Ace_01440 states in his initial post that he is a "high academic achiever", and that his goals are to acquire a BS and MBA. Having once been in this situation and having successfully attained my goals, I was merely encouraging him to follow his goals to completion, then hit the tables.
I only offer this as you responded to my post. I am well aware, after almost 32 years in the Federal Government of the reversal of educational roles one often finds himself confronted with. I do agree that education is not a panacea, but then again, Ace_01440 posed academics as his strongest suit.
If Ace_01440 is reading this, to somewhat contradict myself...I was in Vegas last week and witnessed an individual who had a reserved BJ table, buy-in for $10k with a marker. He got 10 yellow chips...he began betting $3k per hand. He was up, down, but remained close to even. Amazingly, at each new deal, he toked the dealer a black chip. In just under 25 minutes, after he recovered his marker, he colored up $30,900, which could have been a few more k had he not been a toke nut.
So, it can be done, but do you want to risk your $10k in such a fashion?
BTW, my MBA changed my life economically and promotional wise. Often times the graduate degree was used in lieu of a time requirement.
Regards,
Wildcard