Regarding Recruits

It’s that time of the year again. As the green leaves wither away to a dim hew of red, yellow and brown, so do the lives of our seniors who toil over their college applications for days and nights in a row. As this college application season progresses, many start noticing other people’s advantages that seemed insignificant just months ago: affirmative action, legacy and finally, recruited athletes.Many people think that it is not fair for some athletes to go to Ivy League schools with lower GPA’s, less rigorous courses, and less busy schedules than non-recruits. However, I believe that it is absolutely fair that athletes should be recruited to schools not only to play sports at college but also to be recognized for their athletic commitments.Having a few friends who either have been recruited or will mostly be recruited to world class universities, I see the immeasurable amount of time and effort that athletes have to put in order to cut down that one second off their 2k time or to block one more shot on the ice rink. Athletes who work to get recruited spend hours training and make significant effort in keeping their bodies in top condition for the next game. In a sense, the life of a student athlete can be more difficult than that of an academic student. As one of my friends who rows crew says, “Does it hurt to study? No. But does it hurt to do 20k a day, to erg for hours in a row? Heck yes.”In addition, student athletes exercise as much, if not more, discipline as most Exonians who are academic students. While an academic student can merely focus on time management to do well in school, a student athlete must manage his/her diet, sleep cycle, and schedule. Because student athletes go through so many difficulties, we would be degrading their efforts when we call their college recruitments unfair in any way. It purely makes sense that they get recognized with admission to a top level university for the immense amount of effort they put into their specialty.Some may complain that some athletes, because of their athletic abilities, tend to care less in classes. However, I think that this is inevitable: if athletes spend the majority of their day training, how can they find the time to put as much time and effort into academics? Of course, there are those gifted people who have the talent and diligence in both areas and succeed in the classroom and on the field. But nevertheless, every person has 24 hours in a day, and the difference between a typical student and an athlete is how one spends the time allotted by nature and how one prioritizes his/her life. For example, athletes cannot pull all-nighters like many other students because less sleep means worse physical condition and thus a worse performance the next day. Therefore, we should not be narrow-minded and think that student athletes are less qualified or less busy because they don’t spend as much time in academics.Many athletes claim that if they were to spend as much time and effort into academics instead of athletics, they would be doing significantly better. Some scoff at this statement, challenging athletes to try and saying that they do not know the struggles of studying. Some people also say that academics and sports are not comparable because playing sports all day long is more “fun” than studying. However, as mentioned above, athletics is not 100 percent enjoyment for the athletes who work to get recruited; there is much pain and discipline involved.In conclusion, athletic recruitments should not be looked down upon and thought as unfair, because student athletes work a substantial amount for this honor. Just as many of us study and take the most rigorous courses available to go to a top notch university, athletes who look to get recruited push themselves forward to go through the most intense training. We should also keep in mind that many athletes succeed in academics at college as well because of the discipline that athletics requires. Therefore, it makes sense that student athletes should be recruited to college; while it may not seem fair when one only considers academics as a requirement for college admissions, it is in reality more than fair when looked