Collegiate Athletes Have A Different College Experience
Everyone has his or her own ideas of what the ‘college experience’ should include and be like. Some thoughts on the subject include going out a lot, meeting lots of new people, and dating many different people. Other people consider it the education, and finding someone to settle down with.
“The college experience means your academic and social experiences you have during your time in college. They are the friends you meet, and hang out with. The classmates you meet and work with, and also the professors you deal with in your years at school,” said Tyler Grogan, a senior football player.
Are athletes in college getting the same experience as the non-athlete students, or do practices and other sport related events take up too much time? Do all of the practices, games, weight lifting, and time spent in the training room interfere with their learning, or more with their social life? For the majority of the varsity athletes at Northeastern, their commitment to their team leaves little time to be involved in much else.
The transition from high school to college can be a difficult one. Young people must deal with making new friends, learning how to manage time and their newfound freedom, and getting used to being away from home. In coming to college there is more responsibility put on oneself. Students no longer have teachers taking attendance every day, and reminding them about all of their assignments. If the student does not go to class in high school, their parents are notified; in college there are no checkups. If students choose to not go to class, then they usually end up failing. Because of the involvement with athletics, is it easier for athletes coming in to c...
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...et by, and to get a degree, and not worry about their GPA. For most female athletes the chance to play their sport professionally is very slim, so they tend to put more stock into their class work and school. The two teams with the highest GPA here at Northeastern University are the women’s volleyball team and the women’s hockey team.
The five-year program here at Northeastern offers the student-athlete to simply be a student for a year. Tyler Grogan found that once his eligibility for football was over, he had a lot more time. With his extra time he has been able to meet a few more people, and has more time to spend with them because he no longer has football to take up the majority of his time.
In general student-athletes just have less time to spend doing anything besides their sport. The college experience is different for them, but not necessarily better.
College athletes have a goal that they pursue. The jump to the professional sports leagues is an accomplishment that most college athletes wanted to achieve. But most college athletes go to college and forego completing their senior year and don’t get a degree. In basketball most athletes are one and done. This means they go to college for only one year then enter the NBA draft. For the NFL players have to be out of high school for three years and necessarily don’t have to go to college.
The differences are apparent from the beginning. Basically the college athlete is given an open door. When a regular student chooses a college he will apply, pay the app. Fee, and then hope his credentials are good enough. From the athlete’s perspective it is very different they earn their entrance with athletic skill. Athletes are selected they do not hunt for a school. All fees are usually waived and then they are buttered up so they will except the institutions offer. This is just the beginning.
In conclusion, Brutus is a true example of a tragic hero. He has a hubris that brings about a downfall from a high point in society; however, he also experiences an enlightenment of his mistakes after his downfall. Brutus is truly an honorable and sympathetic character that must studied on many levels to truly understand. He chose country over friend. He committed the only honorable betrayal possible. He killed his friend out of love; not love for himself or money, but out of love for his country and its people.
The time period known as the Roaring 20’s was filled with a lot of changes and exciting times. Every age and gender were affected by this era. Many of the changes during this time are still in place today. From courting and dating, the etiquette of women, to the changing of our education. Multiple things from the 1920’s are still being used today in our everyday life; from jobs to clothing to careers.
The 1920s brought to society the things people may have felt but could not due to social constraints. Prohibition allowed people to go out and find the alcohol, since it could not be found elsewhere. Personal freedoms such as drink and sexual experimentation were expressed in full force of the modernists. There was a very aristocratic approach to the way people viewed and treated other people, there was much class segregation. That segregation was due to new money versus old money and traditionalism versus modernism. The twenties was a “roaring” era full of new ideas, gadgets, gismos, consumer items, drinking, sex, and fast-paced times. An era that has shaped the way the United States is today.
It is very clear that college athletes are very devoted and committed adults. It is also very easy to see that these young adults are swamped with practice and game schedules. Many people don’t realize exactly how much time is devoted to practices. An article by O'Shaughnessy (2011) provides a run down of how much time each athlete puts into different sports. Division I baseball players spend 42.1 hours a week practicing on the field.(O'Shaughnessy, 2011) Divi...
