ParadoxGo
I started playing Go in October of 2012. I first got interested in the game after reading Hikaru no Go in 2006, but never really got around to playing. Then, when I entered college, I found some kids playing the game in the dining hall. I recognized it instantly as Go, and joined the Go club. I didn't progress much for the first 6 months, reaching about 17k. However, I started to crave an increase in strength, and now currently in August of 2013 I am an 8k, and hope to continue improving.
I have heard many people say that Go is a stressful game. I find the opposite to be true. Although I do want to win while playing, and perhaps get stressed sometimes while playing, in the end I find peace in the games. There is a philosophy in Go like no other games that I've played. When you play Go, everything is in the moment. Perhaps you think about moves you will make in the future, but that is all in the same game; you never think about the outcome of a future game. Studying Go has an influence on my life beyond the board. I find that most players at my school are math majors (or in the vein of study), but as a philosophy major, I find that it has just as much of a philosophical bearing as it does a mathematical one.
In the next year of school, I'm interested in seeing how I am affected by increase of play and study. I'll update this page with thoughts as the year progresses.