School Vs. Pool?

Pool, School, Both, or Neither?

  • Forget everything else Pool is the most important!

    Votes: 1 1.3%

  • Forget everything else School is the most important!

    Votes: 32 40.0%

  • You can make time for both, and eventually school will be done!

    Votes: 44 55.0%

  • Give up on everything! LOL

    Votes: 3 3.8%
  • Total voters
    80
RBLilly

RBLilly

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Well I am just curious what people's advice would be on this! LOL

I love to play pool, and if I had the time I would practice every single day!
I run a league every week, and I work, and I do online schooling with UOP.
However I have been finding that my game has been lacking as school and home life are taking up more of my time recently. I am currently working on my Bachelors and I want to also get my Masters.

Here is the question that I am curious as to what people in here would say.
Would you focus on school, and work right now and put pool on the back burner? In other words would you settle for your league once a week until you got school finished?

When I am finished with my masters I will be 35/36, and I will have a lot more time in order to practice, and play in tournaments etc.

I know for most pool is just a hobby, but one day I would like to actually become a BCA instructor. So I am just curious what most people would advise in here?
 
You can do both!
On my campus there's a rec room with GC2's. When classes end I hop on over and play a few racks, and then run off to my next class.

I can fit about 10 hours/week in on most weeks.
 
There is a joke about the difference between a large pizza and a pool player. The punch line goes something like this, the pizza can feed a family.

Keep work on your working on my Bachelors and also get the Masters in a field that offers steady work, what that is in this ecomoney is a tough call.

In the Valley of the Sun fields like Nursing, Public Safety, and the field that are alway hire have stopped.
 
Unless you can already beat the 10-ball ghost on a regular basis it should be a no brainer to concentrate on school. Even if you can already play at that level, I personally would still concentrate on school.
 
YOu will never be as good as Donnie Mills:grin::wink: and Donnie can't rely on pool.

It is a no brainer ad you should probably go punch yourself for asking.

Higher education or hobby? Whiskey. Tango. Foxtrot.
 
Why is this even a poll?

If you have to think about it, then that means you really need to go to school and learn about life a little more before contemplating making a decision that will ruin the rest of your life. Above all, you need an education, in anything really, to make you ready for the world and your existance in it.

Yes, pool is fun, etc, etc, but go look at all the really great pool players and realize they may make money in spurts for a couple years, but it dries up. Then what do you do? All the smart ones got into something else or at least something pool related so they could stay within the pool field yet not be constrained with paltry earnings.

I believe you can do both, but have to dedicate yourself to finishing school and having a solid backup plan should you decide to venture into the world of "professional" pool. I played pool in college and have since, but made sure I passed all my tests and got my degrees. It has paid off and I have a good career, yet I still am someone to deal with in pool. The easy way out is pool since money can come easy, but wait until it comes hard. You will be wishing you had a steady minimum wage job at that point. :)
 
Last edited:
jcommie said:
You can do both!
On my campus there's a rec room with GC2's. When classes end I hop on over and play a few racks, and then run off to my next class.

I can fit about 10 hours/week in on most weeks.
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LOL, you obviously didn't read my whole post. But that is cool! LOL
I do online schooling through the University of Phoenix. My bachelors is starting to take most of my time after work. I squeeze in one night a week to run my league, but here lately that is all the time I get for pool! LOL
 
corvette1340 said:
Unless you can already beat the 10-ball ghost on a regular basis it should be a no brainer to concentrate on school. Even if you can already play at that level, I personally would still concentrate on school.
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Well I beat the 10 ball ghost 12 times this morning before I left for work! LMAO

Just kidding!
 
Black-Balled said:
YOu will never be as good as Donnie Mills:grin::wink: and Donnie can't rely on pool.

It is a no brainer ad you should probably go punch yourself for asking.

Higher education or hobby? Whiskey. Tango. Foxtrot.
Click to expand...

Well I was just asking to see what everyone would say. Really just a curiosity question more than anything.
 
Wybrook said:
Why is this even a poll?

If you have to think about it, then that means you really need to go to school and learn about life a little more before contemplating making a decision that will ruin the rest of your life. Above all, you need an education, in anything really, to make you ready for the world and your existance in it.

