Being A Student Athlete Essay

For many students, the college experience is measured by the success of their NCAA-sanctioned athletic programs. Without the experience and athletic performance the student athlete brings, most colleges would not reap the benefit of these significant revenue-generating activities. At best, current NCAA regulations need to be revisited to ensure all avenues are addressed to enable the success of athletic students both in the classroom and on the field or court of play. As stated previously, even though students receive full and partial scholarships determined by their athletic performance, in both instances

Most college athletes spend most of their time practicing or studying. College students sometimes have to get jobs to help them pay for school, or to even help them live on their own. College athletes, however, don’t have time to get a job because they are either studying or practicing. On top of going to class, the students also have to have time to do homework and attend group sessions.

College was a dream that was made possible by playing more than one sport. College is an easy transition for these athletes because it’s not that much different from their high school lifestyle. The routine is easier for them, they can manage their time with homework, practices and a social life at a stress free cost because of their time management skills. In the early stages of an athlete’s recruitment, many coaches are drawn to them because of their multi-sport abilities. Making friends comes easy to those athletes and they have the ability to become close to all of your new teammates and with the coaching staff. Athletes can go into this season ready to play, healthy body at hand, and fully confident in their success in this year. This was all possible because they played multiple sports. It laid down the path to their dream. And like everyone else they did everything possible to help them achieve

College is a time for young people to develop and grow not only in their education, but social aspects as well. One of the biggest social scenes found around college campuses are athletic events, but where would these college sports be without their dedicated athletes? Student athletes get a lot of praise for their achievements on the field, but tend to disregard the work they accomplish in the classroom. Living in a college environment as a student athlete has a great deal of advantages as well as disadvantages that affect education and anti-intellectualism.

All men are said to be created equal, in my opinion, not all men. Some have a drive that's greater than most. Everyone wants an Athletic-Scholarship, but not everyone is willing to put in the time, effort, commitment, dedication and preservation to be the best Student-Athlete representing their school. For every good in life comes a sacrifice. Nothing valuable is going to come to you and to obtain something of such value you have to be willing to take a risk. In my life, I’ve taken many risk, some that were life changing and change who I am today. Many of my peers take risks and regret taking them down the line. Taking this risk gave me more time to think about how I wanted to move forward in regards to my future, getting more involved in my community/activities, and dedicate more time into my current task on become a better student-athlete.

Lindenwood alumna Nicole Hensley earned one of the most prestigious awards given out by the NCAA this winter when she named the winner of the organization’s Top 10 Award. The award is given out each year to just ten of its approximately 460,000 student-athletes across every division and sport. It honors the very best student-athletes academically, athletically, and in the community.

Student athletes have two jobs to do when they are in college, one is to be an overall great student in the classroom, by maintaining a good grade point average, studying hard for any upcoming exams and pay close attention during class. Their other job is being a phenomenal player in the sport that they play. To do this you need to, work hard and attend every practice, study your playbook or any type of strategy, and to compete at the highest level. This is a lot to handle for a college student. There are over 460,000 student athletes in all of the divisions in the NCAA today. With this large number of student athletes it seems

In the article, Class and Cleats: Community College Student Athletes and Academic Success, Horton first examines the statistics of evidence showing college athletes and their underachievement. There are many instances of concern about college athletes and their poor grades having an affect of their athletic responsibilities, though this belief is usually denied due to a student always being a student before anything else. This study researches the idea of the way that college students and college athletes view success. Many college athletes tend to state that success is passing all courses and being more successful in their sport, rather than academics coming first (Horton, 2009).

“Big time college sports... selects athletes mainly for their athletics, not academics, interests, and abilities” this shows that in reality colleges view athletes more as “athletes-students” than “student-athletes” (Eckard 211). This only goes to show why the graduation rate for college athletes is so low. However higher education make their graduation rate seem more favorable so that they can continue to get and recruit more skilled amateur players to generate millions of dollars for their facilities. Although some may say colleges do a effective job of taking care of and graduating their student-athletes, conversely colleges’ student athletes graduation rate is low and the student athletes don't get what they desire. If colleges start putting the students first in the term “student-athletes” then there would be more college student-athletes making the grade.

Sports in conjunction with academics are capable of creating a balance that makes for a well rounded citizen and healthy, happy employee. Issues in the mix often come from the balance itself. Many students find themselves overcommitted to sport while others find they are not able to compete. I will examine issues in interscholastic and collegiate sport.

With all this running around, student athletes often feel overwhelming amounts of stress. “We are concerned that students in these selective, high pressure high schools can get burned out even before they reach college,” noted Leonard, PhD, a senior research scientist at the New York University College of Nursing (NYUCN) (“NYU Study Examines Top High School Students' Stress and Coping Mechanisms”). It is still important for athletes to build good time-management skills, however, they should not be burned out before they get to college. There needs to be a balance of a busy schedule and a more flexible schedule so that students can decompress. “We have kids who do three sports — that’s several hours of practice after school,” said Cresskill

A high school athlete waiting to become a college athlete should be prepared for the best thing about participating in college sport to happen, new college athletes should be prepared to gain a second family. Playing on a team in college brings that group of teammates closer than any incoming freshman can imagine. An athlete’s team contains a number of boys/girls that are going through the same thing as them. Teammates are truly the only ones that are being put through the same trials as all of the other teammates. Teammates are the only ones who understand what it is like to be a student athlete in college.

Although most student athletes never become professionals, they spend excessive amounts of time playing sports neglecting their education. There are many possible solutions to balance academics with athletics. One possible solution may be to screen perspective student athletes before accepting them into

They will also realize that student-athletes are responsible for taking care of their business on and off the field. There was a study that found that almost half of the male athletes and slightly more than half of the female athletes, who were involved in the study, implied that stresses like pressure to win, excessive anxiety, frustration conflict, irritation, and fear affected their mental and emotional health (Humphrey et al., 2000). This is important to know because this can later or even immediately affect a person’s confidence and self worth. Freshmen are not the only class that deals with stress, which will affect their performance. Although these stress factors are brought to their attention early in their careers, most do not seek help nor do they find a solution to their problem. It is important that coaches have sport counselors that sit in and talk with these often to insure they are doing ok. These athletes are psychologically and physiologically hurting and need

Everyone grows up wanting to be a college athlete, and have stories to tell when they are older and at the dinner table with their children about what most would call their “glory” days. While this is ultimately true, many young teens don’t know the struggles and hardships that college athletes go through each and every day. There are both benefits and disadvantages of being a student-athlete. It really depends on the person and if they are willing to make the sacrifices necessary to live the “glory and busy life” of a student-athlete. Every morning as a student athlete you wake up to the same sound at the same time, knowing that your day of a student athlete has just begun.