Just wanted to continue to give God praise for taking Janesh beyond all that I could ask
I've been looking for somebody to blame for our athletes falling
by the wayside after college. The NCAA has some flaws, but if an athlete
is offered a scholarship, or a partial scholarship, there is room for that
athlete to win with this deal. All I am saying is use college for the
right reasons. You heard Coach Barnette's views on what college should be;
these are mine. Understand that the end goal of college is to, first,
secure a future, and become a professional in a field that you choose.
Second, if you do get the opportunity to chase your dreams, whatever they
may be, then go. Follow your heart. But while you go through
college use that education to better yourself. Become a leader.
I can honestly say that as I am approaching my senior year at
Guilford College, I have become a legitimate young man, leader, businessman,
and mentor. I have learned skills that will go far beyond running with
the ball high and tight between the tackles. My point is this: I came
into college with only football on my mind. It took me two years to get
my head on straight and focus on securing my future. I am sitting in a pretty
good position at this moment: operating a business while in school, making the
dean's list, and receiving a couple of job offers. But I would likely be even
further along if I had come into college with the right mindset—that is, college
is not the final stage of life. Rather, college
is a stepping-stone to becoming the next ET Thomas. The next young black
entrepreneur of America. The next Nobel
Peace Prize winner. You have to adopt a mindset that you will become great. I
didn’t have it going into my freshman year of college. However, I will make sure that those who follow Janesh will understand the goal of college and prepare them as
such.
I think one disadvantage athletes have is time. We devote so
much time and energy to sports. Think about how many hours athletes
devote to their craft from the age of 8 until senior year of college. Time is
something that we cannot get back. While we are practicing or training,
there are kids tampering with a personal computer, finding new ways to innovate
our technological playing field. I want to show our athletes that there is a
second life. We can accomplish these great things too. If you, as an athlete,
devote 60% of your college experience to the sport, what will you do with the
other 40%? We can use athletics as our platform, but we must find a
purpose. The old principle does hold true: “You will get out what you put
in.” When you leave the field or film
sessions, what will you do to better yourself?
Will you go back to your room and watch TV? Sit on Instagram? Play “Call of Duty”? We already operate at a loss of time. If you are going to become someone outside of
football, you will have to take that small amount of time and make it extremely
productive. If it’s academics, devote yourself to doing research during that
time away from athletics. If you have
plans of opening a business, devote your time to investigating entrepreneurship.
As I close, I just don’t want athletes to lose in this college
deal. We have access to the world while at college and no longer should we
squander that away. Here is how I help
some of my athletes find a purpose:
Imagine you do make it to the NFL. You do get that big contract and
endorsement deals. What will you do with
that money? Where will you invest your
money? In business? Nonprofit organizations?
Kids? Whatever you think you would put your money in, you should begin to
prepare now. You should be doing all of
the planning in advance. So whether you
get that money from the NFL or not, you will be able to make your dream a
reality.
I just want the best for all of my athletes. We have a big opportunity when exposed to
college. Take advantage of the
education. Learn how to operate in this
society. In college, you will be going
to class with the next leaders of the world.
Learn how they move. Adapt to their lifestyle and better yourself. Iron
sharpens iron. College is a great
experience. Either way you attack it you will have
fun. I just want you to have fun as well
as make a way for yourself after college.
Sharpen
yourself to be a world leader after college. Please don’t waste these precious
opportunities.
-
Janesh
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