lifeblog update (extensive with random photos)

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K40Cheddar United States. Aug 02 2013 00:51. Posts 2202

Hello LP,

I've been meaning to get around to writing a blog post for awhile but have been too lazy to do so. Many things have been happening in my life and I feel I am at a point where things are starting to come together. I wanted to share this with people, partially for me to get some things off my chest and partially to just let others know more about me.

Recent Graduation

Last May I graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a double major in statistics and economics. As one of the top schools in the midwest United States, I was very happy to attend and had a great four years there. I am proud of my degree and had the opportunity to meet many new friends for life. I would have never got into poker if I hadn't met some select few people there as well who introduced me to this site a long time ago (jas0n, edzwoo). I also had the opportunity to play in the Big Ten Marching band down there, the Marching Illini. It was one of the greatest experiences of my life and I'll never forget the thrill of playing on the football field in front of tens of thousands of fans. While I loved the independence and freedom that college gave me there are some things I won't miss. While the atmosphere was exciting and young, I personally tend to live a more reserved life. Constant parties and screaming throughout the night got to me after awhile. It's not that I never liked going out, but I do appreciate my time alone and prefer social contact less often than others. I'm sure there are many LPers who feel that same way sometimes.

Marching Illini highlighting the United States with Illinois in the middle

Photo of me on the field

photo of the quad where I spend most of my class time. Will miss this school a lot.

Job Searching and New Opportunity

Probably the hardest part for me the last few months has been finding a solid job. Even with the double major I possessed, as well as two actuarial exam credentials, the job market in the U.S. has been very poor. One thing I never did in college was obtain an internship. It's not that I didn't try but I pursued the opportunities too late and did not succeed in any interviews I had. I pretty much have been feeling like this most of the time.

For anyone still in school, I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND you pursue internship possibilities for your career AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. I was under the belief that yes I'm a smart person with basic actuarial credentials and a job would just fall right into place. Wrong thought process. You have to want it and you have to go out and get it. Don't wait till it's too late.

So basically ever since fall I have been job searching and even throughout the summer for the last two months I have been religiously applying for positions daily. The thing that makes me the most upset is that I know I have the ability to succeed and I know I have the basic credentials, but when you walk into an interview room with 30 people applying for the job and they only take 1 you better be the best damn one there. It has been very frustrating.

Luckily, I have not given up and just recently I received a very solid entry-level job offer to work in downtown Chicago as an assistant options trader. I was extremely surprised to get the job, as the interview process was very competitive and they only ended up taking one person out of around 15. I was invited last Monday to go see a baseball game with the firm and got to meet many of the other employees, all who seem like pretty cool, highly intelligent, confident people, with the desire to be the best. I start next week and am looking forward to the challenge ahead. Since I will be partially working on the options floor, I'm a little nervous but luckily the firm offers full training and mentoring for years so I hope I can adjust and learn well.

The new world I will be living in. The excitement!

Maybe one day I'll get to be like this guy

Other life things

I am lucky to have a very supportive family throughout this process. I have an older sister who is about 5 years older than me and is getting married this weekend. I'm very excited and things have been hectic. She's one of those really hardcore type A personality people so if things don't go perfect the family is going to have some serious emotions running all of the place lol. I really like my future brother in law and go to go to Vegas a few weeks ago with a bunch of his friends and a cousin of mine. Solid trip but that is for another time.

I'm am a competitive chess player and just recently I have taken a strong interest back into the game. I took some brief time off a few years ago but somehow got the motivation to get back to improving and studying. Since most players don't reach their peak until their late 20s, I still have plenty of time to improve. Right now I am a USCF expert, top 2% nationally, and have made it my goal to reach 2200 and become at least a United States master. While I may never achieve a full world title, I feel that I am perfectly capable of reaching this goal over the next few years.

Me at a tournament pretending like I'm thinking for a photo.

The thrill of competition

poker

It's sad to think how good I could have been had Black Friday never happened. I can only dwell on the days when I was grinding daily, about to enter midstakes for the first time, and getting slapped in the face with a big GG. I'm not a huge believer in the everything happens for a reason stuff but perhaps staying away from the game has been more positive, as many of you are fully aware of the emotional changes you experience and develop while playing. I just wish the government wasn't retarded and would get this straight. I have no desire to be a professional but I do enjoy regularly playing and improving and I do want to learn as much as I can and be a strong amateur player. I've tried playing live a lot a local casinos around Chicago but live poker makes me tilt so hard. It's so slow and I know everyone is bad but when your hand sample size is that low you can't sit with the fish long enough to know you'll get it all back. + Gas and travel costs add up. Still hoping one day the U.S. gets all this stuff figured out. These days you can sometimes find me donking it up on the NL 4 tables on carbon when I'm bored. I do however have a strong desire to play in the World Series of Poker and next year and I will do my best to try to get into an event there. I have also made it one of my life goals to eventually play the main event.

Well this post was pretty long. Just want to thank all the members of this site for making it entertaining. I'll give you the cliffs here for you lazy people.

TL;DR
-graduated in May
-love things about college, don't love things about college
-get work experience or your gonna have a bad time
-got a new job as assistant options trader in Chicago
-sister getting married
-gonna be a chess master one day
-want to play poker again, life WSOP goals

Gl everyone. Thanks for reading.

0 votes

Centrin United States. Aug 02 2013 01:51. Posts 53

Only question is if they're taking you to see the Cubs or Sox. Better be Wrigley Field, the worlds largest open air bar, I've had some great memories there. Good luck at the exchange and just 1 bit of advice: Don't bet the Russell.

K40Cheddar United States. Aug 02 2013 01:56. Posts 2202

Was a rooftop seat for the Cubs

Gnarly United States. Aug 02 2013 02:14. Posts 1723

>assistant options trader

Fuck you. Gimme your knowledges as you gain them.

Diversify or fossilize!

Sleepy311 Vietnam. Aug 02 2013 03:01. Posts 154

I remember playing Rush with you and climbing the limits back in the day as Babyface311...Good times...

julep Australia. Aug 02 2013 03:35. Posts 1274

im trading bonds at the moment. its such a cool thing to be involved in the markets. everyday is different and everyday there is a different little story told by the markets about the world. i think alot of people on this forum would be really good at these jobs

Naib Hungary. Aug 02 2013 03:49. Posts 968

Those USA chess titles are so confusing. "Expert" and "national top 2%" sounds like something big, but now that I googled it, it just stands for a FIDE rating between 2000 and 2199? Fuck yeah, I'm an expert too! LOL (the bash isn't directed at you, but at how ridiculous the word "expert" sounds in this context)..

Apart from that, I envy you I think Black Friday has changed your life for the better, you shouldn't have any regrets. Also, gl with your chess goals, I guess (sorry, I just can't get over the fact that I'm supposedly still "competitive" when in reality I'm just dicking around every 2nd weekend playing a team championships game).