Okay, so we have this kid (even if he's 18, old fogies over 40 still call anyone under 25 "kid") named Tom Taylor, and he dropped out of high school. The reason? He wanted to play more video games. As expected, people were skeptical about his chances.

Well, to his credit he’s now known as Tsquared on the gaming circuit; he’s signed a 250,000-dollar contract; he’s got a publicist, a financial adviser, and media training; and, he has a video game tutoring business. Cool, huh? He’s one of about a hundred professional gamers associated with Major League Gaming. If they play well, pros might be able to bring home around a few grand each month.

Here’s what Taylor told The Palm Beach Post:

"I take risks, In order to get paid, you have to take risks. I think I took the biggest risk I could take, dropping out of school to play video games, and it paid off. I guess some people are just born with talents in certain things, like Michael Jordan was born to play basketball. I feel like I was born to play video games."

It’s good that he himself admits that what he did was a big risk. Professional Gaming, like any other profession, requires tons of hard work, and focus, even to the point where playing isn’t fun anymore. Remember that South Park WoW episode where they needed to farm THAT much? Imagine having to play that much, and then imagine having the pressure of possibly not eating your next meal if you lose this particular Death Match.

If you guys are confident enough about your skills then sure, use Tom Taylor as an example when you tell your parents that you’re going to drop out of school to play professionally. Just be ready to accept the consequences if you get your butt pwned in big gaming circuits by pros from around the world, if you don’t make any money, and if you don’t have a high school diploma to back you up when you need to look for another job.

Having said all of that, great work Tom Taylor! Kudos to you.