Tips on Becoming a Better Student

The higher up you go in the education hierarchy, the more strategies you will need to stay successful. Consider these tips:

Focus. This is the single most important strategy for success in both high school and college (and at work). Focus on what you want, on what you are doing, on where you are at the moment. If you are in college, focus on each and every class and assignment. If you are in Chem I, focus on that class, that assignment, that grade. Don’t let your attention be diluted with outside interests until your schoolwork is completed. You won’t do well in International Politics if you are fighting with your significant other or worrying about what to wear to the football game this weekend!

Prioritize. Education is your #1 priority at this time in your life. All decisions must be made around that priority. Sure, it would be fun to spend your time off at the beach, but not if you have to finish a term paper. And it would be fabulous to hang out with your sorority sisters or friends until 4am in the morning but not if you have a final exam on cell mitosis at 9am the next day.

Sleep. Get enough sleep and eat a balanced diet. This isn’t advice from Granny; it is a practical, stay-healthy-and-you-will-do better-in-school fact. Junk food, binge drinking, doing drugs, and staying up all night do not create a successful scholar. Take care of you. Your success depends on it.

Participate. Go to all classes all the time. Skipping class is the best way to fail. Attend every class and be a part of each one. Ask questions, visit your professors during office hours and discuss class material with other students. It’s your education…so be a part of it, and strive to be good at it!

If you have any questions or comments please leave them below!

There's A New SAT Coming...Spring 2016

Spring of 2016 will roll out a redesigned SAT for all college-seeking students. According to the website, the test is described as the following:

"The redesigned SAT will focus on the knowledge and skills that current research shows are most essential for college and career readiness and success. The exam will reflect the best of classwork."


Here are the major changes outlined below straight from the CollegeBoard website:

Relevant Words in Context

The redesigned SAT will focus on relevant words, the meanings of which depend on how they’re used. Students will be asked to interpret the meaning of words based on the context of the passage in which they appear. This is demanding but rewarding work. These are words that students will use throughout their lives — in high school, college, and beyond.

Requiring students to master relevant vocabulary will change the way they prepare for the exam. No longer will students use flashcards to memorize obscure words, only to forget them the minute they put their test pencils down. The redesigned SAT will engage students in close reading and honor the best work of the classroom.

Command of Evidence

When students take the Evidence-Based Reading and Writing and Essay sections of the redesigned SAT, they’ll be asked to demonstrate their ability to interpret, synthesize, and use evidence found in a wide range of sources. These include informational graphics and multiparagraph passages excerpted from literature and literary nonfiction; texts in the humanities, science, history, and social studies; and career-related sources.

For every passage students read in the SAT Reading Test, there will be at least one question asking them to select a quote from the text that best supports the answer they have chosen in response to the preceding question. Some passages will be paired with informational graphics, and students will be asked to integrate the information conveyed through each in order to find the best answer.

Questions in the SAT Writing and Language Test will also focus on command of evidence. Students will be asked to analyze sequences of paragraphs to make sure they are correct, grammatically and substantively. In some questions, students will be asked to interpret graphics and edit the accompanying passages so that they accurately convey the information in the graphics.

The Essay will also require students to demonstrate command of evidence. Students will be asked to analyze a provided source text to determine how the author builds an argument to persuade an audience through the use of evidence, reasoning, and/or stylistic and persuasive devices and then to write a cogent and clear analysis supported by critical reasoning and evidence drawn from the source.

Essay Analyzing a Source

The focus of the Essay section on the redesigned SAT will be very different from the essay on the current SAT. Students will read a passage and explain how the author builds an argument to persuade an audience. Students may analyze such aspects of the passage as the author’s use of evidence, reasoning, and stylistic and persuasive elements. This task more closely mirrors college writing assignments.

The new Essay section is designed to support high school students and teachers as they cultivate close reading, careful analysis, and clear writing. It will promote the practice of reading a wide variety of arguments and analyzing how authors do their work as writers.

