I have had this love-hate relationship with the Nintendo Wii. I was very excited for the Revolution when it was in its early days of conception. The motion controls were intriguing, it had a sleek and sexy console design and you really can not go wrong with Miyamoto helming the game development. It all looked early on that Nintendo was going to start an electronic Armageddon on conventional gaming wisdom and sweep the market. While they have dominated the world markets and have now become recession/depression/apocalypse proof, they have not done a whole lot to really spark my imagination.

There absolute gaming gems on the Wii for people who love those games but, the Wii just has not been able to steal my attention. The only game on the Wii that I truly see myself playing is Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. Out of all the Nintendo franchises, Metroid is the only one that I have every truly wanted to play. I have a DS, and having been an owner of a PSP once before, I feel like the switch was truly justified. The controls for the psp were disorienting at best for some games and the load times for the games were horrendous. I was not a huge fan of watching movies on the go; I’d rather just listen to my ipod, so a DS seemed much more suitable for my gaming on the go needs. I have owned a console from every generation, save for the first and 4th generations, and have given every company their fair share of my money and time. At the same time, though, I held a very close allegiance to SEGA. I put in more time with my Genesis than anything else, even when I owned a Nintendo 64. Once it was clear that the Genesis was dead, I had no where else to go than to my N64. So it was not really that I loved it, just the fact that I could not afford a Sega Saturn. Believe me, I wanted that system so very badly and any time there was a contest or a giveaway for one, I was the first in line to sign up. Once I reached the age where I had a job that paid me enough money that I could spend on things that I wanted, I quickly picked up the Sega Dreamcast the day it released on 9.9.99. That day was golden for me. I remember fond sessions of Outrigger, Crazy Taxi, Skies of Arcadia and Rez that renewed my love for video games.

Eventually the company I loved so very much died and I had to make a choice between the Playstation 2 and the Xbox. At the time, Halo was huge, but everyone seemed to own a PS2. I felt betrayed, as if a half-hearted hooker charged my 500 dollars for a 100 dollar session when I realized that the Xbox had much better power that made much better eye-candy. The Xbox was the girl of my dreams, the type that was beyond words when it came to aesthetics, but I was stuck with this half-hearted whore, the PS2 that I simply dumped money into without so much as batting an eye lash. The trap I fell into as well was the trap of redundancy. Metal Gear, Madden, Onimusha, Jak and Daxter, all those games were the staple of the PS2 and nothing else seemed to matter.

I’m highly protective of my Xbox 360, but does that make me a fanboy? I really look down upon Nintendo and its constant spinoffs of their beloved franchises. I laugh at the PS3 because the controls are shoddy (Lair) and the Sony Online service is not really anything to throw a party for. I am not trying to say that the 360 is without fault. HD-DVD is dead. Hardly anything besides the HDD is standard and Microsoft employs the “customize your 360 experience by buying our overpriced peripherals” strategy. The possibility of the Red Ring of Death is making me increasingly nervous. My optical disc is on the fritz and the XBL debacle over the Christmas season was a bit of a smear on the walls of Microsoft. So, while I am protective of my console choice, I will be very candid about how much it sucks being a 360 owner. One thing that does seem to separate the 360 from the other systems is the fact that it has original IP and higher quality games and better 3rd party support. But that could be my own opinion and anyone could call me a fanboy for that.

I got my comeuppance from Jim the other day. As I was stating my disinterest of SSB and Mario Party and criticized Nintendo’s rehashing techniques, Jim asked me a profound question that I can not even attempt to properly answer. The question was, “You buy Madden which is basically the same game every year, and so is that not the same as people buying the eighth iteration of Mario Party?”

At that moment I was dumbstruck; hence my complete lack of a rebuttal. Does that put me in the same boat as those people who buy Mario Party? I suppose it does.

Touché Jim Power, Touché.

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• Gamepolitics Article
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• Executive Report (PDF)

Last week, Obama called for American kids to put down the gameboys and controllers and become more active.  Now, it’s clearly a good call to make, but it seems as though Obama makes video games out to be nothing more than toys for mindless self indugence.

The people at the Joan Ganz Cooney Center have made a case for the involvement of games in a healthy lifestyle for children.  They published a report for the Sesame Workshop that discusses the potential for videogames to be another avenue of activity for children.  A move like this has a probable chance of educating kids on health and exercize in a manner that they can relate to.

