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AK is keeping his focus on the competition this year but he’s got his eye on the future as well.
For more than 10 years now, NAVI’s AK has been the shining star of the Filipino Tekken community and he’s showing no signs of slowing down.
Remarkably, Alexandre “AK” Laverez has been competing in local and international tournaments since he was 13 and through all that time he’s still been able to keep up with his studies. He recently graduated from De La Salle College of Saint Benilde with a degree in Business Management. With his studies out of the way, one would think that AK would be finally able to delicate himself 100% to Tekken, but AK’s got more on his mind than competing.
“All-in talaga ako sa Tekken 8 this year. Pero kino-consider ko pa rin na mag-enroll sa law school for next year,” said NAVI’s AK. I’ll admit, this caught me by surprise. It was probably hard enough to balance college and esports, but to do so with graduate studies? AK’s a lot more ambitious than I thought.
When asked about how difficult it was to balance his dual lives as student and esports pro, AK said he never felt like he needed to balance them. He never felt that the two got in the way of each other. And ultimately, his priority was always his education.
“Hindi naman natin alam kung hanggang kailan tayo mananalo or hanggang kailan tayo may skills na ganun kagaling. Kasi in the end, bumabagal din yung reflexes and everything. So yung pag-aaral, kino-consider ko siya as back up kung ganun yung mangyayari.”
The Perks of an Esport Athlete
That’s not to say that AK’s thinking about retiring anytime soon. Law school may be in the future but Tekken is still his passion. “Kino-consider ko siya pero syempre, career wise for me, gusto ko yung Tekken.”
Tekken has brought so many opportunities to AK that it’s no surprise that he’s going to keep at it. However, 10 years is quite a long time to be competing, especially when you started when you were 13. Fortunately, AK has not gotten tired of the pro player life and he’s ready to keep going as long as he can.
“Hindi ko siya nakikita as nakakapagod, nakikita ko siya as isang reward for being an esports athlete. Mas nae-excite or nae-enganyo ako para mag-travel kasi meron akong opportunity makita yung mga ibang magagandang bansa. Hindi siya nakakapagod at sana mag tuloy-tuloy siya kaya gagalingan ko para mag tuloy-tuloy pa siya.”
Banner photo from AK.