The essay prompt will be shared in advance and remain consistent. Only the source material (passage) will change. The Essay will be an optional component of the SAT, although some school districts and colleges will require it.

Focus on Math that Matters Most

The exam will focus in depth on three essential areas of math: Problem Solving and Data Analysis, the Heart of Algebra, and Passport to Advanced Math. Problem Solving and Data Analysis is about being quantitatively literate. It includes using ratios, percentages, and proportional reasoning to solve problems in science, social science, and career contexts. The Heart of Algebra focuses on the mastery of linear equations and systems, which helps students develop key powers of abstraction. Passport to Advanced Math focuses on the student’s familiarity with more complex equations and the manipulation they require.

Current research shows that these areas most contribute to readiness for college and career training. They’re used disproportionately in a wide range of majors and careers. In addition to these areas, the exam will sample additional topics in math, including the kinds of geometric and trigonometric skills that are most relevant to college and careers.

Problems Grounded in Real-World Contexts

Throughout the redesigned SAT, students will engage with questions grounded in the real world, questions directly related to the work performed in college and career.

In the Evidence-Based Reading and Writing section, reading questions will include literature and literary nonfiction, but also feature charts, graphs, and passages like the ones students are likely to encounter in science, social science, and other majors and careers. Students will be asked to do more than correct errors; they’ll edit and revise to improve texts from the humanities, history, social science, and career contexts.

The Math section will feature multistep applications to solve problems in science, social science, career scenarios, and other real-life contexts. Students will be presented with a scenario and then asked several questions about it. This allows students to dig into a situation and think about it, then model it mathematically.

Analysis in Science and in History/Social Studies

When students take the redesigned SAT, they will be asked to apply their reading, writing, language, and math skills to answer questions in science, history, and social studies contexts. They will use these skills — in college, in their jobs, and in their lives — to make sense of recent discoveries, political developments, global events, and health and environmental issues.

Students will encounter challenging texts and informational graphics that pertain to issues and topics like these in the Evidence-Based Reading and Writing section and the Math section. Questions will require them to read and comprehend texts, revise texts to be consistent with data presented in graphics, synthesize information presented through texts and graphics, and solve problems based in science and social science.

Founding Documents and Great Global Conversation

The U.S. founding documents, including the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, and the Federalist Papers, have helped inspire a conversation that continues to this day about the nature of civic life. While the founding documents originated in the early American context, over time authors, speakers, and thinkers from the United States and around the world, including Edmund Burke, Mary Wollstonecraft, and Mohandas Gandhi, have broadened and deepened the conversation around such vital matters as freedom, justice, and human dignity. Every time students take the redesigned SAT, they will encounter a passage from one of the founding documents or from a text from the global conversation. In this way, we hope that the redesigned SAT will inspire a close reading of these rich, meaningful, often profound texts, not only as a way to develop valuable college and career readiness skills but also as an opportunity to reflect on and deeply engage with issues and concerns central to informed citizenship.

BUT WAIT THIS ALL SOUNDS SO MUCH HARDER!...There is one positive...

No More Penalty for Wrong Answers!!!!

The redesigned SAT will remove the penalty for wrong answers. Students will earn points for the questions they answer correctly. This move to rights-only scoring encourages students to give the best answer they have to every problem.

The SAT is a hard test "redefined" or not. Make sure you start prepping for this test 6-12months out and if you are having trouble with practice tests online or within a prep book, hire a tutor or make a study group! Just stay on top of it and you will do great.

If you have any further questions please comment below. For example new SAT questions please visit https://www.collegeboard.org/delivering-opportunity/sat. 

Mental Toughness of the Week

The last three or four reps is what makes the muscles grow. This area of pain divides a champion from someone who is not a champion. That’s what most people lack, having the guts to go on and just say they’ll go through the pain no matter what happens. I have no fear of fainting. I do squats until I fall over and pass out. So what? It’s not going to kill me. I wake up five minutes later and I’m OK. A lot of other athletes are afraid of this. So they don’t pass out. They don’t go on.

