This topic to write about came to me awhile ago, but I never knew how to write about it. There is quite a few students that go to D1 universities, and they may or may not have had the same experiences as me. There is a small percentage of students out of all the ones that go to D1 schools that go to private, Jesuit D1 schools.
When you go to a private D1 school that is known for sports, at one time or another you are friendly with an athlete. I was talking to a professor and we were discussing that these athletes have so much pressure on them to succeed that they lose sight of who they really are, and what they came to college for.
Recently a basketball player at Creighton blamed himself for the loss in the Big East Tournament due to a last shot in OT that was missed. For some reason, days went by and I still kept thinking about it. And I realized that I was bothered for days about it because it wasn't his fault. It was a team effort and there was missed shots left and right during the game. So I decided to tweet him and tell him that it wasn't just him, and that Creighton was still so proud of him for the whole season. And I hope that in this tweet I was able to change his perspective and other fans perspectives on this big game.
At schools driven towards academics, students that excel in academics are given special privileges such as the Dean's Honor Roll, banquets that recognize their grades, and stipulations that are put in place in order to participate in activities such as sorority/fraternity recruitment, program board, residence life government, etc. At Creighton, you must have a 2.5 in order to do anything from jobs to recruitment to service trips. So if you don't have at least a 2.5, you're basically screwed from any extra curricular's. And while this is a stipulation, I also understand why it is put in place. If you don't have the best of grades, you probably shouldn't be participating in anything that will make you more busy.
All in all, the life of a D1 school is either stressful or great. Or even both. But academics and athletics are highly sought after especially at private D1 schools. So make sure to study hard or to "ball out" if you plan to attend a D1 school!
