Just wanted to thank God for supporting me through this
grind.
I won't be long. I want to rant a little about the
opportunity to play college ball. I spoke with a guy the other day named Daniel,
an Econ major who graduated
from UNC and will be partnering with us on SAT prep for our athletes. Daniel is
very familiar with sports as his SAT prep work has given him the opportunity to
guide and tutor athletes. Somewhere between our conversations about athletes’
lack of SAT prep, we stumbled across the subject of whether athletes should get
paid. While that's another topic for another day, somehow we got to the meat of
the argument: What are these athletes getting out of earning a college
scholarship?
What does a college scholarship mean? What is a university
offering an athlete by allowing them to take classes free or at reduced tuition?
It made me think. When I stepped foot on Guilford College my freshman year. I
was victim of the
toxic "college lifestyle" attitude.
The late nights and early mornings with my boys. Chasing girls. Partying. Therefore, I
understand the transition from high school to college that many athletes
experience. I get it. But, in hindsight, I also understand the opportunity that
college presents us.
I want to tell you a little about what I've learned. Being a
college athlete you have certain obligations to your athletics. You are
expected to put football first on your priority list. Yes, you will have a lot
of practice. Yes, you will have a lot of meetings. Football will take up about
60% of your college lifestyle. I’m concerned about what you do with that other
40%. What's second on your priority list? What's third?
Me, when I came into college, I put my social life above
school and my studies. That was a mistake. My pops sat me down and told me
straight like this: "You get out of college what you put in. You can party
and waste four years of the most important time of your life then grind the
remainder of your life to earn a living. Or you can grind hard for 4 years of
your life, come out of college with no bills, no responsibilities, a decent job
and benefits.“ I quickly changed my
ways. Even made the Dean’s list. The way I mastered it was altering my time
management. So even though being a scholarship athlete locks down 60% of your time,
that other 40% is valuable. If I had continued to put my social life high on my
priorities list, I would have graduated college with a 2.1 GPA. Instead, each
time I walked off the field, I went to read. On each bus trip to our Saturday
games, I was doing homework and studying.
There was no time for me to waste.
I had to concentrate my energy on that 40%. This method took me two years of college to perfect,
but I made it. I am a rising senior and I have my life in a pretty good
spot. Imagine if I had started with this
knowledge. This is my goal: sharing these secrets of college success with all
of my athletes. We will win!
The
most important thing you can have at a young age is an education. A college education
is not just learning calculus. Being in college, you have the ability to share
learning environments with black women, white men, Asian women, Palestinian men,
and even early college students (high school students who have started college
early). Learning to interact intellectually with this crowd will give you priceless
skills. Even if you don't retain a thing in that calculus class, the relationship
you build with that professor will benefit you down the road. Maybe you meet someone
who is similar in personality. Or maybe, my favorite, your professor is well
connected. You may need a favor at some point and they have the key to that
blessing. College will teach you to keep good relationships with people. These
are what people call connections.
No matter the road, a college athlete should graduate a better
person than they came as. The key to winning is to put your efforts in
something to see the fruits of your labor after you leave college. The sooner
the better. The lifestyle of being “the man” won’t last long. Prepare your mind
for college. Prepare the right way. Sit
down in those classes and learn something.
- Janesh
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