Just by getting to know you a little better and having this conversion with you, you seem to be very educated and someone who has a good head on their shoulders. What kind of grades did you make in school and were you more the outcast or teachers prodigy?

Thanks. Well, I graduated high school with a 3.73 un-weighted, and was receiving honor roll awards all four years of high school. I wasn't the most focused kid in school, but I was 'just getting by,' yet still getting good grades. I guess I have always been someone who's cared less about school and just pushed it off to the side. But, somehow I managed to get good grades. I guess I just have common sense, since that's what high school is for the most part. I was a very quiet kid inside class. Normally I would just sleep since I had a rough night of CS and little to no sleep. Everyone knew who I was but I wasn’t the most active since I have been traveling to CS tournaments since I was 16.

I noticed you are currently enrolled at Florida International University (FIU). Do you think putting college on the backburner while you compete in a game to be kind of irresponsible since gaming as you know it could only be around periodically depending on how eSport's future unfolds?

Well I personally am not giving up on life in general for this video game, and just hoping it blows up and I go on the ride. With all the money I have made through CS, I am going to start investing in real estate, and grow my bank account more and more. I currently own a courier company with two friends and it's been doing well for four months now. I am also considering working at a real estate office, where I can do processing, post closing, and real-estate/mortgage work.

Sounds very interesting and it seems you have everything planned out for your future. Lets say in 20-30 years you look back and think back on what you did. Will you possibly regret some of the steps you have taken in gaming or in your life for that matter?

I mean, in 20-30 years who knows what will have happened with gaming and anything in general. But as I said above, I like to live a life full of no regrets. I just know in 20-30 years, I would like to have kids, and who knows... maybe grandchildren. Then, I would like to tell my stories of all the places I have traveled to, and other cool stories growing up.

 

Throughout all of your experiences in life, can you say that gaming has been the heart of all of your best moments or at least most of them? What exactly has gaming provided for you on a sentimental basis?

Gaming has certainly been responsible for many great moments in my life. Winning all these tournaments has made me so happy and humbled. I know when I am sitting on my computer practicing, I am doing it for a great cause, and deep down I know that winning any event is very possible for my team. Everyone who has won a major event knows how great of a feeling it is, and it's also nice taking home 40k+.

Do you play more for yourself to keep proving people wrong or simply because you just love the game that much?

If I didn’t love the game, I couldn't devote/sacrifice so much for it. So yes, I do love the game so much. But, proving people wrong is also something that keeps me going, because there are always going to be people who are saying something ignorant, and I just want to change their opinions on me.

For someone with the accomplishments you have achieved some people may wonder if you have anything left to prove. For example, if some unforeseen circumstance left you with no choice but to quit gaming would you be content with what you have done so far or would you have a lot of trouble letting go?

I would really like to receive another eSport Award, but other than that I pretty much would like to win WCG and WEG. I want to win one tournament in each of the organizations. Then, if I was forced to quit gaming, I know I would be more than content with what I have accomplished, and the name I have built for myself as a player and friend to many.

Being content with your gaming career may look to some as just winning every championship possible or collecting more money then the next guy, but what's beyond that? Do you feed off that adrenaline in game to keep you in touch with things going on in life or is it just a game and you are a good player?

It isn't about winning the most tournaments in order to win more money than the next guy. The money, from day 1, has been an added bonus. I've been going to tournaments to grow in stature in the community and just improve every year. I want to win a tournament in each of the tournament organizations because each tournament provides a different environment for the game, and I just want to show how diverse my team is and how strong we really are. I don't get an adrenaline rush in game anymore, I don't even get nervous. I have done a lot of deep thinking (every now and then I do travel 20+ hours alone) and have made myself humble yet inventive in game. I think I have a unique playing style, and I pretty much thought of that style of play in my head and tried to fix all the flaws of that style.

Without a doubt in anyone's mind you have achieved things some players only dream of but what do you get out of the game besides the fact you win a lot and make a lot of money?

I get to travel to a lot, meet a lot of people, and just go through the experience of living in other countries. I am not really a sentimental person in general, but when we are playing on LAN I can get pretty intense, but that is just natural and only comes out every now and then since normally I just stay quiet and do my job.