Student Athletes: Do students come first

Jason Ethier
         
          Playing sports is difficult. Try to imagine practicing a sport three to four times per week, while trying to complete homework during the very little free time you have. Many athletes that compete in sports are mature and good students. These athletes don’t get off easy, they have to maintain a required grade average to keep playing the sport they love.
          It might sound like student athletes are heroes, but that’s not always the case. Some athletes that aren’t good students, don’t care about authority, and just go to their classes without really giving an effort, and believe that their abilities on the field or in the gym, will force their teachers to pass them, to allow their school to do compete well, but why would young adults, who could have a bright future as both athlete and student, act like this? The answer is simple. Teenagers are influenced by their Idols, and when they hear a professional athlete say that he wasn’t very good in school, or see athletes glorified in films, they start to think that it’s cool to skip school because they know that they have a natural talent, and believe that athletic ability will get them wealth and stardom.
          Today, people have forgotten an important old saying. “When you’re a student athlete, the student should be the most important part”. Being a student athlete can be very hard. It forces an individual to juggle school, sports, friends, and family, but coaches, teachers, family, and the student athlete himself, must put the student first for these individuals to succeed.