Finishing What You Start

Last week the annual NFL Draft occurred. Every year football players enter the draft, hoping a professional team will decide to draft them. It is the way into the National Football League for all these athletes. My family was watching it on ESPN and I was struck by the age of some of the people drafted. Many of them had opted out of finishing their college careers. This is not just for the NFL though. Many baseball players as well as basketball players leave college early or skip college altogether in order to enter the pros. For example, basketball star Lebron James skipped college and was drafted right out of high school.

I find this very interesting. I mean, these kids are getting a college education (a lot of time for free), and will get a diploma which can help them out a lot later on in life. However, by leaving college you won't get a diploma. According to an article, there are many reasons for leaving early. Some of those include entering the pros before you get injured, almost as a security blanket. That way you will know you made it and won't have to worry about getting hurt.

However, this article also says that one of the reasons student-athletes should stay in college is because it "teaches maturity". I could not believe this to be more true. I think oftentimes in many realms, not just sports, Americans look ahead to the next thing and the greater thing, often without finishing what they started. This is just one example of that. These student-athletes are looking to the future (and there is nothing wrong with that), but oftentimes they jump ahead without finishing what they started, meaning school. People need to learn to reach the end or reach their primary goals, but often this does not happen.