This is the happiest week of my life
That statement is no exaggeration...I am not saying that lightly, the past week has made me smile and cry tears of joy more than I have ever done before, and by quite a margin as well...everything that could go right has gone right, both for me and for those that I love...Eventually this will all come to an end as all good things must, but for the moment this is a wave of euphoria that I hope lasts for a long while yet.
Finding A Diamond in the Desert
Amidst scorching heat, in the city of love itself, one of my closest friends proposed to his girlfriend (also a very close friend of mine) and are now engaged. I literally broke down in tears the moment I read the news, not because it affected me at all...but more for the fact that over the years the pair of them had found bad luck, had generally been stiffed in relationships or found them to be too good to be true...when I see them together it brings a smile to all those around them. Sure there's been conflicts as there would be in any relationship, but considering how much they've been through in the past its been relatively plain sailing...on the steps of the Louvre two people spent a moment together happier than they will be for some time to come...and for them both I, heck all of us, wish them all the love in the world. They both truly deserve it.
The Party of A Lifetime
What made me proud, and got me crying twice in the space of ten minutes was one simple message...that not only made me realise id grown to be a man but also realise that i have the most amazing friends in the world...
So you're planning the stag in style right mr best man? #obviouschoice
Me? As best man? It's an honor to be chosen to carry the title, I understand the responsibilities that the position carries and will carry them out to the best of my ability. But the stag do...People who know me understand I LOVE to organize massive occasions, this will easily be the biggest I plan...think of it this way, for my 21st birthday it was a two week festival...can you imagine the things I have planned for the stag/my best friend on his last days of freedom? Watch This Space.
The Dream Becomes Reality
These tears were all being shed during the tournament that was literally scripted from my dreams if only they tore out the last page! This weekend I took part in DTD's Summer Deepstack...£115 of backers investments got me into a place like you would never imagine...I played my heart out, it's the best I have EVER played...given my friends happening not to mention my dad winning loads as well it seemed almost destined to be a good run...it sure was!
Two days, 461 players, £50,000 in the prizepool...
A-Game? Check.
Day 2? Check.
Cash? Check.
Final Table? Check.
Win? Not Quite...
The best A-Game I could muster produced the best result for a poker tournament I have ever achieved...2nd place, for £7,000...let me put that into perspective, that amount of money is more than the whole years student loans I will receive for 2013/2014...its four times more than my largest ever cash...it has DOUBLED my lifetime earnings overnight! Sure I only get £1,050 of that for my 15% share, but it has opened up new realms of possibilities...
Backers are over the moon, stakers are now starting to be interested, i've been getting prominent coverage on the largest poker news outlet in the country! (http://uk.pokernews.com/news/2013/07/jonathan-gill-takes-down-the-latest-dtd-summer-deepstack-11198.htm)...All for one tournament!
I lost to a good friend, which made it bitter sweet...from 27 players I knew it was meant to be...the banter was terrific and I truly lost to the better man on the day. Jonathan, I tip my hat to you...1-0 motherfucker ;-)
Where From Here?
That is anyone's guess...a stag do to plan, a wedding to help with, a trip to America only five weeks away off the back of my largest ever win...I may just end up playing something massive after all of this...
To bink that....can you imagine? I can....guess you could call me some kind of dreamer.
Monday 15 July 2013
Wednesday 10 July 2013
Thorpe On Tour: T-40 Days: That Escalated Quickly
Well, this has got awkward fast.
The exam board have just released my results and i'm not going to lie....they're shit. Honestly I thought I had done miles better than this...sure the Spanish was always going to be a car crash but the fact both exams were JUST passes really worries me...especially with one of them, i thought id nailed it!
So yeah, makes for quite shit reading to be honest...i can take some solace in the fact that mid term coursework is still going alright (Accounting is saving my grade SO MUCH) but what annoys me is marketing...I mean look at that coursework, I know more than the damn exam would lead on! The Strategy & Innovation doesn't surprise me all too much but considering 40% of the exam was multiple choice that should have been a given...
Total Aggregate Score: 44.7%
Now that sounds awful but we have to remember Spanish is contributing to that...once that gets bumped to a 40% at the least then it will be far better (If i work it out right, up to about 48/49%...which is alot easier to work with) And thats not saying i don't get more than the base 40%, theoretically speaking i need Spanish v2 to be roughly 55/60% for me to walk out of the first year with a 2:2 and a realistic shot of getting a 2:1 in the final year overall...so at least i have an aim!
Where to go from here?
I'm lucky i one fact in that the entire of Spanish is being given a second chance, after some much needed negotiations on my side (selling sand to the Arabs style...FU MARKETING!) I will be taking that again out in America completely uncapped ...given the current aggregate percentage I need to basically be fluent come exam day to drag this up to an amount that doesn't require sucking massive dick to get an overall 2:1...sort of proves that next year i need to pull my finger out even more (and believe me, i had already!)
Intercultural sadly is a capped resit, its tedious because 2% can be compensated by the board but in my case they seem to have refused, normally i wouldn't mind too much but at first glance i was told it was 48% not 38%....such is life.
