One of the things we talked about, and one of the things that I talked to many people about, is the sacrifice of education on has to make when challenging the Pro summit. Most of the former younguseng I have met have not finished high school, much less college. Although recently the school Myongji University has offered a Baduk major, from what I hear, its not a very demanding course. I do think it is great for all the Youngeseng though, since it teaches them how to apply their highly polished Baduk skills to the world.
In a conversation I had with one of my teachers I learned that he wanted to be a pro singer, but felt that he was limited due to his previous dedication to studying Baduk. He seemed melancholy as he told me that when he was a child his teacher had said he had great talent for the game, enough to be the number 1 in the world. This may have been detrimental for him, as the other kids heard this and gave him a hard time studying. My teacher told me he regrets letting them get to him, and interfere with his baduk studies. By no means is he weak at all, (KGS 9D), he was not able to get pro.
Another friend of mine Jang Bi (gentlerain 9D KGS) also graduated from Myongji, he still loves Baduk, but he recently started to study architecture. With such a late start (he is 28) I hope he does not have to hard of a time with it.
Cho Hye Yeon expressed her concern that Pro Baduk players have trouble contributing anything to society other than baduk. Obviously not all, but still many Pros have never studied much else than baduk. But we came to the conclusion that the top of the top are there for that precise reason. Hye Yeon told me that many of her western teachers don't understand what it is to be a Baduk Pros. She has had to miss classes because of official matches, and her professors would fail her for missing class. She has had to take classes only from Korean teachers because of this. Although, those too were troublesome. Many times she got comments along the lines of why dont you just focus on Baduk, why do you bother to study at university. Currently she is majoring in English Literature, and hopes to learn many languages.
There are, of course, a few other pros who went to good schools, like Chiyung Nam 1P, who graduated from Seoul National University one of the top three schools of the country. But these are the exception not the rule.
This conversation evolved into talking about Lee Se Dol. If he does not play baduk what can he do? I learned something interesting, there are rumors that he plans to open a bar, and be a Bar tender. Personally I highly doubt he will be able to stay away from baduk for long. Anyone who has been playing baduk since they were 4 should feel some sort of strong longing for the game even after a short break.
When I was in high school I was ready to abandon my life and go to Japan to try and be pro. After just 6 months I can say that I was correct to not do that. While I do love baduk, and will never stop playing it, hell it will probably always be a focal point of my life, but I can now say that it is not the only thing you need in life. I guess that last part is pretty obvious, but it wasn't so to me about 6 months ago. Still though, most things that I plan to do this summer revolve around baduk anyway.
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