Throughout this week I found a common theme in our discussions to be identity. We spoke a lot about our personal moral compass when debating the question, what is the purpose of athletics with education? We all bring our own core values to the discussion which then shape our opinions. One of my core values is wisdom. I believe there is nothing more important to the growth of a people than education and athletics can help to educate people - there are lessons in life that are best learned through sport. Education is meant to provide a foundation for all future endeavors of the students life. Education should help prepare the student for what may happen. Education allows for understanding and provides the basis of knowledge that people need to become productive members of society.
Identity was also tackled through discussion of various institutions mission statements. In many cases the mission statements of the institutions were similar across the different NCAA divisions; however, the missions statements of the athletics departments varied significantly across divisions. The question here then becomes, does the student athlete identify with the mission of the institution or the mission or the athletics department? At my undergraduate institution the missions were one in the same - or at least I can make that argument seeing as your department of athletics doesn’t have it’s own mission statement. This discussion then blended nicely into identity with regards to school mascots.
Identity is key when describing the experience of the student-athlete because they inherently have dual identities. It is critical to understand both the student and the athlete when attempting to understand the student-athlete. Our discussion of identities helped me understand how important being a Division III athlete was to my experience. I really think my future in collegiate athletics lies either in Division II or III.
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