Working With Student-Athletes
I have
heard several writing assistants complain about working with student athletes.
The main complaints are basically that student-athletes come to the tutoring
center unprepared, with mediocre and incomplete assignments, and with a care-less
attitude. Many tutors feel frustrated working with student-athletes because
tutors feel like student-athletes are not interested in learning and actually
improving their writing skills. And if the student-athletes themselves don’t
care about their grade, why should we, the tutors, care?
Many tutors
feel unenthusiastic about working with student athletes because of the belief that
the session will be tedious and that they will be basically talking to a wall
for 30 minutes. However, this is a misconception, and tutors should give student-athletes
a chance before stereotyping them as poor writers. Athletes, in fact, are extremely
smart. They have leadership skills, strong teamwork values, and they enjoy
challenges and competition. Additionally, athletes really care about their
grades. They have to maintain a certain GPA to be eligible to compete, and they
have to complete their degrees and graduate in four years, because they are
only eligible to compete with the NCAA for four years.
The main
issue with student athletes is their time management. They have to comply with
their obligations as an athlete just as much as they have to comply with their
academic ones. They have a lot less room for procrastination than a normal
student, and having to cleverly organize their time every single day is not an
easy task. The idea of student athletes not caring is entirely a misconception.
If they come to a session unprepared, it is not because they do not care, it is
because they didn’t organize their time wisely enough to be on top of the
assignment. If they are having a hard time focusing it is because they probably
are physically taxed because of practices and competitions, which affects their
mental energy and ability to concentrate.
We often
make the mistake of judging student-athletes before even working with them. We
should give athletes a chance, because in fact, they require more help than
ordinary students. We need to be more patient with them, and if they adopt a
negative attitude, instead of us adopting the same attitude, we should help
them to change it in order to create a proactive environment.
I enjoy the slight subtle analogy to fighting a bad situation with care and understanding. Although these rules in humanity seem like lessons learned a long time ago, we seem to forget them at times, even for things as small as helping others with their writing assignments. Patience is key in any teaching experience!
ReplyDeleteI really how this article points out the lives of a student athlete and allows the tutor or reader to have a different perception about student athletes and their "careless" attitude. Often, athletes are not the best time-managing students, and I think that if a tutor can sympathize for this fact, then it will be more enjoyable and meaningful for both the student and the tutor. Again, a change of perspective is imperative!
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