Gamepolitics.com has links to the full report that details the ways in which videogames can be used to promote the well-being of children.

Well-designed digital games show significant potential to promote children’s growth and healthy development. They can foster skills and knowledge that help children with academic learning, as well as habits which contribute to better health.

The report calls for educators, government and healthcare officials to take videogames at more than face value as a harmful medium full of destruction and disarray.

Despite their reputation as promoters of violence and mayhem, digital games have in fact been shown to help children gain content and vital foundational and 21st century skills.

The independent gaming scene is a deep one, though.  It can be hard to find the right games.  Developers even find it hard to get exposure for their games, and very rarely make a profit on their projects.

Today, the spotlight will be shone on Untold Entertainment.  The Toronto based developer has a very capable team and is lead by Ryan Creighton.  With over 50 games under his belt, he’s a very talented developer.

The game being showcased today was created by Creighton himself at TOJam, the Toronto game jam.  The project took roughly twenty-two hours, an impressive feat for a polished game such as Bloat.

The object of the game is to guide little dinosaurs on a platform and eat other dinosaurs.  As the player progresses, one platform will turn to three, which are connected by macaroni noodles.  The noodles operate as tunnels for the dinosaurs to get from one platform to the next.  The dinosaurs will also become different colors: red, green and blue.  If the player makes one dinosaur eat another, it will excrete money.  It’s a basic rock, paper scissors set up: blue eats red, red eats green and green eats blue.  The player is able to manipulate the size of the dinosaurs by clicking and dragging allowing the bigger dinosaurs to eat the smaller ones.  If the player makes a dinosaur eat one that it is not supposed to, then the player loses money.

It seems complicated at first, but the game does a wonderful job of making the player comfortable with the game mechanics.  The game does not have a lot of flair to it, but it is a fun and addicting one.  It is worth anyone’s 10 minutes.

RPG&C started their work in the late 1990′s with these programs, and have created an expansive library of games over the years.  The company is ran by Paul Eres, or Rinku.  Other members include: Fyrewulff, Charbile, Orchard-L, Longetech, HarlockHero, Komera, and Wynand.

Their latest effort is Immortal Defense a Tower Defense style game that has been released to rave reviews.  This small group of game designers have largely distributed their games via freeware, but their belief of honing their skills and building great games have lead them to the point of selling Immortal Defense for $15.

Immortal Defense is heavily story driven, beautiful and minimalist.  This game is an indie lover’s dream.  There is also a graphical flair that has the potential to draw main-stream gamers as well.

Immortal Defense is available for free in demo form for Windows XP and Vista and is the winner of Game Tunnel’s Best Strategy Game of 2007.  The site also hints at an upcoming Mac version of the game.

Video games can provide wonderful experiences and influence

Video games have gotten a bad rap in recent years due to attacks by the likes of disbarred attorney, Jack Thompson, a man who has been in the national spotlight due to the Virginia Tech shootings from over a year ago.  An ongoing feud between Thompson and Entertainment Consumers Association has set the stage for his crusade against violent video games.

Mr. Thompson has been fighting against violent video games like Take 2′s Grand Theft Auto series, Bully and Manhunt.

Thompson believes that video games are “murder simulators” and exist in order to promote violent behavior.  In an interview with MSNBC, Thompson said, “Murder simulators are not constitutionally protected speech. They’re not even speech. They’re dangerous physical appliances that teach a kid how to kill efficiently and to love it,”

Even game journalists have been speaking out against the current trend of violent video games, but for other reasons than social well-being.  IGN’s Mike Thomsen has spoken out against Gears of War for it’s overly simplistic “run-and-gun” style of gameplay, which often detracts from the experience he’s seeking out of video games.

The video game industry is still extremely young in relative terms to other forms of media, but that fact has not stopped developers from exploring the experimental, non-violent side of video games.

It’s important for parents to understand the field of video games that exist and then open their children up to these new experiences.  Anyone who spends a certain amount of time on X-Box Live or Playsation Network will find that It is a fact that children under the age of 17 do play Mature rated video games.  It is wrong to subject children to this kind of content before they can fully understand the experience, and it is up to the parents to help them understand.

The field of available video games is wide and expansive, but it is not hard to find the right kind of video game.  Parents who do not want their children to be contingent on violent subject matter may find it easy to go for the brand name Hanna Montana games.  They shouldn’t do that.  They wouldn’t feed chocolate to their kids before bed time, nor should they give them sugar-coated game experiences.

