I feel like I owe some people an apology. Last summer, I talked to a handful of FTR members regularly and many of them went out of their way to help me (spoonitnow, dranger7070, BuFu690 [formerly known as BooG690], lockpull, micro2macro). When school started up in September, I disappeared from the forum due to the lack of time I had and also because my computer exploded. I feel like I should apologize since I could have easily logged on with my gf's computer, the library computer, etc. to tell everyone that I'd be focusing on school, but instead, I just vanished.

Looking back, I truly regret not continuing the journey I had started and I hope that I will always make time for poker in the future. I feel like I've grown and matured a lot over the past year; my mental state and outlook on life is different and I've come to appreciate the pursuit of education and learning. Last summer I had one of the worst diseases that hindered my growth as a poker player: ego. I was constantly worried about sounding like an idiot, so I didn't ask questions that sounded dumb. The fact is, I AM a beginner (which puts me in a temporary state of idiocy that I need to grind out of) and if I stop myself from asking certain questions, how will I improve? I'll be honest. I'm very superficial, materialistic and I care a lot about what people think of me. I've been working on reducing these qualities for the past year and I've made a lot of progress. I now feel like I can check my ego at the door and finally maximize my potential for learning.

With that out of the way, a little update to my situation. My work schedule is Fri-Sun 11am - 7pm (Pacific Time), which leaves me with 4 days out of the week to focus on poker (I have to spend Fri-Sun nights with my gf). I've moved up to $10NL and I'm currently playing 2-4 tables of FR on Everest Poker (terrible site btw, just bonus whoring) with a starting bankroll of $200. I just finished reading The Art of Learning, an inspiring book recommended by Spoon that has taught me invaluable lessons and concepts. Next, I'm going to start reading NLHE Theory & Practice and participate in the discussion in the BC. If I could turn $50 into $300 last year when I wasn't maximizing my learning, growth or profitability, I can only imagine what is possible with my new outlook.

Spoonitnow - I've never met someone so willing to help others. You astonish me with your knowledge of learning, mathematics, poker and your ability to teach is a gift. Keep doing what you do cause you’re the kind of person I aspire to be one day.

Dranger - Glad you came back in one piece from bootcamp and still managed to move on up. I hope to watch you fluke out in a MTT at 4 in the morning sometime soon

Boo - It was amazing to see how much you've grown since I stopped playing. You were always a step ahead of me, but now you're a mile ahead. Congrats and I will catch up to you soon.

Lockpull - I guess you're not around anymore, but I hope you do come back one day so we can push each other to improve.

Micro - Thanks for always giving your input in my early nooby BC threads. You probably didn't realize it, but you helped me feel comfortable on this site when I was new and nervous.

Now let's start grindin'.