Yes, pool is fun, etc, etc, but go look at all the really great pool players and realize they may make money in spurts for a couple years, but it dries up. Then what do you do? All the smart ones got into something else or at least something pool related so they could stay within the pool field yet not be contrained with paltry earnings.

I believe you can do both, but have to dedicate yourself to finishing school and having a solid backup plan should you decide to venture into the world of "professional" pool. I played pool in college and have since, but made sure I passed all my tests and got my degrees. It has paid off and I have a good career, yet I still am someone to deal with in pool. The easy way out is pool since money can come easy, but wait until it comes hard. You will be wishing you had a steady minimum wage job at that point. :)
Click to expand...

Very good advice! I was just curious more than anything what people would say in here.

I already made up my mind a long time ago to get my master's out of the way before anything else.

Like I said I was curious in what people's responses would be.
 
Just remember there's no time limit on either. You can shoot sporty pool into your 50's (maybe won't win the US open unless you're efren but you can be a BCA instructor) and you can get that masters later in life too. Don't rush for either goal. Do what makes you happy at the moment. If playing more league and tournaments while taking, say, 5 classes makes you happier than playing less league and tournaments while taking 10... do the 5.

You don't absolutely have to get that degree or instructor certification in set number of years, as long as your finances can bear it.
 
Finish School First

In my opinion, get school finished first and as quickly as possible.
Most people go back to school so they can get a higher paying / better job or profession. Every semester you delay graduation is another few months that you will likely be making less money. Looking at the difference in cash flow and at the rate at which books and tuition keep going up it just makes sense to get done sooner rather than later.

A good way to get motivated about getting out quickly is take the difference between what your starting salary after graduation would be and what you would be making while in college for a year. Take that amount and calculate what you could have at the time of retirement if you invested it. The compounding over 25 years will make a mountain out of a mole-hill.

Again, this is just my opinion.
 
Its possible to do both. As long as you dont got a wife or kids.

Besides if you dont go to school youll ending up spelling like fatboy. :eek: :D
 
txplshrk said:
Well I am just curious what people's advice would be on this! LOL



I know for most pool is just a hobby, but one day I would like to actually become a BCA instructor. So I am just curious what most people would advise in here?
Click to expand...

The weenie answer is that every person is different :o

But... for years I used to beat myself up thinking that if I had played less pool in college, I would have done better, etc. But, the reality is, given my personality, I wouldn't have done any better. I would have squeaked by college and just put my extracurricular activities elsewhere. If it wasn't pool, it would have been motorcycle riding, drinking, gambling etc. Pool probably kept me in school, even if my grades really weren't anything to brag about.

So, if you're going to fill your time with something, might as well be pool. If you are going to flunk out of college, most likely it will be something, whether it's pool, fishing, or poker.

Fred <~~~ thinking I turned out okay
 
I often brought my cue to class when I was in college but when crunch time came around, I'd go weeks, sometimes months without playing. I can't emphasize this enough - what you do right now in school can dictate how comfortable you are for the rest of your life. Go to school. Do well. When that's done, you can do whatever you want. Take a couple years off for yourself and play your heart out but get that degree.
 
I got my degree and played A.C.U.I. in college. I was the university champion so I played for free, as much as I wanted.

Today I'm self employed. I haven't made money from my degree or from pool. What does that tell ya?
 
Like most others, I have to say make your education your top priority. Keep playing, but not at the expense of your education. If all you get is one night of league a week for a couple of years, you will have the education, and still have your passion for the game. If you make league night more important, in a couple of years, you will still be trying to get the degree, and all you will have to show for it are a few league patches and a trophy or two. Which is more valuable?

As for the instructor part of it, I was in my mid 40's before I got into the BCA instructor program. It's never too late for that.

Steve
 
School.

It's hard to do both if you are striving to be the best player you can be. If you keep it sociable and just enjoy playing to relax, clear your mind for school and not care about results, you can do both. Pool will always be there when you're ready. It's in your blood.

Dave
 
Cuaba said:
I got my degree and played A.C.U.I. in college. I was the university champion so I played for free, as much as I wanted.

Today I'm self employed. I haven't made money from my degree or from pool. What does that tell ya?
Click to expand...


I know which way you voted!:

Give up on everything! LOL
 
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