[slickpoppa]

My motivation for starting this thread is ZJ's post in the drop out of college to play poker thread. I will use ZJ's lists of 20 reasons as the basis for my post, but it is nothing personal against ZJ; his sentiments seem to be very common and are a good starting point for discussion. If my comments seem shrill, please remember that everything I say is in the spirit of friendly debate.

1. I currently have very little motivation to receive good grades.
2. I hate going to class.
3. I hate doing homework.
4. I hate studying.
5. I hate taking tests.
7. I am intelligent enough to teach myself anything that I could learn in school to myself, via a "a buck fifty in late charges at the public library".
8. Although I hate learning in the school environment, I love learning on my own, mostly via reading.

Ok, so what you are saying in 1-5 is that you are lazy. No one enjoys taking tests or doing homework, but doing these things are necessary in order to learn. The fact that certain things are not pleasurable to do is a very weak argument for not doing them. Of course doing homework, studying for tests, and such is tedious, but the long term rewards outweigh the short term costs.

In light of numbers 1-5, I'm calling bullsh*t on 7-8. If you are so eager to learn certain things, then why not do so with the guidance of someone who has devoted his whole life to the subject and knows a lot more about it than you?

6. I would rather kill myself than spend the next 10 years of my life as an architect, a doctor, a lawyer, a politician, a writer, or any of the other jobs that I would need a diploma to aspire to.

Congratulations, you would rather kill yourself than be a productive member of society. Instead, you have chosen, at least for now, a profession that creates nothing. You sit at a table or your computer all day as people transfer money between each other. What value or useful service does that add to society? Nothing. Okay, people get some entertainment out of it, but there other ways that you can entertain people that don't involve preying on the weaknesses and addictions of others. Maybe you feel that you have no duty to contrubte something to society; that is certainly your prerogative. But someday you may look back on your life and regret it.

9. I have had sleep issues my entire life, and conforming to a sleep schedule necessary for school is very tough for me, and often excruciatingly painful.

Oh poor Justin! Little Justin needs his sleepy weepy. Seriously, this is the worst reason of all so far. In college you basically have the ability to make your own schedule. Actual class time is only about 10-12 hours per week and you can sleep whenever you want outside of that time. You can even sleep through class if you want.

10. I am intelligent enough that without poker, I could find multiple ways to make > $100,000 per year, none of which require a diploma.

Do you care to elaborate on this, or are you letting others elaborate? With all due respect, what makes you think that you are so intelligent that there are several ways that you could make 100K a year as a college dropout? And even if you are that intelligent, intelligence is sometimes not as important as how other people perceive your intelligence. If you go to a banker, investor, employer, etc. and he has the choice between a University of Maryland (they have a pretty good basketball team, right?) dropout and Harvard MBA, who is he going to pick? Just tell him that you are crushing the Party 15/30 and 200 SNGs and I'm sure he'll give you that loan or job without asking any questions. Be sure to mention how much you love sleeping and hate doing work.

Or maybe you think that you'll be able to save up enough money through poker that you will be able to start your own business or whatever without relying on others for funding. Good luck with that. Maybe you can save up for several years and have enough to buy a McDonalds franchise.

12. I have matured far faster than I should have, and typical 19 year olds sometimes bore me.
15. I will have less trouble than most people to return to school if it becomes necessary, or my goals in life drastically change.
17. I am able to prioritize very well, including between poker and my social life.

Are you an only child? You seem to be very confident in your own exceptionalism. I'm sorry that all 19 year olds bore you your majesty. It's a shame that not everyone has the intellectual depth of your delicate genius. F*ck those 19 year olds who are studying to be doctors and engineers. What this world needs is more professional poker players and people bumming around Europe to discover themselves.


In sum:
You are young, lazy, and think that you are smarter than everyone else. Welcome to the club.