I've Started Several Games and Just Got Benched.

From a recruiting standpoint – benching and playing time can effect your recruitment in a few ways:

• There are other reasons why players get noticed and recruited – getting benched during the season doesn’t have to end your chances of earning a scholarship. 

• Does your benching have anything to do with attitude, grades or work ethic? Is there a “lesson” in the benching that your coach is trying to teach you? Can you talk to your coach about it, and ask what steps you need to take to get back on the field?

• Are you still getting playing time but not starting? Starting plays no role in how you can impact a game, if you are still getting playing time there are ways you can showcase your talent and abilities. Can you still find a way to help your team win and be strong fundamentally at your position, so these abilities can show up on film?

• If another player has passed you on the depth chart, and may be holding on to the top spot, is there another position you can switch to in order to get more playing time? Where can you help your team win?

Adversity is going to happen — at the high school level, summer ball level, college level and in real life when you have to get a job. Life is not fair, and often lessons and work ethics taught in sports, can help you get through these adversities in real life.

Even some of the most talented players have had adversities they have had to work through — playing time, injuries, suspensions. College coaches will ask you about the situation if you are being recruited, and they’ll also ask your current coaches and possibly other coaches in the area. College coaches are always trying to get the full picture of what’s going on– so they’ll ask a lot of sources.

If you are being treated unfairly, someone along the line will usually speak up and voice that. Politics takes place in a lot of organizations, and high school sports are no exception. How you handle the situation will tell coaches a lot about you. Instead of running away or quitting—are there some constructive solutions to the situation?

While it can be a stressful situation for you, use that frustration as fuel. As hard as it is, keep your attitude positive and relentless. Work harder. Practice more. Focus your energy, eliminate distractions. Be better in the classroom and with the playbook. Do everything that is asked of you. Use this situation as motivation, because, you will have situations like this happen throughout life and the younger you learn to work through adversity (instead of run from it), will only help you. Be such a great teammate and improved player that you can’t be ignored.

While it’s hard to remember now, understand that rosters are very fluid. Players move up and down throughout their season and career. Just when you think there will never be another opportunity for you, a door may open. Just work even harder and be ready for your chance when that door opens!

If you have any comments or questions please comment below! 

What it Means to be a College Athlete

With all of the recent court cases regarding the payment of college athletes, it seems that people have lost sight of what college athletics was meant to be about.  Yes, the gigantic TV deals and revenue is hard to ignore, but playing a sport in college should be more than that.  The following piece was written by NCSA President/COO Lisa Strasman.  Lisa played hockey at Yale University for four years and went on to play professionally in Switzerland.  The piece she wrote serves as a reminder as to what playing college sports should mean.

Every day I come across yet another article highlighting NCAA lawsuits, coaching scandals and athletes who find themselves on the wrong side of the law.  With the O’Bannon decision, Power Conference de-regulation and unionization, the upcoming months will be a momentous time for college athletics. In the wake of these matters, I think about my collegiate athletic experience. As a college athlete, I never thought about boosters or royalties; it was all about representing my school while playing the sport I love with teammates who are lifelong friends.  We played in front of many, as my coach called them “fans disguised as empty seats,” and I wouldn’t trade that experience for any amount of money in the world.

I’ve always appreciated and related to the following piece, which was originally written about what it means to be a DIII athlete. I believe these points resonate with most college athletes, or at least most I know. Many of us, male and female, played non-revenue sports and we all played for the love of the game.

“It’s not about getting a scholarship, getting drafted, or making SportsCenter. It’s a deep need in us that comes from the heart. We need to practice, to play, to lift, to hustle, to sweat. We do it all for our teammates and for the student in our calculus class that we don’t even know.