There is a wide variety of games that provide a source of learning for children or adolescents and all of them are completely non-violent.  The top-five will feature notable titles and obscure titles, but all of these are excellent experiences.

1. Big Brain Academy (Nintendo DS) Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree (Wii) Developer: Nintendo

The Brain Age series of games have been extremely popular since their release, and have driven sales for the DS with nearly 20 million copies sold world-wide.  Big Brain Academy picks up where Brain Age has left off with even more logic-based puzzles and tests.  These tests feature five puzzles that cover five categories:

• Think (Logic-themed questions)
• Analyze (Reason-based questions)
• Compute (Math-themed questions)
• Identify (Visual-themed questions)
• Memorize (Memory-based questions)

These tests are then calculated to determine the subject’s brain mass, which in turn determine’s the player’s in-game profession.

2. Flower (PS3) Developer: That Game Company

Flower is the runaway success of 2009 for Genova Chen, the creator of Flow for the PSP and PS3. The object of Flower is to guide a trail of flower petals through a monochromatic field and restore the beauty it once had. The game is very simple and intuitive to play, but the most striking feature of this game is the sheer beauty of the environments.  A game like Flower is especially useful for soothing active children, as 1up.com puts it, “the freedom of movement makes the game feel as relaxing as a gently wafting breeze”  Flower also has the potential to start up a great discussion with kids as the story has themes of restoring the environment of the world.

3. Echochrome (PS3) (PSP) Developer: Japan Studio

If M.C. Escher was alive today and was a game developer, this is exactly the kind of game he would envision.  Echochrome is simple in its delivery, but infinitely complex in its gameplay.  The goal of the player is to guide a figure on an abstract plane of cubes and platforms, collecting other figures along the way.  The platforms come in many shapes and the perspective of the player can make gaps or holes between platforms disappear.

The best part of the game is the level of non-stress imposed upon the player.  There is no detrimental consequence to falling off a platform, the game simply starts the figure from the last platform it was standing on.  Furthermore, the player can take as much time as needed to complete a puzzle.  Echochrome has the power to provide any kind of gamer with a deep, enjoyable experience.

4. Kodu (X-Box Live Arcade) (PC) Developer: Microsoft

Kodu is the new programming environment specifically designed for children, but can be used by anyone of any age.  It is not a “game” per se, but a tool that allows children to understand the fundamentals of game design and programming languages.  Kodu Game Lab has two main mechanics that provide the easiest experience for the users:

• it avoids typing entirely; users construct programs by assembling visual elements with a game controller
• rather than a bitmapped or 2D display, programs are executed in a 3D simulation environment, similar to Alice

Kodu is a tool that should downloaded by anyone interested in picking up programming or game design.  It is priced at $5 and provides a very robust system for such a small price.  Users can then upload their created games to the community and can even be shared among friends.  The computer science field is growing at a fast rate, and it is important for kids to be introduced to this rewarding path.

5. LocoRoco (PSP) Developer: Japan Studio

LocoRoco is the Topsy-turvy game for the PSP that puts the player in charge of navigating a gelatinous creature safely to the end of a level.  The player starts with one locoroco, and must find all the other locorocos in the level.  Along the way, the player will encounter obstacles and puzzles.  As the locoroco eats berries, it increases in size.  Once the player accumulates enough locorocos, they will awaken one of the world’s strange inhabitants by singing, in which the player will earn a reward.  The art style and level design of LocoRoco is very creative and is a sure-fire win for children of any age.

The best RPG for any generation

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When a game has been developed by what has been known as the “Dream Team” of Japanese RPGs, you can be assured that the game will transcend time and still have an impact 14 years after its initial release.

Chrono Trigger is a special title, so special that it has the ability to convert gamers to believe in the JRPG.  Chrono Trigger does so much with so little, that it is impossible not to fall into admiration for the entire package.  The graphics have not aged at all, because this is the rare “retro” title that crosses into the realm of art.

The story of Chrono Trigger is capable of opening up one’s imagination in ways that video games seldom are able to do.  The intricate, yet unpretentious story could have been one massive head-scratcher.  Since the story deals with time and space manipulation, the game could have been an over-written piece of rubbish (*ahem* Final Fantasy VII and subsequent spin-offs).  However, when a team consists of Hironobu Sakaguchi, of Final Fantasy, and Yuuji Horii and Akira Toriyama of Dragon Quest, then special things are bound to happen.

