My dear Gr8Bochur,
I’ve been following this thread with interest and I see that basically you’ve gotten nowhere. Before I answer, I would like to disclaim; I don’t know you or your personal situation. I’m going to answer based on the scant information that you have provided, as well as my experience as a South African bred (so I understand the wider world), Gateshead and Mir educated (so I understand the yeshivishe velt), 40-something (so I have life experience) male adult. I would hate to see someone who wants to shteig just fall by the wayside.
It’s clear that you want to continue learning. You said in your opening paragraph that you want to go to a place strong in their learning. However, clearly you don’t want to give up the comforts of life that you are now used to, e.g. the smartphone, and the chilling that a young bochur can do.
I’m assuming that you want to learn, and as such you will HAVE to give up something. To be successful in Yeshiva and later in Kollel (and in fact in anything in life), you have to be willing to leave your comfort zone. Life is starting for real now and to be really successful you can’t remain a young boy. Wouldn’t it be amazing to challenge yourself, to try aim high and reach for the sky? There is no better feeling than getting home at the end of a zman, with a mesechte in your pocket, with a full notebook of your Rosh yeshiva’s shiurim and having conquered a bad midda with powerful mussar.
You have a chance now to grab the bull by the horns, leave the phone and the chilling for when zman is over, and dive straight in to the Yam haTalmud.
Flatbush is not a midbar, and I’m sure there are wonderful Rabonim and morei derech there. It’s difficult to tell from here in the UK, but I have heard shiurim from Rabbi Lieff of the Agudah Bais Binyomin, he sounds like someone I would be able to talk to. Decide that you want to reach for the stars, and take advice from a Rav, or your present Rosh Yeshiva/Principal or a respected Yungerman who knows you or your personal circumstances. Us YW CR people are nice, but we’re anonymous and we’re not going to push you, or be there in Bain Hazmanim to say “Sholom Aleichem Tzadik’l, vos hot men gelernt dem zman?” (OK some of us do.)
Remember, only you can decide to be the best you can be, and you only get one chance to do it. Hatzlocho gedola!
With love from Geordie613,
Manchester, England