By JONAS MILLER
Managing Editor
When I became a Resident Assistant here at Saint Rose, people immediately began to call me “RA Jonas.” Yes, that’s what I was, but it was not what I wanted to be.
I would correct people by saying, “I’m Jonas, the RA,” because I’m me first, and an RA second.
After sitting through multiple volleyball and soccer games this past weekend, I found myself realizing that most of the time when we speak about our athletes, we identify them as athletes first and people second.
While you may be expecting me to say “Hey, they’re people first,” it is my opinion that this situation is different from my own.
I was hired as an RA based on the assumption that I would perform to the standards that were expected of it. But athletes, they earned what they have. They are here because they have proven that when push comes to shove, they’re going to pin their ears back and do what needs to be done to prove that they are worthy of the hype that surrounds them.
Having played baseball my entire life until college, and football my last three years of high school, I know what it feels like to be identified as an athlete.
“Oh that’s Jonas, he’s on the football team.”
I won’t lie, it felt good, because from an athlete’s perspective there’s a very large difference between being “athletic” and being an “athlete.” In college more than any other amateur setting, it becomes apparent to any spectator that the people we watch on the field or the court or in the pool have a skill set that the spectator does not.
Speaking for myself, I have always found it exciting to watch someone do something that I myself cannot do. For example, my volleyball skills include being able to serve the ball over the net. I can’t bump, or set, or spike… all three of which are essential for most if not every college player. So not only are they able to accomplish things I am not, they excel, and they balance the rest of their lives along with it, which brings me to my next point.
While the athletes are told they are “students first and athletes second,” I do not think that should be true. Yeah, grades are vital for future professional success, but the term student athlete assumes that all collegiate sports participants put school before their sport.
I know that if I played a college sport, football for example, that’d be my main focus. Why? Because I love football. I’ve never loved school, nor do I now, nor will I ever. Plus, I’ve never really been good at it either, so tell me why I should prioritize something I’m not a fan of, that I also struggle with, over something that I love.
It’s human nature to prefer things we love over things that we don’t, and so I say to all of you college athletes out there, put sports first.
You will always be able to add, and write, and speak, and type; you will not always be able to run five miles at a time, or jump two feet in the air to spike a ball, or dunk. Savor the ability you have been given, do not put it second simply because the world is telling you school is more important.
Always remember that your school did not recruit you to do well on tests, and then in your free time shoot three’s or score goals. They want you here so that you can help your team win, because you are doing things most people can’t do.
You are special.
You are an athlete.