Chrono Trigger was released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1995.  The game received instant critical and consumer acclaim, selling over 2.5 million copies world-wide.  The game got the Playstation treatment in 1999 before the release of Chrono Cross, and then it was released again on Nintendo’s DS system in 2008.

The best part about the Sioux Falls gaming scene is that a title like Chrono Trigger can be picked up at retail or used game stores at any time.  Chrono Trigger is a beloved game and is suitable for any age range.  The music, story and graphics can be quite compelling, and the game is not complex to the point of frustration.  The Japanese RPG genre has a tendency of being a little too much on the hard-core side of gameplay.  Chrono Trigger is perfect for the enthusiast who cannot get enough, or the “old school” gamer that wants to show the young ones that there’s more to life than Halo or Call of Duty.

*Protip!* You can pick up Chrono Trigger for the Nintendo DS at Last Stop CD Shop or GameStop for only $20.  That’s some serious bang for your buck, especially in these economic times.  The main story of Chrono Trigger can last between 20 to 30 hours, and there are 10 different endings to the game for multiple play-throughs.

		Last Stop CD Shop – maps.google.com 3508 W 41st St, Sioux Falls – (605) 361-4416 2 reviews, directions, and more »
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id Software’s John Carmack at Quakecon ’08

Developers have had a notorious relationship with the PS3 since its launch in 2006.  Valve wants a dedicated PS3 developments team, but they opt for the 360′s familiar environment instead.  John Carmack sees a lot of potential with the PS3, saying that there has been more “sweat equity” put into PS3 development as there has been for its next generation counterpart.

In a GameInformer interview through Gamesinustry.biz, John expresses that the DVD format is quickly becoming a hassle for the developer.  Id Software’s upcoming Rage and Doom 4 will have installations requiring multiple DVDs.

“Doom 4 is being set up so that it’s almost certainly going to be cut up to three DVDs versus one Blu-ray. At least they’ve got the ability because of the way it’s structured.”

Carmack explained that in the case of Rage, they are working on compression methods to fit the game on two DVDs, but that only stands as a possibility.

Carmack certainly has his work cut out for him in trying to get a hold of the PS3 platform, but the ease of the 360 has allowed him the time to delve deeper into Sony’s machine.

“The 360 was easier to certainly to get to where we are now. More sweat equity had to be put into the PS3,” said the id creative director.

For more info: Gamesindustry.biz (Source)

Examining Racisim in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness

The topic of racism is believed by some to be the underlying nature of Joseph Conrad.   As Chinua Achebe so famously put, Conrad was a “bloody racist.”  After reading Heart of Darkness I have come to the conclusion that a respected author like Conrad does not fill his story with racist propaganda.  I find it quite foolish and naïve to think that the use of the word ‘nigger’ does not constitute blatant racism, nor should it pin the title of racist squarely on the author.  That word in particular is very powerful; it has a connotation to hatred and racism.  That is a fact that cannot be denied.  Even its subtle usage within the story carries a lot of weight and never passes through incognito.

I have to side with Caryl Phillips, a British Author and Playwright who insists that this is simply an exploration of what happens when European colonials “attempt to impose itself upon its ‘inferiors.’”  She writes in Philopsophia Africana that the underlying question in the story is how does one deal with “the moral order of society” in which people are able to act as “savagely or decently” as it deems fit.

Conrad was heavily influenced by his visit to the Congo in the summer of 1890 to write this novella.  I believe that by his experiences that year weighed heavily on his shoulders.  In Najder’s Introduction to “The Congo Diary” and the “Up-River Book” He explains that Conrad was quite jovial before his expedition.  As time went by, it became quite clear that “the enormous physical and moral impact of these six months” would shape his outlook and philosophy forever.  Conrad came home broken and beaten by disease and weary of the atrocities he witnessed while in the Congo.

My first thought in approaching my argument was to look at the letters written by Conrad before leaving for the Congo.  I was expecting him, in a way, to state his fear or excitement of meeting the indigenous people of the Congo.  No mention of people, other than his family and friends, were ever mentioned in the letters.  Instead Conrad was most fearful of the diseases that he knew were going to plague him.

