Jake · @Stewie
8th Jan 2017 from TwitLonger
In depth about my parents
It's been a successful year for me with Cloud 9 and I haven't shared much with you guys so I'm willing to share a little insight for all the fans that have been supporting me from the very beginning. I know many of you wonder about how school worked out for me & how my parents reacted. When I started playing CS:GO, school started going downhill for me and I never was a fan of school either. CS:GO was like a drug to me; the more I played, the more I got addicted. The more I got addicted, the more I avoided school.
I've watched DaZeD & Steel stream these 10 mans all the time and I just wished that I could stay up all night and play like them with no worries about the next day. However for me, I had to worry about school...how I had to wake up early...how I wouldn't have energy to survive the day.
When I played in the $ 10 mans til it ended, I couldn't even wake up for school. I would skip school and say I'm sick. It became a consistent thing and of course my grades went down. Eventually the dean told me that I need to start coming to school or else I'd have to transfer so instead I made my own choice to transfer. I'm sure you guys can imagine how my mom reacted. She was angry, took my computer away, but I would always somehow convince her to give it back. There would be times I would miss practice on SKDC/Splyce. At this point it was a "make it or break it" kind of thing.
When I went to this new school I still skipped school, but to a certain extent where my parents wouldn't be contacted. At this point, Seangares was stepping down and this was the time where they were holding open tryouts. I never got one. I continued to skip school, but at one point they did contact my mom. My mom took my computer away and gave it to the school. I argued with the school & my mom. My grades were suffering for my final year and after the first semester I was told that the only way I could graduate is if I went to Independence School, a school where I grab my work once a week. My mom was so disappointed with me that it got the point where she stopped caring about what I do. Whatever choices I made, bad or good, she showed no appreciation/disappointment. At the end of the day, I still had no regrets..this was what I wanted all along to chase the goals.
My dad was always out of the country working, having a successful business. My dad never gets angry, but when he does it's just crazy rage. He scolded me telling me that I need to be successful or else my future would look really dull. He lectured me about how I'm making terrible decisions in my life, but as much as I wanted to explain to him I knew he wouldn't understand. He never saw the streams, the free travels, or the competitions that I saw. We've had private conversations where he's forced me to promise him that I would put school as a priority, but I knew that I couldn't. I've eavesdropped in some of the conversations that my parents had about me during this time and it was just unbearable to just believe.
The instance I got a call from Stunna and was offered a contract, the feeling I had was indescribable. I felt successful and completed because I've gone through more than I could explain. I had no support from anyone that I knew, not even my parents. I've neglected what the school, mom, dad, brother, or sister said and proved them wrong. The second I signed this contract, I moved down to the C9 house with nothing said to my parents. So I guess you can say when I left we ended on a bad note. However over time when I was gone from home, they've seen the beauty of eSports. They've seen me on TBS, be successful on stage, and raising a trophy. So now of the course of time, they've grown to support me and know that it's been a dream for me.
For all the people who are an aspiring pro player, you don't have to take the route I took. Back then there were no systems that gave exposures. I took the route where I dropped everything, dedicated myself to CS, and only wanted to climb the ladder as fast as possible. There are so many ways to get recognition nowadays. If you have the skill & the mentality, people will notice it. Rank S has become a thing where people will receive recognition.
Throughout 2016 it has been such a big year for me. I'd like to thank Jack & Cloud 9 for giving me such a big opportunity allowing me to shine and show my true colors this year. Also thanks to the sponsors that could make it happen. Big thanks to all the fans who stuck with the team and I through thick & thin. Aside from being a player, I for sure would not take any of the experience for granted. Looking forward to 2017, see all of you guys there!