The Anatomy of My Return to School

by Shannon Shorr | Published: Dec 08, '08

Wellllllllll. I finished my last two exams this evening to officially finish the semester at The University of Alabama. I am sort of proud of myself. I expect that I made anywhere from a 3.6 to a 4.0 GPA for the semester, which really, really makes me happy. A couple of the classes didn't really have much structure, so I'm unsure if I'll get an A or a B in those. Honestly, the semester was really, really easy. I didn't have to put forth much effort at all. I doubt next semester will be as easy because I'm starting to get into upper level courses. I missed maybe a half dozen classes all semester. For all college students reading, I can't say enough for how valuable just attending classes is. My first go around at school I could've had better attendance. It's not that hard to show up and it is amazing the things you pick up without even realizing it by being there.

The whole semester was a pretty neat experience. As I've mentioned, it was definitely a lot different being back as a 23 year old junior instead of a 20 year old. I learned a lot about Business, a lot about myself, and a lot about people over the last 4 months. This is gonna sound really weird, but it was nice just to be out in the real world getting things done and interacting with people. Countless times over the couple years I was playing poker full-time I remember longing for that. I remember sitting in casinos playing poker and forgetting that there actually was a real world full of hard working, interesting people outside of our box that is the poker world. I could've made a better effort to get to know people in class and stuff, I think. I honestly didn't meet any new friends solely through class. I did meet tons of people at bars and stuff. I guess that's how it is for most people though, so I don't feel too bad. My schedule was very, sort of, erratic. I thought I would like the night classes but didn't enjoy them so much. The sitting around watching TV in the mornings and afternoons waiting all day to go to class got old and boring.

I've scheduled a few of my classes for next semester and am on the wait list for the final 2. If everything works out, I'll have class on Tuesdays and Thursdays only. It will be quite a load, five classes from 9:30 a.m. to around 6:30 p.m., but that's what 99 percent of the world does everyday. I should be able to handle it. It will allow me long weekends to get away to a couple tournaments, and it will mean less time sitting around doing nothing on my work days. What else? My all-around work ethic has definitely improved since the return to real life. I still procrastinate way too damn much and hope to get better at it. Some of my goals for the upcoming semester will be to watch less TV, spend less time browsing dumb shit on the internet, and to get my errands and homework done ASAP. Also, I lost about 15 lbs over the course of the semester. This alone makes the absence from poker worth it. It's near impossible to get in shape while playing poker full-time.

I obviously played very little poker over the course of the semester. Who knows if I'll play much next semester or not. Making money is always nice, but I'd like to do some of the things on my Ten Things list. There wasn't much of an excuse for not making progress on any of the items this semester other than my unbelievable laziness and erratic schedule.

I still have a long way to go (3 semesters), but I'm confident I will get there. I'd also really recommend trying to go back to school to any young poker players reading. It's been cool, and I think it's worth it. Even if you're like me and have no intention of using the degree and are only doing it for self fulfillment :) I welcome any questions any of you may have. Please email me.

Other than all that, I'm leaving for Vegas in 12 hours. I'll make it in time to play a couple of mega satellites, a 5000 dollar prelim, and then the 15000 dollar main event. I'm excited to get back in action on the live tournament scene.

Finally, congrats to my main man Eric "basebaldy" Baldwin for outright winning the FTP main event yesterday for like 140 dimes.

Shannon Shorr is a professional poker player from Tuscaloosa, Alabama. He finished fourth in the Card Player 2006 Player of the Year race. You can follow his progress at shannonshorr.com.

Any views or opinions expressed in this blog are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the ownership or management of CardPlayer.com.