The Beginning

Hello,
I am a 22 year old college student who studies philosophy and psychology. Among many things I am a runner, a chess fanatic, a connoisseur of trolling (I own a Guy Fawkes mask :P), but most of all I am a gamer.

Like many of you, I am one of those many casual StarCraft2 players who despite having non-gaming ambitions has always revered those players who have the opportunity to raise their past time to a profession. There is a Cinderella element to these underdogs who show up out of nowhere and surprise the community with fantastic victories; yet what truly inspires my praise is the fact that many of these individuals succeed in making a living doing what they love.

Anyways, long before sc2 came along I was a chess fanatic and I similarly praised those chess players who having started at a young age succeeded in becoming professional players. Despite being very good at chess I always put it beyond my means to become a professional player. Those who start younger tend to have the best chances of becoming professionals and a special type of genius, a natural talent, always seems to be required. Still I devoted myself to chess, and, though I never made it to a professional level, I did have the opportunity at times to play with the best. This ultimately brought me to the conclusion that genius, though prompted by natural talent and an ability to learn, was mostly just a matter of practice, dedication, and work ethic.

Along came StarCraft2 and though I have since the beginning aspired to become a progamer I have never had the time nor the diligence to do so... until now.

For the month of January I will be playing StarCraft2 6-10 hours a day (depending on my schedule) and will track my progress with the goal of reaching a competitive level by the end of the month (by competitive level I mean top in a master's division or Grandmaster).

Each day I will post a summary of my practice along with replays of all of my games, and statistics on those games. While I will be doing research on ways to improve my builds and expand on my current play, I will also be looking for advice from the community on how to improve my game play. I will really take advice from anyone as long as I deem it noninflammatory and helpful, so feel free to check out the replays and trash me for my terrible play!

Can just anyone become a StarCraft2 master?
Watch and enjoy as I get there or die trying.