Potuto, Josephine (Jo) R., and James O'Hanlon. "National Study Of Student-Athletes Regarding Their Experiences As College Students." College Student Journal 41.4 (2007): 947-966. Humanities International Complete. Web. 21 Nov. 2011.
Playing a sport in college is equivalent to working a full-time job (Thomas). There are rules that allow major-college football coaches to only demand twenty hours of the players time each week (Wieberg). However, studies show that those athletes are doubling those hours per week during the season (Wieberg). Other sports are putting in the equivalent of a full time work week (Wieberg). Some NCAA officials are concerned with the amount of time spent stating that beyond forty hours is inhumane (Wieberg). Most of the athletes compete and do whatever it takes to succeed, so they enjoy spending countless hours on sports (Wieberg). Many athletes even have struggles in the classroom because they do not have enough time to study. Student-athletes at top Division I schools think of themselves as athletes more than students (Wieberg). Less than one percent of college athletes actually make it professionally (Wieberg). That means these kids should focus more on their education than on athletics. In reality, these official...
There is a reason that they are called student-athletes and not athlete-students, because being a student should come first. In many cases, however, it appears that it is the other way around. Colleges are focusing more on athletics than academics today, but colleges must start concerning themselves more with students' futures in the real world because very few will use their athletic experiences as much as they will use their education after they graduate.
Howard-Hamilton, Mary F., and Julie Sina. "How College Affects College Athletes." New Directions for Student Services (2011): 35-43.
All college students sitting in classrooms today face challenges that can impede their success. A challenging course schedule, competing demand for the student’s time, and college readiness are all factors that can hinder a student’s performance in the classroom. Moreover, these challenges also have the ability to impact the student’s overall student development. While most students share a common set of stressors, there are certain groups on campus that face pressures and challenges that are not shared by the majority of their peers. Student athletes are such a group. Joshua Watson (2005) noted the positive benefits of participating in intercollegiate activities, but also noted that such participation can lead to issues of “maladjustment, emotional illness, and psychological distress” (p. 442).
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.
So basically, the 1920's or “Roaring Twenties” was a time of major change for America as a nation. Just following the Great War America was on the fast track to new times. There was the model t car, the stock market boom and crash, the banning of alcohol, the radio, jazz music, women seeking independence, Americans seeking higher education, union strikes, the red scare, the death of President Harding and many more. Many people say this was an enjoyable time of constant dancing and entertainment galore, while others would say that the hardships of racism and poverty made this time period one of struggle and hardships. While others only remember the 1920's as the creation of mickey mouse or babe Ruth. This decade truly was “The Roaring Twenties”.
In conclusion, Brutus is the real tragic hero because throughout the play he is battling himself over good vs. evil. Even though he has tragic flaws he is still seen as a noble and respected figure in Rome both by those who wanted Caesar dead and those who did not. His ability to be easily manipulated led to the death of Caesar, himself, and countless others. If he had made his own decisions, he would not have ended up causing the chaos and tragedy he did. But, on the other hand he did have his own personal reasons for killing Caesar.
The main reason that Marcus Brutus deserves the title of tragic hero is his noble personality. First of all, throughout the play, he never deceives anyone. Although he did murder Julius Caesar, it was for the good of Rome, not to deceive Caesar. Everything that he did was for the benefit of someone else. Even though he killed Antony's best friend, Antony still recognized Brutus as "the noblest Roman of them all." He does this in Act 5, Scene 5, after Brutus' death because Brutus the only conspirator that actually killed Caesar because he was not envious and he actually did care about the good of Rome. He cared more about others than he did himself. For instance, in the process of killing Caesar, he could have easily backed out because he knew he might have been punished, but he knew in the long run, that it would help the plebeians most. Another example of his selflessness is in Act 2, Scene 1. Brutus decides not to tell Portia his plans for the murder of Caesar. He feels she already has enough stress in her life and does not need to worry or deal with his plans.