Sacrifices that Students Make

April 22, 2009, 1:02 am
Filed under: Sacrifice

The traditional definition of sacrifice is offering to a deity something precious; killing on the altar. This is how sacrifice went in the ancient world, rarely does this happen in today’s world. The definition needs to be evaluated to fit the societies and cultures of today. Many people make sacrifices in today’s world, big or small. There are sacrifices as big as the ones that soldiers make to protect their country to the sacrifice of a second grader giving up his chocolate milk so the bully does not beat him up. College students and college athletes are seen as lazy and un-motivated, yet there are sacrifices they make that many people do not realize, sacrifice being redefined as giving something up for the sake of something else.

This is how most people view college students, it is a stereotype. Many professors think that this is what their students are doing on the weekends instead of studying.

studying

In reality this is what most successful students spend doing before any sort of partying. Without studying there would most likely be no college graduates. Studying is considered to be the norm, so when a professor sees this they will not think anything of it, but when they see college kids drinking and hammered at parties, that is the image that ends up sticking in their head.

The fact is that college students have to sacrifice a lot just in order to get there. Being a successful college student can be very stressful at times. It takes time away from one’s personal life, there is always some sort of financial sacrifice that goes along with college and the lack of time for a full time job to pay for it. Loans end up putting college students in debt as soon as they graduate. Students often have the workload of many courses piled up at the same time, whether it is from a few projects or exams in one week, to just simple readings. It is not always easy to stay healthy during this time. So when students have a time to let loose, they do. This is where their bad reputation comes from, the bad end up overshadowing all of the sacrifice that students actually make in order to make their lives better.

This is was most people see when they look at college athletes. They see all of the celebrations and highlights. This causes a misconception that student athletes get a free ride through school, but the reality is that it is NOT a free ride. Being on a collegiate level team is much like having a job, it is not easy. Athletes work extremely hard for their scholarships, they are required to attend school full-time as well as travel to competitions, attend practice daily, and keeping healthy all year.

This video is a sight into some of the reality that college basketball players actually face. The games which are the fun parts are a very small percentage of being part of the team. There are hours of labor intensive work that needs to be put in both during the season and off season before enjoying the rewards, which is what most people see.

This also shows a good balance of some of the glory that college athletes get from their achievements and all of the hard work that was necessary to achieve those goals.

There is a link in the sidebar titles “Behind the Scenes.” Many people people see that publicity the Florida State Universities’ Track team gets from all of the championships they have won, and everybody assumes it is easy, just as people do with any other college sports teams. This leads to the belief that college athletes get a free ride, but in reality they do not see all the hard work and effort that is put into being successful. These videos only show a small part of the sacrifices and hard work that is necessary to be successful. They do not convey the massive time commitment that it takes to be part of a collegiate level team. Members of these teams have to sacrifice a lot that the general public does not realize. For instance this video shows that this team is up at 6:30 AM for their morning workout and run. After that all of them are most likely off to class.

Think of the college basketball teams that make it to the NCAA March Madness Tournament. Think of all the sacrifices it took to get there, and of the sacrifices they are making while they are there. There are just under 350 NCAA Mens Division 1 Basketball teams, on of those only 64 teams make it to the finals. It takes a lot of hard work and dedication just to get to the tournament, but once the teams are there it is still hard, it is even harder for the final four teams. These teams are from all around the country and many of them have to travel a long way, none of them play at home during this time. Think of all the class that the members of these teams miss, the players as well as other students are still required to go to school full-time in order to keep their eligibility. When they get back there will for sure be some class work that has to be made up, which makes final exams that much harder.

Watching this video may make a few envious of the glory that the football teams winning the bowl games get, people may even wish they could be part of it. Another thought is that the winning teams get it so easy, that they get preferential treatment, and that their lives are easy. The people that say this are watching the game on New Year’s Eve with their friends and families. That fact is that many of these championship games are during the holidays. This means that the players have to be away from their families for the holiday’s. Not just for the game, but for practice, going to and working hard at practice is still extremely important even after teams have made it to the championships. Most people on the team probably come from a family that spends all of the holidays together, then going to not spending the holidays together can be very rough emotionally on the athlete.

All of these sacrifices are done in order to make their lives better though. In today’s world it is almost necessary to go to college or get some sort of training after high school to be successful. Athletes make these sacrifices for the experience. The glory is something that will last with them until the end of their life, it is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Through such experiences students and student athletes establish new social ties, life lessons, and life long connections. In the long run these sacrifices are worth it if the experience is not taken for granted.

The fact is that a lot of these prejudices about college athletes and students are wrong. They all make a number of sacrifices in order to make their life better. The majority of them are hard working, and are extremely goal oriented. The case is that most people do not see these sacrifices because they do not live the life of the students or are far removed from it. If these sacrifices that students make are not realized and they are continued to be seen as lazy and unmotivated, then the system will be set up for their failure. So what I ask not just for students and student athletes, but for everyone when looking at them place yourself in their shoes, and ask what kind of sacrifices are they making in order to be where they are?

Thanks.