Online Journalism Today

Designed by Katie Stout

Academic Balancing Act of Athletes

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James A. Brown

Colleges want their students to be well rounded. In addition to academics, schools like their students to be engaged in extracurricular activities, such as community service, playing an instrument, or playing sports. Students who choose to participate in collegiate athletics face different challenges than narps (non-athletic regular people).
Athletics forces students to use their time wisely. Between practice and travel it is not uncommon for student athletes to fall behind. Freshman athletes often struggle the most because they have not been through a collegiate athletic season. They aren’t aware of the time commitment that comes with being a student athlete.
There are a number of ways for freshman athletes to ensure they do not fall behind. All freshman are required to attend at least 4 hours of study hall a week. Freshman athletes who don’t achieve a cumulative 2.3 GPA must continue going to study hall until they have met the requirements. Students believe that study hall helps give them a way to stay organized.
Madison Krauss said, “study hall has helped and I plan out when all my papers and tests are due on my calendar. I plan my work around my sport schedule”. Properly planning when you will do assignments is an essential aspect of being a student athlete.
Playing in the Middle Atlantic Conference, Hood and Stevenson are the only two teams in the conference in Maryland. Hood athletic teams regularly travel 2 hours to compete against teams in Pennsylvania such as Albright, Alvernia, and Lycoming to name a few. Game days are days that students typically plan their work around. After a game, athletes are exhausted and have little energy and motivation to get work done.

Students are responsible for asking for assistance in any courses they aren’t doing well in. Coaches want their players to do well and remain eligible to compete. Coaches are constantly inquiring about how their players are doing. Jayden Barrick, a member of the field hockey team explained that, “you have to set up personal meetings with your coach to check on your grades. They set up a tutor for you if your grades are in danger.” However, it may be difficult for an athlete to make time for a tutor because of their tight schedule. If a tutor is necessary, coaches may let the athlete miss a little bit of practice time to allow them to get the help they need.
It may be difficult for some freshman athletes to learn how to balance academics and athletics. There are numerous places that students can turn if they are having difficulties in the classroom. With the resources available, responsible student athletes will remain eligible throughout the athletic career at Hood.

Freshmen Show their Pride in Policies for Dollars

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(Residents of Coblentz Hall winning the pink spoon, photos by Chloe Scott)

(Residents of Coblentz Hall winning the pink spoon, photos by Chloe Scott)

Chloe Scott

As an annual tradition, Hood College hosts “Policies for Dollars,” for freshman to show their pride and fierce competition among the residence halls. On the evening of Oct. 26, campus residents initiated the nights’ festivities with a battle on the quad.
The event entails residence halls participating in a competition for extra House Council money and the Pink Spoon. The main events for the evening included an obstacle course, chants, skits and jeopardy. With the assistance of House Council Officers, first-year students, who served as representatives, were tasked with the main duty of planning and coordination for the four main events. Each event can help the hall gain points to win.

(Hood College Freshmen with the pink spoon, photos by Chloe Scott)

(Hood College Freshmen with the pink spoon)

When seeing all the excitement, and hearing the chants from students on the quad proceed through Whitaker Campus Commons, Senior Maya Gonzalez recalled her experience with “Policies for Dollars”. She was sad to say that the tradition of the event is slowly dying. “Students are losing interest, especially upperclassman who had their first experience three years ago. I don’t know why it’s dying out, but if we could revamp ‘Policies for Dollars’ for better understanding of it, we could possibly strengthen it for future first-year students,” Gonzalez said.
Director of Residence Life and Student Conduct, Matt Troutman is a newcomer to the event this year. “My first impression of ‘Policies for Dollars’ was that it sounded like an amazing student-driven program,” Troutman said. “My first couple of weeks at Hood, the students told me it was their favorite memory and tradition.” Having worked at other institutions, he commented that it is a rare blessing when students are so excited about an event, especially one affiliated with residence life and dealing with campus policies. Troutman advises House Forum, which is a group of representatives from each of the House Councils. House Forum helps to plan the program by making some decisions and communicating back with the House Councils. Before the event Troutman stated “I am looking forward to the event. I will be assisting with certain aspects such as running the Jeopardy game. I also am looking forward to observing with an eye of how we can make improvements next year, as well as just being entertained (especially with the skits).” Other faculty in attendance included President Andrea Chapdelaine, Dean Olivia White, and Chief Thurmond Maynard as judges for the event.

(Students of Memorial Hall)

(Students of Memorial Hall)

Although the skits provide entertainment to students, they are also meant to be a further learning experience of campus policies. The skit and jeopardy portion of Policies for Dollars, held in the Hodson Auditorium, showcases each hall’s knowledge of policies and questions pertaining to Hood College. One of the residence halls, Shriner Hall, skits consisted of a storyline with Alice and Wonderland characters. The Madhatter and Alice were roommates and he broke a lot of policies and made poor decision making. Examples of jeopardy questions include when Hood College was founded and what the myth of the Pergola is.
Shriner Hall resident Shelby Alcorn commented that “Policies for Dollars” brings everyone together. “Bringing people together is a part of what Hood is good at. I love the experience,” Alcorn said. Senior Carmelita Ugarte enjoyed watching the skits for the evening. “I usually buy a shirt to support the first-year students for Policies for Dollars,” Ugarte said. The team to take the win for the evening was Coblentz Hall.

Thank you for reading.