Summary
Got boned, hard. One of my modules in America now matters ALOT and one of them needs to be resit before I even fly out...can't get that one wrong really...Slightly worrying, but defiantly salvageable
The exam board have just released my results and i'm not going to lie....they're shit. Honestly I thought I had done miles better than this...sure the Spanish was always going to be a car crash but the fact both exams were JUST passes really worries me...especially with one of them, i thought id nailed it!
So yeah, makes for quite shit reading to be honest...i can take some solace in the fact that mid term coursework is still going alright (Accounting is saving my grade SO MUCH) but what annoys me is marketing...I mean look at that coursework, I know more than the damn exam would lead on! The Strategy & Innovation doesn't surprise me all too much but considering 40% of the exam was multiple choice that should have been a given...
Total Aggregate Score: 44.7%
Now that sounds awful but we have to remember Spanish is contributing to that...once that gets bumped to a 40% at the least then it will be far better (If i work it out right, up to about 48/49%...which is alot easier to work with) And thats not saying i don't get more than the base 40%, theoretically speaking i need Spanish v2 to be roughly 55/60% for me to walk out of the first year with a 2:2 and a realistic shot of getting a 2:1 in the final year overall...so at least i have an aim!
Where to go from here?
I'm lucky i one fact in that the entire of Spanish is being given a second chance, after some much needed negotiations on my side (selling sand to the Arabs style...FU MARKETING!) I will be taking that again out in America completely uncapped ...given the current aggregate percentage I need to basically be fluent come exam day to drag this up to an amount that doesn't require sucking massive dick to get an overall 2:1...sort of proves that next year i need to pull my finger out even more (and believe me, i had already!)
Intercultural sadly is a capped resit, its tedious because 2% can be compensated by the board but in my case they seem to have refused, normally i wouldn't mind too much but at first glance i was told it was 48% not 38%....such is life.
Summary
Got boned, hard. One of my modules in America now matters ALOT and one of them needs to be resit before I even fly out...can't get that one wrong really...Slightly worrying, but defiantly salvageable
Monday 8 July 2013
Thorpe On Tour: T-42 Days: Growing Up
Right, i had a feeling id be doing this, and with exactly six weeks until the longest and most life changing season of my life. I thought it best to write a blog about the experience before, during, and after. That and the fact my dissertation can be based on this, two birds one stone anyone?
Now i will say from the outset that these blogs may not be day by day, heck there might be large gaps between them. I will write (and sometimes video) my thoughts of the moment whenever they seem enough to warrant a mention. I would imagine that these will get more frequent in the days leading up to the flight and the days following, but we shall see.
I will also warn you i tend to go off on tangents alot and this particular blog is LONG being the first one...feel free to leave comments and suggestions for how I can improve, i'm no amazing writer so things will be shaky at first.
It strikes me that what is about to happen is a leap far and beyond anything i had anticipated. At the beginning of this i was clearly blind to the scope. Ignorant of its effects. I'd spent ages thinking this was just a long holiday, and while that may be the case in some regards it is symbolic of the changes ahead, not just short but long term also.
For those that do not know i will summarize it. For four months i will be moving to Southern California for a study abroad placement in Long Beach...from there i will be working abroad for another 15/16 weeks or working in Britain under a international capacity. Both of these are necessary parts for my current university degree (International Business, as you do) and will also go a long way to developing me as a person.
I am a fairly easy to please 21 year old, i strive for perfection, competitive on the highest levels possible, an honest and blunt person with a heart of gold. I have traveled the world with my family over the years and experienced many things that have changed me as a person. However i have never moved home, I have never moved out of my home, I have never experienced a life outside of some sort of authority or parental capacity. And it is rare i actually have to make decisions for myself...A blessed life yes, would not change it for the world.
But this...is a leap far beyond what any normal person faces.
Moving away fills me with a sense of adventure, sure i have university work to do while I am there, but only two days a week with a four day weekend. I was given free reign to choose my lessons and what times they were placed, which has given me the ability to be free for every weekend to enjoy what the West Coast has to offer, if not more. I plan to visit various areas, live out dreams, live a life free from the shackles of authority and control and enjoy life for the grandeur that it is.
Least i think so. I have never left the house, so who knows what's out there?
One thing that has recently hit me though is the new found weight of change that is about to befall me...I have never had to cook for myself, never been forced to clean for myself, important decisions were made for me, ive had a close group of friends which has since blossomed into a very popular life...
Everything was so easy.
Now however I will have to sort out everything for myself, almost all weight off my shoulders apart from my own expectations. I will have to decide how to function as a member of society where my decisions will affect me in all kinds of ways. And with no help for 5,500 miles should things go wrong (and with me, that will not be hard)...each decision will be important.
Friendship groups, at long last, are splitting up...This is what hurts me the most, pressure i can deal with, worry i can cope with...But of my closest friends (The "Inner Circle" if you will)...one couple are moving to Birmingham, one already lives in Suffolk, another stays in Nottingham and me and my beautiful girlfriend are separated as she moves back to Northampton. Even when i return, those things will be the same...even as my life returns to some degree of normality, those people will be gone. Always the ability to visit, but never the spontaneity that I have grown to love.