In Conrad’s journal and up-river book, he stays starkly objective in his observations, but I couldn’t help but to notice a couple statements that contrasted his otherwise objective manner.  These statements occur very early in his expedition.  One such statement was made as describing the hired hands as “idiotic employment.”  Another was describing an albino woman as having “features very negroid and ugly.”  While one could take these statements as racist, I believe there’s more to it than that.  The condition in which Conrad was travelling was miserable at best and absolutely horrid at the worst.  The fact that his journals were so objective didn’t give me any ground for a proper argument.

I knew from then that the only way I could prove that Conrad wasn’t a racist was to look at the text of Heart of Darkness itself.  I wanted to take all the dialogue of Marlow because he is most obviously a portrayal of Conrad himself.  This is apparent in the beginning when Marlow is enthralled by the idea of visiting the unknown regions of the globe.  Conrad had a very similar experience himself as a child stating in Imagining Africa, “When I grow up I shall go there.”  It is through this that I’m able to determine that Conrad has based the character of Charles Marlow on himself.

Context is everything and simply finding words is not enough for delving into a character.  This text is extremely character driven and Conrad litters his story with marvelous patterns.  From here I took out specific words that I felt followed a pattern that would ultimately help me in my argument.  After looking through the lines of Marlow’s dialogue, I came across something quite peculiar.  A pattern arose in the way in which he refers to people.  I found that Marlow would refer to people as ‘creatures’ in parts of the story.  I found this to be rather interesting so I explored the context in which this word existed.  The first occurred while having tea with his aunt, holding her in high regard he states,

“(149.6) In the course of these confidences it became quite plain to me I had been represented to the wife of the high dignitary, and goodness knows to how many more people besides, as an exceptional and gifted creature — a piece of good fortune for the Company.”

This is contrasted by the way in which he describes a moment in observing a native.

“(157.19) While I stood horror-struck, one of these creatures rose to his hands and knees, and went off on all-fours towards the river to drink. He lapped out of his hand, then sat up in the sunlight, crossing his shins in front of him, and after a time let his woolly head fall on his breastbone.”

I chose these two particular quotes because of the way in which they contrast each other and the characters in which are described.  The interesting part is the fact that being referred to as ‘creatures’ puts them on equal ground.  I take this as a very subtle way in saying that every human being is essentially animalistic.  Deep down in the core of the most civilized dignitary lies the feral mannerisms of the tribesmen.   The statement about the tribesmen is in no way racist, in fact its simply an illustration of Marlow’s ignorance to the lifestyle of the natives.  This is apparent when he describes one of his listeners as a “(207.4) thunderingly exalted creature as to be altogether deaf and blind to anything but heavenly sights and sounds.”

After finding this pattern, I wanted to see what else I could find in Marlow’s word associations.  The next word that came to mind was ‘savage.’  Here, Conrad further creates a pattern that contrasts and yet makes each association equal.  When Marlow reads Kurtz’s report for the International  Society for the Suppression of Savage Customs, he finds the eventually the beautiful writing ends on a rather savage note with Kurtz writing “(208.27) Exterminate all the brutes!”
Marlow at times calls the natives savages, but interestingly enough he finds humanity within them.  Especially after losing his helmsman,

“(209.15) I missed him even while his body was still lying in the pilot-house. Perhaps you will think it passing strange this regret for a savage who was no more account than a grain of sand in a black Sahara. Well, don’t you see, he had done something, he had steered; for months I had him at my back — a help — an instrument. It was a kind of partnership. He steered for me — I had to look after him, I worried about his deficiencies, and thus a subtle bond had been created, of which I only became aware when it was suddenly broken.”

Moreover, Marlow seems to become aware of the lives of the natives and begins to realize their unjust treatment.

“(197.11) Unexpected, wild, and violent as they had been, they had given me an irresistible impression of sorrow. The glimpse of the steamboat had for some reason filled those savages with unrestrained grief. The danger, if any, I expounded, was from our proximity to a great human passion let loose. Even extreme grief may ultimately vent itself in violence — but more generally takes the form of apathy. . . .”

Aside from these patterns, I wanted to get right to the heart of the matter of the subject of racism and look at the word ‘nigger’ itself.   As with my statement earlier, I cannot take that word at face value and judge Conrad as a racist for its use.  I have discovered the patterns in which Marlow very subtly shifts the blame on the company for the atrocities happening in the Congo.  The pattern that I noticed with Marlow’s use of the word is that it diminishes in use as the story draws closer to the end.  I surmise that this is done as Marlow grows closer in connection to the natives.  Often the natives are being beat down by the men of the company and I believe that the use of the word in those situations adds weight to the acts of the company.