We don’t practice with a future major league first baseman; we practice with a future sports agent. We don’t lift weights with a future Olympic wrestler; we lift with a future doctor. We don’t run with a future Wimbledon champion; we run with a future CEO. It’s a bigger part of us than our friends and family can understand. Sometimes we play for 2,000 fans; sometimes 25. But we still play hard.

You cheer for us because you know us. You know more than just our names. Like all of you, we are students first. We don’t sign autographs. But we do sign graduate school applications, MCAT exams, and student body petitions. When we miss a kick or strike out, we don’t let down an entire state. We only let down our teammates, coaches, and fans. But the hurt is still the same. We train hard, lift, throw, run, kick, tackle, shoot, dribble, and lift some more, and in the morning we go to class. And in that class we are nothing more than students.

It’s about pride in ourselves, in our school. It’s about our love and passion for the game. And when it’s over, when we walk off that court or field for the last time, our hearts crumble. Those tears are real. But deep down inside, we are very proud of ourselves. We will forever be what few can claim…college athletes.”

-Author Unknown

Why is Playing Summer Ball Important?

A majority of the recruiting goes on during the high school offseason.

It’s a concept that seems fairly simple, but a lot of student-athletes and families don’t understand this.  Think about it; the softball season is the same in college as it is in high school.  Softball staffs are very small and most of the recruiting is being done by coaches that are also coaching during games.  Football staffs and basketball staffs are often much bigger, and they have coaches that can go out and recruit during the season.  Softball programs do not have this luxury.  Because of this, the only time a coach can personally watch a girl play is during the summer.  Coaches at lower levels may also have some other duties with the school.  They may not have enough time to adequately recruit during the season when they have other things to do.

The competition in travel ball is top level.

Playing softball for your high school is great.  However, the competition at the high school level is not always top notch.  Some schools are very small and do not have a lot of options to choose from.  A lot of those schools are so small that softball is a no-cut sport, and they are forced to field some players that may not really be at that level.  Coaches don’t care that you can compete with kids that don’t belong on the field.  They want to see that you can separate yourself from kids that are also high level players.  If you are serious about playing softball in college, this is a must-do to get yourself on the radar of college coaches.

It’s the best way to perfect your skills.

At this point in your playing career, you need to be all in.  If you want to play college softball, you have to be serious about the sport and be willing to put in the time and effort to get better.  The best way to do this is game action.  Like any sport, you can practice all you want, but the best way to improve is through game action.  Yes, basketball players shoot and do individual drills, but they also play in as many pick-up games as possible.  Baseball players take infield and outfield practice, but they also do live batting practice.  It’s the same concept with softball.  You can do all the individual drills that you want, but the real improvement comes when you play games against the best of the best.

If you have any other questions or comments please comment below!

Want to play DI? Make sure you’re completing these off-the-field tasks

Playing a Division I sport requires a lot of work on the field and in the classroom.  Everybody knows about the kind of work you have to put in to get better at your sport, but there are also a few other barriers to get over to play a sport at the DI level.  The NCAA website has excellent tools and information to make sure you’re on the right track to playing DI.  Here are a few of the major things to make sure you’re doing as you go through your high school career:

Grade 9

• Ask your counselor for a list of your high school’s NCAA core courses to make sure you take the right classes.

Grade 10

• Register with the NCAA Eligibility Center at eligibilitycenter.org.

Grade 11

• Check with your counselor to make sure you will graduate on time with the required number of NCAA core courses.
• Take the ACT or SAT and submit your scores to the NCAA using code 9999.
• At the end of the year, ask your counselor to upload your official transcript to the NCAA Eligibility Center.

Grade 12

• Finish your last NCAA core courses.
• Take the ACT or SAT again, if necessary, and submit your scores to the NCAA using code 9999.
• Complete all academic and amateurism questions in your NCAA Eligibility Center account at eligibilitycenter.org.
• After you graduate, ask your counselor to submit your final official transcript with proof of graduation to the NCAA Eligibility Center.

This isn’t a lot of work.  However, if you fail to complete these steps, you will be scrambling and it might be too late.