I guess that's the way it has to be, everyone has to make leaps and make changes in their lives at some stage, and while yes I may be doing mine far later than alot of people usually do...it still affects me as it does others.
To my friends, I will always cherish the moments we have shared...I promise to visit all i can and maintain the bond that has carried us through so many years.
To my parents, I promise to carry the family name with all the honour you'd expect of me. Flying the nest is not something that will come easy and i will return afterwards even if only briefly. But now is the time to make something of myself...find out who i truly am.
To my amazing girlfriend...Coral, you are my guiding light, and as I sit here with tears streaming down my face it is apparent just how much you mean to me. Nobody in the world makes me feel like you do and even though we will be apart for 4 months...maybe alot more. I know where my heart lies, and i hope yours does too...no amount of time or distance will change how much I love you. And when we reunite at Christmas I hope to have one present early, one that will mean more than any other...you to be there waiting...God, having to stop three times to wipe the tears from my face...I need to man the fuck up.
Everyone. To growing up...it sucks, it's worse than I expected, it's something I underestimated on all levels, but its a moment to cherish....for all the right reasons.
Now i will say from the outset that these blogs may not be day by day, heck there might be large gaps between them. I will write (and sometimes video) my thoughts of the moment whenever they seem enough to warrant a mention. I would imagine that these will get more frequent in the days leading up to the flight and the days following, but we shall see.
I will also warn you i tend to go off on tangents alot and this particular blog is LONG being the first one...feel free to leave comments and suggestions for how I can improve, i'm no amazing writer so things will be shaky at first.
It strikes me that what is about to happen is a leap far and beyond anything i had anticipated. At the beginning of this i was clearly blind to the scope. Ignorant of its effects. I'd spent ages thinking this was just a long holiday, and while that may be the case in some regards it is symbolic of the changes ahead, not just short but long term also.
For those that do not know i will summarize it. For four months i will be moving to Southern California for a study abroad placement in Long Beach...from there i will be working abroad for another 15/16 weeks or working in Britain under a international capacity. Both of these are necessary parts for my current university degree (International Business, as you do) and will also go a long way to developing me as a person.
I am a fairly easy to please 21 year old, i strive for perfection, competitive on the highest levels possible, an honest and blunt person with a heart of gold. I have traveled the world with my family over the years and experienced many things that have changed me as a person. However i have never moved home, I have never moved out of my home, I have never experienced a life outside of some sort of authority or parental capacity. And it is rare i actually have to make decisions for myself...A blessed life yes, would not change it for the world.
But this...is a leap far beyond what any normal person faces.
Moving away fills me with a sense of adventure, sure i have university work to do while I am there, but only two days a week with a four day weekend. I was given free reign to choose my lessons and what times they were placed, which has given me the ability to be free for every weekend to enjoy what the West Coast has to offer, if not more. I plan to visit various areas, live out dreams, live a life free from the shackles of authority and control and enjoy life for the grandeur that it is.
Least i think so. I have never left the house, so who knows what's out there?
One thing that has recently hit me though is the new found weight of change that is about to befall me...I have never had to cook for myself, never been forced to clean for myself, important decisions were made for me, ive had a close group of friends which has since blossomed into a very popular life...
Everything was so easy.
Now however I will have to sort out everything for myself, almost all weight off my shoulders apart from my own expectations. I will have to decide how to function as a member of society where my decisions will affect me in all kinds of ways. And with no help for 5,500 miles should things go wrong (and with me, that will not be hard)...each decision will be important.
Friendship groups, at long last, are splitting up...This is what hurts me the most, pressure i can deal with, worry i can cope with...But of my closest friends (The "Inner Circle" if you will)...one couple are moving to Birmingham, one already lives in Suffolk, another stays in Nottingham and me and my beautiful girlfriend are separated as she moves back to Northampton. Even when i return, those things will be the same...even as my life returns to some degree of normality, those people will be gone. Always the ability to visit, but never the spontaneity that I have grown to love.
I guess that's the way it has to be, everyone has to make leaps and make changes in their lives at some stage, and while yes I may be doing mine far later than alot of people usually do...it still affects me as it does others.
To my friends, I will always cherish the moments we have shared...I promise to visit all i can and maintain the bond that has carried us through so many years.
To my parents, I promise to carry the family name with all the honour you'd expect of me. Flying the nest is not something that will come easy and i will return afterwards even if only briefly. But now is the time to make something of myself...find out who i truly am.
To my amazing girlfriend...Coral, you are my guiding light, and as I sit here with tears streaming down my face it is apparent just how much you mean to me. Nobody in the world makes me feel like you do and even though we will be apart for 4 months...maybe alot more. I know where my heart lies, and i hope yours does too...no amount of time or distance will change how much I love you. And when we reunite at Christmas I hope to have one present early, one that will mean more than any other...you to be there waiting...God, having to stop three times to wipe the tears from my face...I need to man the fuck up.
Everyone. To growing up...it sucks, it's worse than I expected, it's something I underestimated on all levels, but its a moment to cherish....for all the right reasons.
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