My Late Summer/Early Fall Reflection

Back at the end of the summer, I realized that I gained a bit more of an understanding of why things were the way they were in college athletics. I was fully aware of many of the concepts that were discussed and brought up during our classes, but hearing more details from people who had experienced them first-hand gave me a new perspective on things.

I've always viewed the issues with college sports through the academic lens. Because that's what interests me, I've always taken a look at the rough and tumble kids that are recruited for their athletic abilities and not necessarily their academic abilities. I saw this exploitation without opening my eyes wide enough to really see that it was exploitation. What I saw was an under-served group of students who I wanted to help realize there was more to life than just sports, and for many of them there was going to have to be more than sports. I never wanted to be a dream crusher, but I wanted to help prepare these student-athletes for when "the league" managed to do that for them. I wanted to prepare them to "make it out" even if they couldn't do it through sports and entertainment.

I realized through my classes and interactions this summer that this isn't a simple task. I can't make someone care who doesn't want to, but I can hope that I can at least prepare the students I work with to face the world prepared for something. As I progress through the first months of my internship, I have witnessed first-hand the apathy some students view their school work with. Every day I am learning new ways to approach my students and work with them to get them excited about classes and doing well, and finding something they want to do with their lives after school and after sports.

I work directly with 13 students on a weekly basis and hundreds more indirectly. Each week I learn how each of these students work and respond to different methods of introducing information, absorbing information, and utilizing techniques and study skills and I deliver the same material to each of them in a way they'll be best able to utilize it. We talk football, baseball and boys and bring my world of academics into their world of sports and socializing with examples they can understand.

I want to keep growing these skills as I wrap up the fall semester with them. I've learned that by being flexible with my students and their learning styles they become more responsive. I think that this flexibility will help me become a stronger leader because it allows me to allow them to grow in their own way, but grow none the less. I've seen the change with many of my students over the course of the weeks we've been working together from skepticism to working with me to an open sharing of information, questions and concerns about their academics and how they can improve. I continue to learn as they continue to learn. That's a win-win situation if you ask me.