2004-05 Athletic Banquet Awards Speech
The following speech was given at the 2005 Banquet Awards by student-athlete Kelly Dunn, 2004-05 women's volleyball captain and senior scholar-athlete recipient.
"You play a sport in college! Wow!"
This is a phrase I eventually became accustomed to hearing from family and friends throughout the four years I played volleyball in college. And like many of you, this is also a phrase I took for granted.
When you have been an athlete your entire life, from grade school to high school, rotating between multiple sports or focusing much of your time on the one sport you really love, athletics becomes second nature; and by the time you get to college, this sport is a part of your every day life. You train, lift, run, and practice all in preparation for your season. Because it becomes part of your daily activities, you take for granted the amount of time and effort you actually put into it. For instance, on a Tuesday night, when your roommate is cramming for a Biology exam you both have the next morning, you instead suit up, grab the cooler from the cafeteria, and head towards the bus that will carry you two hours away from Emmanuel. You try to study your Biology notes between potholes and underneath the bus's dim lighting. You compete for two hours then return to the bus which will bring you back to Emmanuel. Other than the limited studying on the bus, you have just spent six hours doing something other than academics. Will you continue to study and still pull off an A on the test tomorrow? Yes, because you need to keep a minimum GPA to participate in varsity athletics.
However, this does not phase you. You wake up the next morning, take the exam, go to the gym to lift and come back to your room to study for another test. The athletic/academic cycle is a continuous stream of events that consumes much of your time. Compared to most students who do not participate on an athletic team, you sleep less, you devote many hours to practice and your body aches from continuous competition. And here at Emmanuel, a division three college which abides by the very correct belief that academics come before athletics, you find yourself at a crossroads. Yes, academics should and do come before athletics, but most athletes will admit that the two combine as one.
And though we do not realize how much of ourselves we give up to play, we play because this is who we are. We play because we love it. Not because we are here on an athletic scholarship. Not because fans wait outside the Yawkey Center for an autograph. Certainly not because any of us plan to be interviewed by ESPN sportswriter Bill Simmons. We play because that is what we do. We came to Emmanuel to learn, grow, and achieve; our athletic experience along with our academic experience has done just that.
Athletics at Emmanuel has taught me three things. First, time management. Always manage your time and more importantly, manage it well. This is why we bring our biology notes on the bus. Second, determination. We put our minds and bodies to the test every day as athletes. We train, practice, and compete. Whether it is during that last 100 yard sprint, that final 2 minutes in the second half, or game point, we never give up. And finally, sportsmanship. Winning is obviously fun, but losing gracefully is just as important, not only on the court, but also in life.
So with this said, realize that you can't win everything, whether it is that perfect score on an exam, that athletic competition against a rival team, or that post-graduate job you desperately wanted; you have already won so much as a student athlete. You are a team member. You are a leader. You are confident. You are proud and you are an Emmanuel College Student Athlete.
You play a sport in college. Wow.
Good luck to all the teams next semester. And a special good luck to the seniors. Thank You.