So why am I in college? (and some other things...)

Hey everyone!

This is gonna be a "sequel" (if you will) of this post I wrote uhhhh... a year and a day ago today! However, this will be a little bit more on a positive note, basically a life update for me in case you are curious!

First off, I will say after I posted that blog, it amazed me (and sometimes made me laugh) the amount of people who assumed I was done with chess, giving up my chess "dreams", depressed, I don't know. I'm reading back... I don't think I ever said I was quitting chess?  All that post was intended to do was give you an honest opinion and assessment as to what my life was like. Yes, my life was a little difficult then both over the board and off the board... however, I do believe it was important to give you an update. No content creator is living the dream life, we all have our struggles

So back to the title of this post. Many of you have been following me for awhile, and I am very glad you are still reading! To sum up a little, I joined Chess.com in 2013 when I was 12 (want to know my age? If it's past March 5th, subtract 1 from the last two digits of the year!  Anyway, I was not very active on the site until I started my blog in 2017. At the time, I was 16, and going into my junior year of high school. I graduated high school in May 2019, and started as a freshman in college August of 2019. 

So many of you know me as a "college student"... and guess what? It's an accurate description! However, you may not quite understand what exactly I am doing with my college life. It's hard to explain what I'm thinking. I feel like most college students who say "Oh, I can't do this, I have schoolwork to do" are portrayed as these "academic stars" who have some concrete goal in mind (get a 4.0 GPA, get a masters, I dunno), and I FEEL like (and I could totally be wrong) people might look at me similarly when I talk about college. The truth is I am not a brilliant student. And sorry to disappoint you, I am not a 4.0 GPA student.  What I am is a freshman, going into sophomore year at a local community college, maintaining a solid GPA, and hoping to transfer to a bigger university a little over a year from now, my plan is to study entrepreneurship.

So I guess the meat of this article "why am I in college?". First off, I see a lot of places (mainly Youtube adds lol) that insinuate college is some scam, a waste of your money/time, and that not going to college is somehow "cool". That's just how I see it. The truth is it's all about what YOU want to do. If you want to graduate high school, not go to college, and immediately go into the workforce, I am totally cool with that. I don't believe you need a college degree to be successful in life. The reason I am in college is that it consists of opportunities that I may not get easily later down the road if I decide that I needed that degree after all. It's HARD for a 30 year old to go back to school, especially if they're married, have kids, paying bills, etc. I'm only 19, so it's not bad timing for me

So that's it. If you disagree with my opinions or actions, I respect that. I just don't believe whether you go to college or not is some moral decision. So in a summary, I am just some random 19-year old dude who still plays chess (keep in mind a lot of people quit chess at my age, I don't think I'm close ), goes to community college, etc etc. Am I transferring to Harvard? No sir. Am I getting a masters after I graduate? Ehhh, I'm leaning "no", but it's not off the table, I'll cross that bridge when I get there!

So yeah, that's about it. Sorry if it was poorly written, I just was putting words that came out of my mind to share with you guys. If you read through the whole thing, I really respect and appreciate that. 

Oh, and will I be blogging again? I am leaning "yes", but I've kinda run out of ideas. Feel free to let me know in the comments!

And speaking of which, like last time, I will be reading and replying to every single comment (as long as it's appropriate and relevant! ). Also, if there was a point I didn't make, or you have a question, feel free to comment, I'll reply. Until then, I look forward to hearing from you, and will see you wherever!

P.S. Oh! And I need to add "some other things" lol. Well, I was on a rating plateau (between 1700-1730 USCF), but I have been gaining some, and got as high as 1783 (it was 1785 until the USCF rerated it! ). But that has only been slowed down due to quarantine. I hope real life tournaments come soon, but I know it's best to keep safe. I don't have any major rating goals anymore, I'm just trying to enjoy the process and getting better as much as I can