College Knowledge for the Student Athlete

5. Explore the Campus and Expand Your Horizons: From the Locker Room to the Press Conference

100 5 C HAPTER Explore the Campus and Expand Your Horizons: From the Locker Room to the Press Conference 1. Learn Outside the Classroom Some฀of฀the฀most฀important฀lessons฀you฀will฀learn฀in฀college฀will฀ take฀place฀outside฀the฀classroom.฀You฀can฀learn฀from฀every฀individual฀ you฀encounter฀and฀every฀activity฀you฀participate฀in,฀no฀matter฀where฀ or฀when฀those฀interactions฀take฀place,฀as฀long฀as฀you฀make฀a฀point฀ of฀refl ฀ecting฀on฀those฀encounters฀and฀experiences.฀College฀is฀an฀ environment฀of฀intentional฀learning.฀Begin฀to฀think฀of฀yourself฀as฀an฀ intentional฀learner.฀Maximize฀your฀opportunities฀for฀learning฀as฀deeply฀ and฀as฀broadly฀as฀possible฀from฀all฀your฀college-related฀experiences,฀ including฀being฀a฀college฀athlete. 5: Explore the Campus, Expand Your Horizons 101 You฀should฀consider฀a฀variety฀of฀categories฀of฀learning฀outside฀the฀ classroom.฀Consider฀first what฀may฀seem฀to฀be฀the฀easiest฀and฀most฀ natural฀—฀just฀hanging฀out฀with฀friends.฀At฀college,฀you฀have฀a฀chance฀ to฀broaden฀your฀scope฀of฀friends.฀If฀you฀step฀outside฀your฀room,฀you฀ are฀likely฀to฀meet฀individuals฀who฀come฀from฀a฀much฀wider฀variety฀ of฀racial,฀ethnic,฀religious,฀class,฀and฀sexual฀orientation฀backgrounds฀ than฀you฀have฀previously฀been฀exposed฀to฀or฀been฀friendly฀with.฀Get฀to฀ know฀these฀people.฀Make฀friends฀with฀them.฀In฀time,฀open฀up฀yourself฀ to฀them฀about฀your฀background฀and฀learn฀about฀theirs. Get฀involved.฀There฀will฀be฀opportunities฀within฀your฀athletic฀department ฀to฀serve฀on฀committees฀and฀participate฀on฀various฀projects.฀Even฀ though฀you฀are฀busy,฀you฀can฀still฀join฀campus฀clubs฀or฀organizations.฀ Get฀involved฀in฀your฀residence฀hall,฀student฀government,฀or฀ethnic฀ or฀religious฀group฀on฀campus.฀You฀might฀be฀surprised฀to฀learn฀how฀ busy฀many฀other฀students฀are,฀too.฀Volunteer฀for฀a฀community฀service฀ project,฀take฀on฀an฀internship,฀or฀find฀a฀job฀if฀your฀athletic฀scholarship฀ permits฀you฀to฀earn฀money.฀All฀of฀these฀activities฀will฀give฀you฀insight฀ into฀how฀organizations฀and฀people฀within฀organizations฀work฀in฀different ฀sectors฀of฀society.฀Are฀the฀organizations฀highly฀structured฀or฀ unstructured,฀hierarchical฀or฀authority฀sharing?฀Do฀people฀involved฀ work฀competitively฀or฀collaboratively,฀do฀they฀do฀things฀together฀outside ฀of฀work,฀or฀does฀everyone฀go฀their฀own฀way฀immediately฀after฀a฀ meeting฀or฀the฀job฀is฀done? Attend฀all฀sorts฀of฀campus฀events,฀including฀those฀that฀are฀social,฀ educational,฀and฀cultural.฀Go฀to฀sporting฀events.฀Attend฀an฀opera,฀a฀ chamber฀orchestra฀concert,฀a฀comedian’s฀performance,฀or฀a฀musical฀ production.฀Go฀to฀a฀debate฀about฀global฀warming,฀a฀speech฀on฀race฀ CoLLEgE KnowLEdgE FoR tHE StudEnt atHLEtE 102 relations,฀a฀talk฀about฀the฀human฀genome,฀a฀workshop฀on฀getting฀ along฀with฀your฀roommate,฀a฀documentary฀about฀endangered฀species.฀ Go฀by฀yourself,฀with฀a฀friend,฀with฀a฀large฀group฀from฀your฀residence฀ hall,฀or฀with฀your฀teammates.฀You฀will฀be฀exposed฀to฀a฀wide฀range฀of฀ life฀from฀many฀different฀vantage฀points.฀Enjoy฀yourself฀as฀you฀learn฀ about฀the฀world฀around฀you. Get฀involved฀in฀campus฀and฀community฀organizations.฀Run฀for฀an฀ offi ฀ce฀in฀student฀government.฀Take฀a฀position฀in฀a฀departmental฀club.฀ Train฀to฀become฀a฀student฀facilitator฀for฀an฀intergroup฀dialogue฀class.฀ Be฀a฀site฀leader฀one฀day฀a฀week฀for฀the฀local฀food฀kitchen.฀Let฀a฀faculty฀ member฀or฀dean฀know฀that฀you’d฀like฀to฀be฀a฀student฀representative฀ on฀a฀faculty฀or฀school฀committee.฀Attend฀leadership฀workshops฀or฀ retreats.฀You฀will฀learn฀about฀different฀kinds฀of฀people฀and฀leadership ฀styles,฀where฀your฀strengths฀lie,฀and฀how฀you฀like฀to฀participate฀ in฀organizations.฀There฀is฀time฀to฀do฀these฀things฀too—you฀are฀not฀ only฀a฀student฀and฀an฀athlete. College฀is฀an฀all-day,฀every฀day฀learning฀experience.฀Take฀advantage฀ of฀the฀immense฀learning฀opportunities฀available฀both฀inside฀and฀outside ฀of฀the฀classroom. 2. Embrace Your Academic and Scholarly Community College฀connotes฀different฀things฀to฀different฀people.฀We฀hope฀you’ll฀ be฀one฀of฀those฀students฀who฀thinks฀of฀college฀as฀a฀community—or,฀ more฀specifi ฀cally,฀a฀scholarly฀community—in฀which฀you฀get฀to฀spend฀ four฀or฀fi ฀ve฀years฀of฀your฀life฀with฀a฀group฀of฀people฀who฀are฀deeply฀ 5: Explore the Campus, Expand Your Horizons 103 engaged฀with฀ideas,฀exploration,฀questioning,฀discovery,฀analysis,฀and฀ problem฀solving.฀To฀do฀so฀will฀most฀definitely put฀you฀in฀the฀right฀ mindset฀for฀a฀successful฀college฀experience. Consider฀for฀a฀moment฀some฀other฀ideas฀about฀college.฀For฀some฀ students,฀college฀is฀like฀an฀extended฀summer...