The deadline for most college applications have just passed or is imminent. CdM juniors and seniors are in the midst of preparing for what they need to do to get into the college of their choice. While this is a stressful time for most students who are prepping for college, for some CdM student athletes, this has been a time for celebration. This past November, the class of 2024 student athletes were able to make their decision to play a sport at the collegiate level and sign a “National Letter of Intent” (NLI) with the college that they will play for.

Many CdM students are actively involved in a variety of sports, and through sports there are opportunities for student athletes to hone their skills, show them off, and get recruited by colleges. The recruiting process comes with a host of rules, and the process is long and stressful, but at the same time, it’s also very rewarding. CdM Senior Kate Nowak is a varsity rower at the Newport Aquatic Center.  She has rowed for three seasons and went to nationals last summer. Next year, she will be attending and rowing for the University of California San Diego (UCSD).  Nowak explained that she “had a couple of options to choose from,” and before she visited UCSD, she actually thought that she would go to a college on the East Coast. “Reaching out to coaches and staying consistent with emails was difficult,” she explains, but Nowak also expressed that the process became more enjoyable for her when she talked to the coaches that she felt a connection with. Senior Jack Cross is on Varsity Boy’s Tennis at CdM, and will play collegiate tennis at California Polytechnic State University – San Luis Obispo next year. He acknowledges that narrowing down and deciding which colleges he was interested in was very challenging, but the actual application process was pretty straightforward.

Getting recruited as a college athlete takes many years of hard work and dedication. The Princeton Review (https://www.princetonreview.com/college-advice/student-athletes) recommends that athletes raise their GPA, because,“NCAA eligibility does not mean automatic admission,” and that students still have to go through the school’s admission committee. The NCAA, or the National Collegiate Athletic Association, is an organization led by its members that is dedicated to college athletes and their success. There are three divisions of schools in the NCAA: Division I, Division II, and Division III. There are 351 Division I schools, 308 Division II schools, and 443 Division III schools, each with their own differences for different athletes. Nowak suggests that aspiring college athletes should, “not underestimate yourself and just reach out to as many college coaches as possible.” Cross encourages younger athletes to always, “just keep grinding, keep on going, because there’s going to be a lot of bad, but in the end it’s going to be good.”

For aspiring CdM student athletes who are interested in playing at the collegiate level, Mama Mary is offering a seminar on Monday, December 11th from 6:30 to 7:30 at the Learning Resource Center.  The “NCAA Eligibility Seminar for College Bound High School Athletes” will provide an overview of “what will be required of student-athletes academically and athletically prior to high school graduation.”