A UNC athlete writes a stupid essay about Rosa Parks... and I'm not at all surprised

So, I don't usually blog twice in one day because I think it's a.) time consuming for me and b.) annoying to be all over your Facebook feed.

But I had to rant about the recent news story about the UNC athletes essay on Rosa Parks. Apparently, the student was given an A- for the ridiculous essay that even went as far as to quote a supposed conversation between Parks and the bus driver. Like, it's super ridiculous. If I had written this in college, I probably would have not expected a grade, just my professor laughing in my face.

Whistleblower says UNC put athletes in classes that never met and required only one final paper. This one got an A-. pic.twitter.com/HShyr6ivGm
— Bryan Armen Graham (@BryanAGraham) March 26, 2014

Anyways, shout out to Mary Willingham, the former learning specialist and current whistle blower, who broke this story open. Apparently, she is taking a lot of crap for saying something.

There are a ton of talking points about this topic, but I'm going to take a different approach.

Sending these athletes to top-tier schools and expecting them to perform in school as well as they do on the court is like asking a square peg to fit into a round hole. The majority of these "student-athletes" have trained their entire life to become a professional in their sport. The way to get there, in this totally backwards world, is by going to college and performing at a high academic standard.

The system is just asking for these kids to cheat. Yes, I know that there are people out there who perform well both on and off the court, but I'm not talking about them.

Look at it this way. A kid grows up wanting to be a doctor. He spends his summers at science camp, asks his parents to invest money in his future by paying for extra-curriculars that will look good on his resume, and studies medical books late into the night. When it comes time for college, he is told he can go to medical school, but he has to play basketball for the college in order to get there. The kid isn't good at basketball. In fact, he used to fake being sick during PE class because he was so bad at basketball. He gets anxiety about playing basketball but it's the only way he can achieve his dream. So he joins the team. But he takes drugs and PEDs to get stronger and he bribes his coach to tell the media that he is hurt so he doesn't have to play against the best teams. Meanwhile he is performing super well in his science classes. He even earns his university a grant for his stellar work in some awesome new discovery in one of his biology classes. His discovery helps put his university's science program on the map! But then, people find out about his PED use and his fake injury. Media analyst discuss how his "medical school draft stock" took a hit because of the scandal. It's what people forever remember him for... how he cheated at playing basketball in order to get to medical school.

I think you get the point. But some would argue that playing basketball isn't the same as getting an education. I would agree. I think education would solve a whole lot of problems in the world. But don't we as a society ask for this behavior from athletes when we glorify the pros and put them on pedestals and pay them millions of dollars? Aren't we sending the message that getting to the NBA or NFL or whatever other league would be worth it at all costs?

It also makes me wonder why we continuously think that college is the only way to succeed in this world? If we keep sending all of our children to school to get the same education, we are going to be one seriously boring, problem-filled world with a whole lot of leaky pipes without any plumbers to come fix them. We won't have any Marines to protect us or any athletes to entertain us. Can we stop pretending that everyone is meant to go to Ivy Leagues and earn 4.0 GPAs? Pick your jaws up off the floor, yes another "student-athlete" scandal has been uncovered.

I'm really getting tired of this discussion. Academics bitch because the athletes don't do as much work as the other students, but don't want the athletic program to go anywhere because it makes them millions of dollars. You can't have it both ways.

Everyone has a path in life. Athletes are going to be athletes, scholars are going to be scholars, and sometimes *gasp* there are those who do both. (Like me ;) Humble brag). I'm not condoning cheating, but when these paths cross because the system forces them to, let's not be so surprised when these kids do whatever it takes to accomplish their dreams.