after already being part way through... finish if you can take it. If you take more than a couple of years off you are basicly starting from zero again.

[Perplexity]

I disagree with the several people above who suggested that once you leave, you'll never come back. I took two years off and then came back and finished. I'm really glad I left, and really glad I went back. The time off was fun. I grew up. School was far more rewarding the second time around.

Taking a semester (or a year, or two years) off is not the same as dropping out.

[MJBuddy]

Take a lighter load.

Please don't take a poker degen step here. I know "so many have made it" both back and successful after doing it, but the expected value of a degree far outperforms the expected value of sitting on your ass in donkaments.


I'm sure you can afford a longer stint at college with 3 classes/semester that will give you lots of time for poker and free time but keep you on track with a safety net.

[BrandiFan]

You're in college, you get to pick your classes, right? Who says you have to get up at 8?
I agree with the others who say take a lighter load, but I think if you quit you may end up finishing... I left college with 3 semesters to go for my undergrad and I am going back in a year to finish. I really miss it even though I didn't think I liked it at the time.

[hoyasnaxa]

Stay in school. It is fun, and easy, and can get you good jobs later that you might really like. Poker will always be around.

[ADLinden]

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You're in college, you get to pick your classes, right? Who says you have to get up at 8?


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I haven't been up before 11 am this year yet, and I'm a second year.