EDG Kangkang gives advice to aspiring VALORANT pros thinking about dropping out of school

The life of a professional esports player can be filled with mountainous highs and valley-like lows from the start of your career to its eventual conclusion, especially in a new scene in VALORANT that is constantly shifting and changing with each passing year.

Even though Edward Gaming’s superstar duelist Zheng “ZmjjKK” Yongkang is still in the early stages of his career, he already has enough experience under his belt to give some much-needed advice to any young fans who are thinking of dropping out of school to pursue their dreams of becoming a pro VALORANT player.

During a live stream, Kangkang was speaking to some of his supporters in his chat when one fan asked what they should do if they didn’t want to study anymore. The 19-year-old phenom was quick to suggest that they should stay in school and study as hard as they could because the life of a pro player isn’t all sunshine and rainbows, as translated by APAC VALORANT account VALO2ASIA.

“The thing about studying is that after playing professionally [is that] I really really wanted to go back to school,” Kangkang said with a laugh. “I used to think it would be easy to play professionally and play every day. It turns out that school life is the easiest.”

As one of the youngest and brightest prospects in the world, Kangkang has already become a fan favorite across the global VALORANT community. His hilarious antics on- and off-stage, combined with his incredible talent as a duelist, have earned him the respect and admiration of fans and fellow pro players alike, but this also means that he was never able to attend post-secondary studies.

Esports players have been very vocal about the trials and tribulations they’ve had to face throughout the last decade, from hours of scrims, solo queue, and VOD reviews to sky-high stress levels from having to deal with the expectations from their own organization and the fans who cheer for them. It also doesn’t help that the VALORANT scene is relatively volatile for players at the moment, with teams swapping out rosters on a constant basis.

As a result, the life of an esports player is not all sunshine and rainbows. Many players have even gone back to school to pursue higher education after their careers have ended, which shows just how hard it is to create a lasting legacy in this industry, even if you’re as talented as someone like Kangkang.