I feel as though there’s a degree of misunderstanding if one takes this text at face value.  Neither Conrad nor Marlow are racist, just ignorant at the beginning.  Through the course of his expedition, Marlow sees that the white people are no better than the natives.  It is in fact the whites that are more savage than the natives as their customs are appropriate in their eyes.  It is through subtle patterns that Conrad makes it clear that the company and Kurtz are in the wrong.  He does not feel animosity towards the natives, and he certainly does not grow to hate the savages.  He instead feels that their treatment is unjust but he is unable to do anything about it.

I feel that Conrad makes his feelings about the company clear when he hears news about the Eldorado Exploration Expedition.  He states, “(182.26) Long afterwards the news came that all the donkeys were dead. I know nothing as to the fate of the less valuable animals. They, no doubt, like the rest of us, found what they deserved.”  I took this as Conrad revealing his feelings not about the Eldorado  Expedition, but of the company in the Congo.  This is the final piece of the puzzle that solidifies my argument in defense of Joseph Conrad.  It is a very subtle, yet very effective way of proving his distaste for the acts of King Leopold and the Belgians.

Works Cited
Hawkins, Hunt. “Heart of Darkness and Racism.” Heart of darkness an authoritative text, backgrounds and contexts, criticism. New York: W.W. Norton, 2005.
Joseph, Conrad,. “Heart of Darkness.” Ed. Paul B. Armstrong. Heart of darkness an authoritative text, backgrounds and contexts, criticism. New York: W.W. Norton, 2005. 3-78.
Joseph, Conrad,. “Imagining Africa.” Heart of darkness an authoritative text, backgrounds and contexts, criticism. New York: W.W. Norton, 2005.
Joseph, Conrad,. “The Congo Diary.” Heart of darkness an authoritative text, backgrounds and contexts, criticism. New York: W.W. Norton, 2005.
Joseph, Conrad,. “Up-River Book and Selected Letters from Africa and After.” Heart of darkness an authoritative text, backgrounds and contexts, criticism. New York: W.W. Norton, 2005.
Najder, Zdzislaw. “Introduction to the Congo Diary.” Heart of darkness an authoritative text, backgrounds and contexts, criticism. New York: W.W. Norton, 2005.
Phillips, Caryl. “Was Jospeph Conrad Really A Racist?” Find Articles. Mar. 2007. Philosophia Africana. 7 May 2009 <http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_7050/is_1_10/ai_n28438550/>.

For a lot of students, it is hard to imagine what life would be like being a student athlete at any university. What is it like having to go to morning runs, class, and practice? What is it like having to do all that and then having to spend time on their studies? Playing sports at the college level is hard. It does not matter if the student plays at the D-1, D-2 or NAIA levels. The competition is taken up a notch and everyone is competing for a starting job on the team. Sports go on for months and take a significant chunk out of a student athlete’s life. Playing sports at the college level is like having a job. One must dedicate most of their time to their respective sport while still performing well in the class room.

Athletes that have exceptional talent on the field as well as in the class room have the opportunity to receive a scholarship for playing for the athletics program for any university (except for D-3 athletes who do not receive scholarships). Students who play sports at major universities able to receive full-ride scholarships; however and smaller schools, student athletes are lucky to even get their tuition paid at all. A recent article from Noah Sanderson on his blog site describes some “lucrative” deals student athletes receive at small universities.

“He offered two things that appealed to me: chance to play early, Scholarship. The scholarship was not a breathtaking figure, but combined with some academic “Cash Money” it was starting to look like a pretty good deal.”

Prospective students who wish to play sports small universities often have to work very hard to get scholarships and most often, the student part plays more of a role than the athlete part.

During the season for any sport, a degree of preparation goes into each and every week. Students watch game film, go through two hours of practice and wake up some mornings to run sprints at 6 A.M. For the dedicated students, there is never a dull moment in their day. They are constantly trying to stay on top of the competition in their sport as well as keeping a good GPA for the semester.

The off-season isn’t so much of an off-season for student athletes as they are constantly preparing for next season. They still wake up early in the morning to sign in to their coaches, and they replace their practices with conditioning programs.

Some students have jobs during the year to alleviate the cost of going to school but none of those jobs can compare to the job that student athletes have. While some are not able to hold strong under the pressure, others thrive and flourish in that type of setting. Student athletes who can succeed at the college level are leaders of the future.